F82 M4 seats into an E46 M3

[m3nt0s]

Cool project but those seats look completely out of place IMO

[usdmej]

The seats would be worth more than the car!

Someone on bimmerpost priced them out at over US$30k from a dealer. Outrageous pricing but gorgeous seats.

https://g80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1&postcount=20

yikes, even by bmw dealer standards that's ridiculous

that's more than porsche charges for their carbon buckets!

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/GT2SEATS.html

[trigtm]

I paid $1500 for the seats and probably another Hindi or so for the harnessed and wiring I needed to get this done.

If the G8x seats are the same bolt pattern as the F series. The same mounting would apply here. On the wiring though, it’s anyone’s guess. I chose to wire the seats in with a momentary switch which powers the seats on for 15 sec at a time since I have no idea nor wish to know how to emulate the later CANBUS/KCAN required that the E46 doesn’t use. There is no loss of functionality.

How they look are subjective but seeing them in person, it really looks OEM and fixes the biggest problem with the E46 intention IMO. The stock seats are just bad, even new. You slide all around in them and end up having to brace yourself against the door which on autox or track, which I have don’t both before and after, is really night and day difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[iCoutino]

Hey, I’m trying to do the same to my e92 335, I hope your post helps me, thanks for sharing!

[Ace280]

I know this is an older thread, but was wondering if there was any new information on this that might be helpful. I am also looking at designing a circuit to power the seats when the interior lights are on or if the ignition is on, so that way they work more like the factory seats. I will post any new information as I work on this project, really excited to get these M4 seats installed.

[Ace280]

Started working on this and figured out you can repin the E46 seat connector, so no need for an F82 pigtail. You do need to modify the e46 seat connector a little to get it to lock into the mount on the M4 seat.

[SuperDrivetrainSolutions]

Great work. I need to retrofit m4 seats into a old nissan S14. I didnt get plugs with the seats. Ill have to use individual pins etc. Would you please help out with a plug diagram that corresponds to your wiring info . If you dont mind please.

[Ace280]

Great work. I need to retrofit m4 seats into a old nissan S14. I didnt get plugs with the seats. Ill have to use individual pins etc. Would you please help out with a plug diagram that corresponds to your wiring info . If you dont mind please.

Are you saying you don't have the car side plug? Most of the wire information needed is in the first post and the first link in the first post.

[SuperDrivetrainSolutions]

Are you saying you don't have the car side plug? Most of the wire information needed is in the first post and the first link in the first post.

I dont have the car side plugs yes. So is the wire colours that you describe, on the seat side of the connector plug?

[Lee_Enfield]

What about bypassing the controller completely to avoid trying to trick them with a false kcan signal? Basically just straight wiring to the switches, then to the motors? Or maybe trying to wire in the original e46 controller? I imagine you might lose some features like seat memory but I imagine for most people doing this this is not a major concern.



I'm interested in maybe trying a f3x sport seat swap, just to get new, comfortable seats for a primarily street car. Rather then faff around with trying to re foam my originals.

[Ace280]

What about bypassing the controller completely to avoid trying to trick them with a false kcan signal? Basically just straight wiring to the switches, then to the motors? Or maybe trying to wire in the original e46 controller? I imagine you might lose some features like seat memory but I imagine for most people doing this this is not a major concern.



I'm interested in maybe trying a f3x sport seat swap, just to get new, comfortable seats for a primarily street car. Rather then faff around with trying to re foam my originals.

I really think that would take more work and a lot more wire splicing. I have some parts on order for a circuit to pulse the Can High and the circuit would only turn on if either the interior lights are on or the ignition is on. Once that is figured out, it is on to the passenger seat occupancy sensor. I am thinking of just taking one out of an e46 seat and installing it into the M4 seat. I want to first play with one and compare it to the one that is currently installed in the M4 seat.

[Ace280]

I dont have the car side plugs yes. So is the wire colours that you describe, on the seat side of the connector plug?

Yes the colors described in the first post are on the seat side connector.

[Ace280]

So I finally got my circuit working tonight and the seat seems to stay alive when I want them to and go to sleep when I want them to. So all I did was use a TI NE555 timmer and built the circuit that is in the datasheet for the A-stable operation. I connected a diode to ignition power and a second diode to the interior light power. Then connected the 2 diodes to the circuit power (Vcc). Lastly, I connected the CAN high to the output of the circuit thru a 0.15uF cap and grounded the CAN low. This will feed a ~1kHz to the CAN high anytime the interior lights are on or the ignition is on. Still need to get to complete the wiring in the car and install the interior back in the car so I can drive it and test the seats and circuit for real. Below is a picture of the circuit from the datasheet. Hope this helps someone, I am really excited to drive the car with the new seats. Still have a few other projects and maintenance that I need to complete first.

[liam821]

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

[usdmej]

Below is a picture of the circuit from the datasheet. Hope this helps someone

man i wish these posts were in english