e30 seats in an e9?

[bimmerboy73]

will these fit in an e9? They are from an e30 (i believe) which the ad states is compatible with the e24... who's seats are compatible with the e9. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=230266065743&rd=1

 

[Bill Riblett]

You can install the E30 seats, but it involves cutting out the existing seat mount parts and then reinforcing the floor where the 'new' seat mounts.

 

[bimmerboy73]

Bill,

Thanks for the reply. Can you give me a sense of how drastic a reinforcement job i'd be looking at? Is it a cross brace type situation or welded in place sheet metal in the cabin? - or would you have to do something on the underside of the floor as well? Are the existing supports for the seats bolted or welded in place?

Thanks again.

 

[Bill Riblett]

E30 sport seats

The one E9 conversion I have seen had the original 'towers' cut out (they are welded in place). Pieces of "C" channel maybe 1x2x1 were welded to the floor, between the inner rocker panel and the transmission tunnel. In this car, bolts were welded to the C channel to serve as studs to mount the seats.

That car was wrecked and I have all the pieces, which I have plans to install in my second CS sometime, but that is a long way from happening.

I have also seen a 2002, which has a similar seat mount arrangement as E9s, where the owner made brackets that fit between the original seat towers. The problems with this were that the seats wound up offset towards the outside and they sat quite high. The owner is pretty small and this worked for him, but I am 6' tall and could not sit in them.

 

[Malc]

Like Bill I have seen Recaro and E21 (early 3 series) seats put in BMW 2002s.
In both cases the original seat mounting system was kept, the bottom of the seats being modified to suit rather than trying to modify the whole seat mounting system.
I imagine it's quite a bit of work to ensure the seat is safely and correctly positioned.