[delmarco]

Originally Posted by Izdatpaliboi

I have a few questions my self. How much do like mint or near mint condition e36 oem seats costs, where can I get them from, are they hard to install and is there a DIY for it. The reason im asking is if everything goes well by the next weekend I should have my bimmer and the guy who is selling it said the seats arent in the best condition. If anyone could help me out on this it would be appreciated. Thanx

I'll help...since help is a rare thing here...lol*

Look on Ebay for the cheapest deals and usually you can get good condition seats (not perfect) in almost all colors especially tan (being the most prevelant), black and grey are rare.

The prices ranges from $300 for full set to $900 for full set. but calculate S&H to be between $50 and $150. I haven't seen the DIY for seats but I will take pictures of when I get mine done and post up a DIY here.

So Far, This is what I've been hearing in terms of what to expect;

The rear seats (that don't fold down for trunk access) are easy as pulling them out and unbolting them...I believe...pull the bottom 1st then the back part 2nd. If you have fold downs it may be harder.

Fronts seats that are NOT powered or heated are easily unbolted from the sliding rack and taken out. The bolts are tricky to get to and the seats may be tricky getting out the door (depending of if you have a sedan(harder) or coupe (easier). Also the trickiest part for the front seats is unplugging and replugging the SRS wires. A quick way around that is by NOT removing the seats themselves but ONLY swapping the cushion parts and the head rests out. The cushions are stapled to the plastic base of the seat with hog rings...if you find the location of all the rings (pull out your old cushion 1st and see where they are) you are good to go. The only side effect is that you can potentially damage the cushion if you are not careful. Also if you have extra wires for power seats (not heated though since the cushions have extra stuff in them) this way will be easier for you.

On the flipside, If you have extra dough go to www.leatherseats.com and buy factory new pre-cut BMW E36 leather upholtery and install them either yourself or at the appropriate shop. These will run yoiu $679 for all the seats and door panels plus 25$ for S&H.

They also custom match your color and offer to make custom cuts and styles for no extra charge. (I wanted the perforated sports leather package-which is the same leather with the tiny ventilation holes found on the new 750i BMWs and S500 Mercs) But for $704...I can't afford that right now even though I think its a great deal.

anyway good luck...and good luck with your new BMW!