Review: Cobra Nogaro seats (uniquely street friendly fixed back bucket seat)

[heinzboehmer]

From what I've seen, they are not super easy to find (the rails) unless your full time job is scouting junk yard sites. Plus you can use wiring and other elements off of them, so prob worth a drive.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

+1. You're gonna spend 2-3x as much if you want to get just the sliders shipped to you.

At that price I'd probably plan a weekend trip and go grab those seats

[Casa de Mesa]

Hey Cubieman I'm following your posts and looking to do essentially the same setup as you. Just pulled the trigger on the Nogaros last night. I sourced some E46 power seats bases months ago in anticipation of this mod, but second guessing the power bases for at least the passenger side, maybe the driver side too (that is, thinking about going manual sliders in both).

Can't wait to get some proper seats in the car!

[mrgizmo04]

I have found a set of manual/heated seats from an E46 Sedan for $100 a few hours away and wondered if it is worth my time to drive 2 hours and load 2 full seats or just find someone who can ship just the rails and not have to drive a 4 hour trip.

I was hoping that I could use the wiring harness's from the non-M seats as well as the seat heats and maybe even get myself a functional occupancy sensor.

My goal is to not modify my wiring in any way shape or form, I am willing to have an upholstery shop sew in both seat heats as to keep it more factory.

Can I use anything from the non-M seats beyond the rails?

From what I've seen, they are not super easy to find (the rails) unless your full time job is scouting junk yard sites. Plus you can use wiring and other elements off of them, so prob worth a drive.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Cubieman]

I have found a set of manual/heated seats from an E46 Sedan for $100 a few hours away and wondered if it is worth my time to drive 2 hours and load 2 full seats or just find someone who can ship just the rails and not have to drive a 4 hour trip.

I was hoping that I could use the wiring harness's from the non-M seats as well as the seat heats and maybe even get myself a functional occupancy sensor.

My goal is to not modify my wiring in any way shape or form, I am willing to have an upholstery shop sew in both seat heats as to keep it more factory.

Can I use anything from the non-M seats beyond the rails?

[Cubieman]

for the occupant sensor is the latter, but not sure you want to crash more than once, or even once for that matter... 😂

Lol, re-reading that last bit.

[maupineda]

for the occupant sensor is the latter, but not sure you want to crash more than once, or even once for that matter... 😂

[Cubieman]

Are E39 seat heats a good option? I've watched a video where a guy takes a single E39 seat heat and kind of gets it halfway under the bottom cushion and halfway under the back cushion, looks OK I guess.

I'd love to have 2 separate seat heats per factory but dont really see how one could have 1 seat heat under the bottom cushion and 1 seat heat in the back postion and still allow enough velcro contact to make the cushions stick to the seat. Seems to do this correctly cushions must be cut open.

Second thing is BMWs are rare in junkyards around my town. I'll most definitely be looking for manual sliders but if I can't find anything I'll use my OEM power sliders I will not be doing anything I can't reverse by simply removing the sliders correct?

My big thing is always non-destructive modifications, for example I'll need to source seat wiring harnesses, as I don't want to hack up my original harness.
for seat heats and/or E30 switch.

Third thing, how is the occupancy sensor dealt with? Can it be made to have full functionality or are we just tricking it so the passenger airbag is going off everytime?

Thanks.

[mrgizmo04]

On removing the seat, I would've imagined the bolts against the trans tunnel would be difficult to get to.

You would unbolt the slider from the floor (essentially removing the entire seat+mount+slider), not the seat from the side mount.


Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[mrgizmo04]

For longer drives and general comfort, the lumbar cushion (link below) helps. You can also stuff a small pillow from your couch/bed there, noone will judge you.

https://www.hmsmotorsport.com/item/cobra-nogaro-lumbar-cushion

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Cubieman]

275s, awesome. Sounds like my 255s would probably slot in then.

On removing the seat, I would've imagined the bolts against the trans tunnel would be difficult to get to.

