Seat Seams - Vertical or Horizontal?

[Cabrio330]

Just curious to know the story behind whether OEM seats ever came with horizontal seams, or were they all vertical? Most interiors I have seen in person or pictured here have vertical seams in the front and rear seats. Only a few have horizontal seams, and mine is one of them.

I don't know for certain, but perhaps the prior owner of my car changed the rear seat seams to horizontal when he added Scheel front seats that come with horizontal seams; he had all seats recovered at the same time in matching blue leather. Or, as I learned from searching on this great forum, perhaps he swapped the rears from an E24, which have horizontal seams!

I ask because I am considering replacing my Scheel front seats with OEM front seats, and every set I find for sale has vertical seams! Am I wasting my time looking for OEM horizontal seams?

Many thanks!

 

[m_thompson]

I believe that '73 and earlier have vertical seams, and '74 and later have horizontal seams.

 

[JhwShark]

Confirming...my '72 euro has black leather w/ vertical seams.
Jon

 

[JohnHein]

My '71 had vertical seamed seats that were replaced with '74 horizontals. I personally like the verticals and will go back to them.

 

[bert35csi]

Personally, I much prefer the later 74 and later horizontal pleats as they add just a more modern look and feel to the interior.

What I do notice many times is that when the vertical pleated seats have been reupholstered, some times, the upholsterer neglected to reproduced the faint indented plucks to the seating surfaces and seat backs that these seats have, thereby giving an odd and funky appearance to them. So guys, if you are planning to redo your seats in the future, tell the upholsterer not to omit this feature, otherwise and regretfully, you'll be forever saying, "Sh*t, should have had them done properly".

 

[TodB]

pleats

Interesting timing on this post. I thought it was just me who had an issue with seats with multiple pleat types.

I recently replaced my vertically pleated OEM front seats with some after market ones that have horizontal pleats. Now the front seat pleats do not match the back which, admittedly, bothers me to no end. I guess I could have worse problems.

If anyone has a set of back seats in black leather in very good condition with horizontal pleats, please let me know.