Seats auto/manual question

[ste]

I have two m535i.
I'm keeping the car with manual seats and selling the car with auto seats.
The auto seats car is in rougher condition but the seats are perfect (perforated) front and rear.

Before I pull them out,
is it difficult to make the manual seats auto and the auto seat manual?

[jdb]

That would require seat frame swap
So My humble opinion is that would be quite a bit of work.
Swapping these parts would I am sure bring out the weak/old/tired side of a few of the parts.

Jeff

[kojo96]

I don't think the manual seat car is pre-wired for power seats. It would require the wiring harnesses from both seats (auto) swapped over to the manual seat car.
This is quite a bit of work, most of the front interior would have to come out to access the auto seat wiring harness, good news is they will plug into the wiring block under the drivers dash. And, the e-brake cover for the seat switches.
Keep the car with manual seats the same, pull both seats from the car and change the covers. This of course they are the same color.

[ste]

Keep the car with manual seats the same, pull both seats from the car and change the covers. This of course they are the same color.

this is what I want to do... I didn't know if I'd be opening up a can of worms...
They're the same colour but the good set are perforated, the other set are not.

[Mike W.]

It's been, ahem, a few years, since I've been into sport seats. But, IIRC, you can remove the upholstery/pad sub assemblies as one with out removing the actual upholstery from them. I would look to do that. The seatback with the power headrest may get more complicated.

I concur with Kojo, I don't think manual cars have the wiring for power seats.

[96cali]

Hey ste I’m interested in acquiring an M535. Can I pm you about the one you’re selling? Phil

[vinceg101]

I concur with Kojo, I don't think manual cars have the wiring for power seats.

They don't. Having taken apart my entire interior (M535i with manual M-Tech seats), I can personally attest that the wiring harnesses for the power seats are not in the car. I'm not sure how a power seat harness is wired into the car, so it might be as simple as transferring the wiring harnesses and plugging them into the main connector box under the driver's dash. Of course you would have to pull up the carpet and center console to fish the harnesses through, but this is not as bad as it sounds.

Not to mention the center consoles are different also, so one would have to source that component as well (although easily swapped if the two cars are the same color interior).

[96cali]

Hey ste I’m interested in acquiring an M535. Can I pm you about the one you’re selling? Phil

Hey ste, sent you an email and a pm but that’s stuck in my outbox for some reason. Please lmk you got one or the other or saw this reply. TIA! Phil

[ste]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking about swapping over the upholstery or swapping over the motors from one seat to another. I pulled a seat out and it looks like it would be a huge job so I'm not going to bother.
Thanks for your interest Phil. The car is not in the US and is RHD

[96cali]

Well that does complicate things! Thanks and good luck with your work and eventual sale.