Seat Mounting Options

[dreamdrivedrift]

I'm an old E46F guy who has somehow found himself back in a E46.
Will be swapping my stock driver's seat for a Recaro Pole Position and am looking for recommendations on mounting solutions.

The car is shared between my wife and I. I'm 5'11 with long legs and she's 5'2 with short legs, Lol. She needs to sit on a pillow for most mounting solutions and needs as much slider adjustment fore/aft as she can get as well. Has anyone come out with a mounting solution with height adjustment?

If not, any recommendations on which base/slider combos offer a higher seating position and maximize fore/aft seating adjustment?

Best
Chris

[jayjaya29]

Sup Chris

These use the factory seat bases, but not sure if it will retain the height adjustment:

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9223_Seat_Mounts_for_OEM_Sliders_p/r-9223.htm

[liam821]

So there is some talk about different seat mounting options here: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...ck-bucket-seat

I have the exact same problem as you. My wife is 5'2" and I'm 5'11. She adjusts the seat all the way up, and I adjust the seat all the way down. But the tl;dr; I don't know of any Recaro/Cobra seat base that is height adjustable for the m3, other than unscrewing and remounting the seat.

If you find a solution, please let me know. The best I could come up with is using newer BMW seats (e85/f80), or trying to adapt another seat from another brand (Honda Civic TypeR/insert whatever jdm Recaro whatever).

The Brey Krause R-9239 is height adjustable - but it's for the e38/e39. Not sure what it would take to mount in an e46 though. Perhaps Obioban would know more since he has both cars.

https://www.ogracing.com/products/br...er-bmw-e38-e39

[dreamdrivedrift]

Hm. That E38 setup is interesting. I'll shoot Brey Krause an email and see if those can be adapted to a Recaro bucket with side mounts. If not, I'll just go with the regular BK mount set up and see how it works out.

[George Hill]

Hm. That E38 setup is interesting. I'll shoot Brey Krause an email and see if those can be adapted to a Recaro bucket with side mounts. If not, I'll just go with the regular BK mount set up and see how it works out.

Did you hear anything back from BK on this?

[Obioban]

Did you hear anything back from BK on this?

Those just allow tilt adjustment on the e39, not height adjustment.

... and I'm pretty sure the e39 floor bolt pattern is different than the e46s, so I don't think we could bolt the e39 sliders in, so we couldn't use those anyway.

[Obioban]

I'm an old E46F guy who has somehow found himself back in a E46.
Will be swapping my stock driver's seat for a Recaro Pole Position and am looking for recommendations on mounting solutions.

The car is shared between my wife and I. I'm 5'11 with long legs and she's 5'2 with short legs, Lol. She needs to sit on a pillow for most mounting solutions and needs as much slider adjustment fore/aft as she can get as well. Has anyone come out with a mounting solution with height adjustment?

If not, any recommendations on which base/slider combos offer a higher seating position and maximize fore/aft seating adjustment?

Best
Chris

AFAIK, there's no aftermarket seat options with adjustable height. So, from that perspective, you should just install the seat as high as possible (as in, as high as you can tolerate).

In terms of fore/aft adjustment, you should use BK mounts for two reasons:
1) They're the only way to have the seat belt receiver safely move with the seat, and with that range of fore/aft adjustment that is a necessity.
2) The OE sliders (that the BK mounts use) have ~2x the adjustment range of the Recaro sliders, and you're going to need that.

This is the set for the pole position:

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9222_Seat_Mounts_for_OEM_Sliders_p/r-9222.htm

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9223_Seat_Mounts_for_OEM_Sliders_p/r-9223.htm

[George Hill]

Those just allow tilt adjustment on the e39, not height adjustment.

... and I'm pretty sure the e39 floor bolt pattern is different than the e46s, so I don't think we could bolt the e39 sliders in, so we couldn't use those anyway.

That is actually what I would prefer. I like the seat to sit fairly low (for helmet clearance) and close to the steering wheel on track but on the highway I like to be able to recline a bit and give my thighs some support.

I think you are likely correct on the bolt spacing though. I do have an E39 with no seats in it here, I'll grab a set of E46 rails and test later today.

[Obioban]

That is actually what I would prefer. I like the seat to sit fairly low (for helmet clearance) and close to the steering wheel on track but on the highway I like to be able to recline a bit and give my thighs some support.

I think you are likely correct on the bolt spacing though. I do have an E39 with no seats in it here, I'll grab a set of E46 rails and test later today.

Those e39 BK mounts aren't very low, either-- and they're designed for bottom mount seats.
(though I think I remember a guy on M5board sticking side mounts on top of them)

[dreamdrivedrift]

AFAIK, there's no aftermarket seat options with adjustable height. So, from that perspective, you should just install the seat as high as possible (as in, as high as you can tolerate).

In terms of fore/aft adjustment, you should use BK mounts for two reasons:
1) They're the only way to have the seat belt receiver safely move with the seat, and with that range of fore/aft adjustment that is a necessity.
2) The OE sliders (that the BK mounts use) have ~2x the adjustment range of the Recaro sliders, and you're going to need that.

This is the set for the pole position:

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9222_Seat_Mounts_for_OEM_Sliders_p/r-9222.htm

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9223_Seat_M...s_p/r-9223.htm

I ended up installing these. They work for me, but even at the highest setting are too reclined and for my wife they are still a bit low . We will be custom machining some spacers to raise the whole assembly up a couple inches for her.

[George Hill]

dreamdrivedrift to be clear the setup you are using is the E39 rails with the BK adapters and a fixed back seat in an E46?

[dreamdrivedrift]

dreamdrivedrift to be clear the setup you are using is the E39 rails with the BK adapters and a fixed back seat in an E46?

I went with the standard E46 power rails & BK kit on a Recaro Pole Position

[Cubieman]

I may try something like this 2000 Z3 has (spacers), not sure if they are factory, they are only on the front. This will get my aftermarket seats up a bit more like I want them.

[Phoenix///M3]

Check m3cutters (UK) site. There's a large thread on seats and mounting options somewhere on there. I know I saw someone with fixed back seats in an E46 with power height working. Maybe even tilt but now I might be imagining something.


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