Anyone in NJ/MD/VA area have these in their car? I sat in them at HMS, but I'm having a hard time imagining how they feel *in* an E46. My main concern is long-trip comfort as I still drive the car up to 7 hours at a time.

Not direct comparison but I have done multiple 4hr trips in a 996 GT3 with stock seats and Nogaros, the Nogaros are definitely not nearly as comfortable imo and the fact you cannot recline a bit will make those long roads trips a bit harder, at least for me. Not to mention you lose a fair amount of padding, you feel more bumps in the road etc.

For short trips, and in town drives you will very likely find they are not as comfortable as the stock M3 seats, but I think this is a given. With longer trips you may find you want some extra cushioning near the small of your back.

In the Porsche I put the Nogaros in the more reclined of the two available positions and it made a world of difference for ME in regards to comfort all around.

I would suggest getting the lumber bags as well, they can go in after the fact.

[Pklauser]

I haven’t.

I can fit my 275 track wheels through. However, it’s 4 bolts/1 minute to remove the seat— so I just do that, to avoid scuffing up the interior.

275s, awesome. Sounds like my 255s would probably slot in then.

On removing the seat, I would've imagined the bolts against the trans tunnel would be difficult to get to.

Anyone in NJ/MD/VA area have these in their car? I sat in them at HMS, but I'm having a hard time imagining how they feel *in* an E46. My main concern is long-trip comfort as I still drive the car up to 7 hours at a time.

[Obioban]

Ian, have you ever measured the distance here from seatback to B pillar? Curious if I'll be able to fit my track wheels in the gap and it would be great to have a definitive answer.

I haven’t.

I can fit my 275 track wheels through. However, it’s 4 bolts/1 minute to remove the seat— so I just do that, to avoid scuffing up the interior.

[Pklauser]

Ian, have you ever measured the distance here from seatback to B pillar? Curious if I'll be able to fit my track wheels in the gap and it would be great to have a definitive answer.

[mrgizmo04]

That’s just how the quick fits are— not unique to the Nogaros.

…but, yeah, that’s how my sub strap is run— only I used a two bar slide instead of 3, because it’s more compact.

Yes, definitely not seat's fault, more just any 4 point (that's why I mentioned it above) with any seat has this problem, just not safe.

On the 2 vs 3 bar slide, yeah I thought about it, don't have any lying around and didn't want to make it a custom order with extra parts for extra $ at the time because the strap comes with 3. At some point I'll reroute it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Obioban]

Few questions came up on the seats that I haven't seen addressed above.

On weight saving. Stock seats are about 65 lbs each, mounting a Nogaro on manual slider will put total Nogaro weight (seat+mount+manual slider) around 31 lbs per seat, with power slider it will be like 3 lbs more. So you are netting about 30 lbs of weight saving per seat.

Those running circuit version and quick fits (probably any other 4 point applies as well). No matter how tight you make the lap belts across your lap/hips, after tightening the shoulder straps and jamming the brakes once on track, the lap belt will ride up. This is a safety no no because when it rides up, it places the lap belt portion across your stomach, and your internals can not withstand the forces in a case something goes south. The lap belt part is supposed to sit on your pelvis/hip bones.

Which brings me to the need for the substrap and the sub mount. You can order the substrap from Schroth, but to properly mount it on the subbar, you need to remove the snap on ends (what I marked in red) and wrap the belt around the yellow lines (which replicates the subbar itself). This is in first pic.

On the subbar, the "handle" looking thing is not reinforced enough to take the force, so wrap the substrap ends around the bar itself. The outboard side should sit outside the handle, the inboard side should sit inside the handle, per second pic. That will provide proper spread to wrap around the legs and function like a proper 6 point.

And please wear a HANS.



Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

That’s just how the quick fits are— not unique to the Nogaros.

…but, yeah, that’s how my sub strap is run— only I used a two bar slide instead of 3, because it’s more compact.