Questions About Recaro Sportster CS Seats

[zaharias]

Recaro mounts and sliders for Recaro sportsters, sit at the same height as stock E46 M3 seats?
I want 1-2cm lower than stock.
My car has sunroof and when I went for a track day I had to remove the foam from the inside of the helmet to avoid touching the roof lining.
Iam 183cm tall.
I see obioban recommends some brands above.

[Obioban]

I didn’t but can you explain why?

The recaro sliders are not designed for it, and will fail in a crash with that load.

We actually source some sliders from the same company that makes recaros (identical design) and crash tested them— the seat came completely detached from the car with belts mounted above.

[Gt4]

Make sure you don’t mount the seat belts above the sliders with the Recaro sliders!

I didn’t but can you explain why?

[Obioban]

I bought a set from a member on M3post in Winnipeg, Canada. This set is brand new with Dinamica insert. I will get Cinnamon covers from Recaro Max and those are for my Interlagos blue M3.

Than I saw a local car for sale with those black leather Sportster CS. I bought the car only to get the deats Nd couple of other parts, doing a part out right now and will sell the car after or it will be my winter beater. Those were bought throught JRP in Canada in June 2020 and are pretty much new. I installed those in my Estoril/black M3 and I have 7yards of M Texture reproduction fabrics at home to do the interior of the Estoril and insert of those Recaro.

So I have E46 M3’s since 2006 and always wanted Recaro Sportster CS and now I have to sets within a month lol

The floor mounts are VAC Motorsport and Recaro sliders on driver side on Estoril. Passanger side has a Sparco floor mount which is higher that VAC.

I will try the Brey Krause adapter and oem electric sliders in the Interlagos M3.

Make sure you don’t mount the seat belts above the sliders with the Recaro sliders!

[Gt4]

Wow those look amazing! Who did you source them through? You using the BR sliders/mounts?

I bought a set from a member on M3post in Winnipeg, Canada. This set is brand new with Dinamica insert. I will get Cinnamon covers from Recaro Max and those are for my Interlagos blue M3.

Than I saw a local car for sale with those black leather Sportster CS. I bought the car only to get the deats Nd couple of other parts, doing a part out right now and will sell the car after or it will be my winter beater. Those were bought throught JRP in Canada in June 2020 and are pretty much new. I installed those in my Estoril/black M3 and I have 7yards of M Texture reproduction fabrics at home to do the interior of the Estoril and insert of those Recaro.

So I have E46 M3’s since 2006 and always wanted Recaro Sportster CS and now I have to sets within a month lol

The floor mounts are VAC Motorsport and Recaro sliders on driver side on Estoril. Passanger side has a Sparco floor mount which is higher that VAC.

I will try the Brey Krause adapter and oem electric sliders in the Interlagos M3.

[duracellttu]

Finally installed one of my set of Recaro Sportster CS into my Estoril M3

Wow those look amazing! Who did you source them through? You using the BR sliders/mounts?

[rbg]

looks absolutely great, but I am kinda upset reading how heavy they are

[Gt4]

Finally installed one of my set of Recaro Sportster CS into my Estoril M3

[Checkabs]

So it looks like AMX is saying that the heating pads have resistors in them for the e46 M3.

[Obioban]

yeah, I had cobra install my factory e46 seat heater pads, as well. At no additional cost for seat heater parts or custom leather, it's a no brainer if using their seats IMO.

[repoman89]

Who offers seats with integrated e39 heater pads? Did you buy through AMX?

Cobra will install pads at the factory if you provide them .. I ordered through HMS Motorsport and they helped me with all that. For Recaros you’ll have to have an upholstery shop install them.

[duracellttu]

The E39 pads are compatible. Some local guys have used them in their Nogaros successfully (or at least that’s what HMS told me). I just got my seats in finally with integrated E39 pads. They’re not cheap though.

Who offers seats with integrated e39 heater pads? Did you buy through AMX?

[repoman89]

You can't buy the e46 seat heater elements separately. I bought some used seats and cut them out-- which did mean cutting the stitches attaching them to the cover. The e39 seat heater pads are sold separately and also use an integrated thermistor... since they were contemporary to the e46, it's likely (but not certainly) that they'd be compatible.

I've never seen how Recaros setup works, but I think there's decent odds it would play nicely with the AMX pads.

The E39 pads are compatible. Some local guys have used them in their Nogaros successfully (or at least that’s what HMS told me). I just got my seats in finally with integrated E39 pads. They’re not cheap though.

[Obioban]

You can't buy the e46 seat heater elements separately. I bought some used seats and cut them out-- which did mean cutting the stitches attaching them to the cover. The e39 seat heater pads are sold separately and also use an integrated thermistor... since they were contemporary to the e46, it's likely (but not certainly) that they'd be compatible.

I've never seen how Recaros setup works, but I think there's decent odds it would play nicely with the AMX pads.

[Checkabs]

Few questions:

1. Where did you find the OEM elements? Have a part # by chance? Looks like ECS/FCO only has the 36M elements

2. Is it possible to transfer the oem element from an existing seat? I recall taking my dove seat apart 5 years ago and I believe it was sown into the cover.

3. With an aftermarket kit like the AMX one, do I need to order the Recaro heated seat button? Any potential issues with this?

Thanks again!