Sport Seat Interchange

Can someone tell me what years and model's sport seats will interchange with a 1985 635CSi?

I'm having a really hard time finding front power sport seats for my restoration project and apparently the driver's seat was worn out and replaced with a 5 series from a 4 door so there is no tilt to the top of the seat, making getting anything into the back seat difficult.

Thanks for your help.

I think as long as you get sports seats from an E24 from 1983-87, it should work okay. I would check the seat bottoms first though. The 88 and 89 models might be a little different, but can definitely fit right in. I like the manual sports seats better than the power sports. Keep you options open.

^ +1

The bases of all the E24 sport seats are the same. The problem you will run into is that the 86 and up sport seats come with a different type of module to control the seats and the plugs are completely different. If upgrading to 86 or later you will need the harness as well that connects the seats to the controls at the center console. Last option, try to find some manual sport seats or even some nice aftermarket replicas. Thats what I put in my E24 at half the cost of power seats.

I was able to make a seat bracket that i used with the 1996 M3 VADER SEATS (I will mass produce the BRACKET IF MORE THEN TWENTY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED)(I must first do some math for appropriate priceing).

check my little video. mine its a 1984 euro model . is that the seats what you have on your bimmer? try on e-bay uk !! i saw some for sale !

Originally Posted by jayster0966

The bases of all the E24 sport seats are the same. The problem you will run into is that the 86 and up sport seats come with a different type of module to control the seats and the plugs are completely different. If upgrading to 86 or later you will need the harness as well that connects the seats to the controls at the center console. Last option, try to find some manual sport seats or even some nice aftermarket replicas. Thats what I put in my E24 at half the cost of power seats.

This is not correct as the bases, complete with runners, are different on the pre 82 cars. The post 82 bases won't bolt in without some sort of adaptor being made.

Hey guys...... I went through this process over a month span, in search of the perfect seats for my 89 635 resto project.....It is pretty much finished, and well while you’re thinking of interior options and seats etc, Might I suggest the E36 M3 "Vaders" They are fantastic looking seats and pretty much ROCK in an E24 IMO...

I feel that BMW "Comfort" Seats should NEVER have been an option in the E24 6er as they look out of place, and just look horrible IMO.

Here are some pictures of my Vaders which have been custom skinned in E46 Cinnamon leather..... Stuck with OEM "style" 2 Tone config, using Black and Cinnamon leather.

I have a full write up for anyone wanting to do a Vader install, Its really easy and well my ONLY suggestion to the addition of Vaders, is that you MUST get Euro rear headrests, as they mimic the Vader headrest design and really round the interior out, making the front and rear seats flow together, plus when the upholstery was being done, I matched the front stitching to the rear stitching so the patterns match and deleted the ///M stripes.

Tell me what you all think!!!

Here are some pics!

I like with u did to the 6 it is HHOOOOTTTTTTTTTT. how did you get the seats to fit

can you send me the writ up on instaling the seats BTW I have the rear head rest.. you

Hey thanks for the complements....I think it suits the 6 quite well....I can email you the full write up or here is the short hand version.... sooo first things first.. The E36 Vaders are manual, so if you find a set, I would go for manuals, less wiring and and less weight, plus the manual seats dont break down as easy... Mine started life as dove grey manual vaders no heat... I installed after market heated seat kit while I was at it.. Second, the E36 seat rails actually line right up with the e24 mounting holes at the front so i first drove around with just the front rails bolted to the factory e24 mounting holes, just to see if I would get tired of them......However I fell in love after the first day and decided to go all the way, the right way....Now the front holes and frames mount up perfectly but the rear end of the rails exceed the rear holes by a lot.... Plus the E36 seats actually are mounted on an inner offset, meaning if you look at the seats head on the seats are mounted with an inner offset, which in the E24 buts the seats against the center console and then you are setting slightly to the side of the steering wheel and not at the center, so you need to mount the seats closer to the doors to center the vaders to the steering wheel and passenger side as well... there are a couple ways to do this...1) make custom adapter brackets using the e24 mounting holes which means you will need mounting hardware X 8, as there are 8 mounting points, plus you will have to use your stock seat bolts to mount the seats to the floorpan....I did this at first and did NOT like the resaults, as you could see the adapters and all of the hardware which does NOT look clean or stock... The adapter brackets should be used if youre not willing to go the whole nine yards to do what I did in order to get that factory clean look. If you look at my pics, you will NOT notice any brackets etc, you will only see one factory bolt on all 4 corners of the rails which took a decent amount of work PLUS the following tools......Plasma cutter, tack welder, cordless drill insert nuts with the same thread pattern as the stock bolts because that is what i used in the end because I wanted it to look stock, and gutting carpet and all interior parts...This was an easy choice as I had to pull the interior to upholster it anyway PLUS, all my interior was natur beige including the carpet which I hand dyed black.... I welded in the mounting nuts once i made my holes in the floor, put a nice bead all around, and then painted them with a good black rust prevention paint... I the cit holes in my carpet, and then re-used those pieces to fill in the OEM mounting holes so you dont really notice where they were, and once I glued the circles of carpet to cover the holes I too a wire brush the blend the fibers together soo the are no visible seams. I the installed the E36 vaders, used my factory bolts, and DONE.......hehe, Ohhh and this was an amazing stroke of luck, the e24 seat belt buckles fit perfectly into the E36 seat mounted clips with NO modifications.....I will pass on the actual write-up with pics once I organize everything.

Alpine635: those are some really nice seats!! In fact, your entire interior is outstanding.

Very nice Interior, I want to install those seats in my 4/89 production 635. Do you still have the write up?