Hello : e36 m3 sedan 5 speed new interior

[m3f_mariolefty1]

Hey guys I'm a recent purchaser of a e36 m3 sedan 5 speed and I got this thing for a steal but I put some work already into it. Of course did the valve cover gasket, oil change, spark plugs. Most importantly the interior was DESTROYED! The seats were torn the steering wheel torn, shift boots missing and knob non existent. So I decided to do my favorite seats recaros. I swear I wanted to do the whole "original m3 interior with vaders and what not but I sat in them and felt to 90's. Plus still sit a tad high for my taste. I found on Craigslist a full evo8 interior seats and all so I bought them for $400. I got them steam cleaned and detailed and played with fitments and guess what...... The backrest portion with a little bit of handy work fit perfectly without any major mods. The bottom portion all I did was take the evo skin off and put it on the m3 bottom portion. Enough writing here's some pics tell me what you think.

[m3f_EM3DRMZ]

That's pretty sick. Good job!

[m3f_white-hot]

Font very hard to read, maybe consider changing it? Interesting seats, certainly unique.

[m3f_mariolefty1]

Thanks guys (I changed the font it was weird looking) I wasn't too sure about sharing it because I felt like I'd get backlash on the "I'm not keeping my 4 door m3 original" but I figured it was what I liked and kept all the original interior incase I'd sell someday. I must say though the seats feel amazing and a perfect height for me using the sparco400 brackets. Love the handling on this thing is amazing. I came from owning a V6 MR2 and though this car isn't as fun it handles a million times better. This is my version of the ultimate daddy car.

[m3f_FNS_M3]

definitely very unique. What kind of modifications did you need to do to get the rear seats to fit?

[m3f_propchef]

Nice job, but why the towels on the front seats?


FYI, the sedan didn't come with vaders, but the sport seats.

[m3f_mariolefty1]

For the back support i had to grind off an inch off all the lower stems that used to bolt in but in the m3 it was helpful to leave a little so it can slide in behind the seat belt buckle. Also had to make a bracket so it can snap into the existing rear support large clips. as for the bottom portion, I just took the cover off the evo seat and "covered" the m3 bottom seat using c clips and zip ties. Both pieces are locked in there and wont move. ( also the headrest problem is gone because the rear seats off an evo have the built in low profile headrest) so i removed the oem headrests.

Propchef: I know the vaders only came in the coupes but i was in the market for new seats so the vaders were an option until i decided to do the recaros. The oem sport seats were un-revivable and as for the towels the interior was just cleaned and washed so I'm OCD with Alcantara seat bolsters.

[m3f_cscat87]

Nice work! Did you weigh them? Curious on the difference between them and the stock seats.

[m3f_mariolefty1]

They are light as heck i think two of the front recaros weigh what one powered sport seat weighs. These are manual forward/backward and recline.

[m3f_KWorker17]

Not a fan of the blue inserts but that backseat does look pretty cool.

[m3f_greyflyer]

Seriously good job and a great way to revive a trashed interior. Nice cross reference for anyone wanting Recaros. I wonder if the evoX seats could be adapted the same way?

[m3f_fiveightandten]

Interesting option. Why are the pics photochopped? They don't look wide enough to require panaroma, but it looks like that's what you did.


I'd love to see the front without big towels per them, and actually see how you made the rears for around the side and up against the rear deck. The EVO has nice seats. Props for doing the interior version of an LSx swap.

[m3f_mariolefty1]

Tried the panorama app and came out iffy here's some better pics with out the towels. I also decided to try and dye the letters on recaro logo to resemble the mtech colors. Came out well but I'm also debating to get an interior guy to due the blue inserts to black would be nicer but don't want to get zebra striped job or regret messing the seats up.

[m3f_Nipps]

Awesome to see that someone put an Evo interior in an M3.



You need to hard wire your V1; http://www.bmw-m.net/TechProc/v1.htm



Here are pics of mine (don't mind the truck in the background.. It's the shifter kart hauler)

[m3f_mariolefty1]

funny you mention hard-wiring the v1 i have the hard-wire kit and even worse..................that's what i do for a living...I own a car audio shop. I do it all day by the end of the day I'm too lazy to work on my own car. Sad story of my life.