Rocking Chairs

[redneck truck]

As much as I enjoy sitting in rocking chairs, I don't like that my A6's seats have taken on that likeness. I've heard of a writeup on this but I've been unable to find it. What has failed, and what needs to be repaired/replaced so that my seats feel solid again and I don't rock back and forth when I brake and shift?

[Vinchenzo51]

Hahaha that blows. The seats are very easy to remove (2 bolts behind a cover in the front then just pull backwards). Have you removed them to inspect everything?

[redneck truck]

I've removed them every time my interior has gotten flooded. Just don't know what tends to fail, haven't looked closely enough. hoping someone already knew the answer. *lazy*

[beemercer]

http://www.europaparts.com/seat-guid...35881203a.html

I guess this is the repair kit... my driver's seat does a little rock too

[danspach]

mine does this too...strike two against my driver seat ....along with the fact that it's a "comfort" seat in and S6.

did anyone get to the bottom of this?

does the kit beemercer listed do the trick?...haven't had an issue like this since my A2 GTI.....

[Calimus]

That kit should do the trick. VW/Audi has pretty much used the same design for the seat rails since the 80's. My 88' Scirocco had the seat rock problem and a kit almost identical to that fixed it. I'd imagine it's no different with the A6. And now I have a source since my A6 has a rocking chair as well.

[FrankA6]

Nope, that kit only works with the (1997-2001) pre-facelift cars....my car is a 04 and has this same problem and that stuff didn't work with it.

Still haven't fixed it.

[Calimus]

Well damn. Might have to rip out the seat and have a look then. I'm planning on making a trip to the dealer not this weekend but next for a part, I'll ask them what the deal is and see if they will cough up the secret.

[FrankA6]

Yeah I can never find out any info on this but if you put the seat all the way down it doesn't rock anymore, I'm about 6'3 so I have to have the seat all the way down anyways and this is why I never got around to fixing it.

When we took a look at it at my indy shop the seat didn't have any plastic clips so we figured it only worked for the older cars....

[danspach]

Thanks Frank...I'll have to lower the seat and see if it will stop rocking.

Pretty annoying.

- Dave

[ben916]

http://www.europaparts.com/seat-guid...35881203a.html

I guess this is the repair kit... my driver's seat does a little rock too

Yep, even with my 165lb, the RS does also...

Looking at the list from the link above:
Audi A4 B5 1.8T
Audi A4 B5 2.8L V6 12v
Audi A4 B5 2.8L V6 30v
Audi A6 C4 2.8L V6
Audi A6 C5 2.7T
Audi A6 C5 2.8L V6
Audi A6 C5 3.0L V6
Audi A6 C5 4.2L V8
Audi S4 B5
Audi S6 C4

Pardon my ignorance but the S6 and RS6 have sport seats?!?!
I asked my tech that specializes in German interiors and wiring, he stated that he WOULDN'T touch my seats without a plan or a write up on how to fix the rocking...

Also, all the way down seems to be the worst...

[A6Avant]

It should work. There is no difference between a pre-face lift and a face lift cars seat rails and connection. Frank if you cant find the clips and your rocking its likely because they are gone....

I have literally had this in every singe VAG i have ever had and yes that should do the job.

[danspach]

considering the effect is not much different than having a bad suspension bushing but that the fix is only 20 bucks, I'll be buying a kit.

I'll report back once I've been able to sneak out to the driveway to install it.

Thanks for the tip Jeremy.

- Dave

[danspach]

An update:

I bought the aforementioned "kit" (three plastic clips) and took my seat out yesterday. It's a 2003 S6 with "Comfort" seats.

http://www.europaparts.com/seat-guid...35881203a.html


After a good 45 minutes of exploring the underside of my incredibly heavy and tech-laden seat, I was unable to determine how this kit would help me.

I looked and looked and saw neither a broken clip that needed to be replaced or a spot from which said clip had disappeared completely and a new one could take its place.

I have pictures at home on my camera b/c I was hoping to write up a DIY. Will post them up and if someone can show where I was a dummy, I'd be hugely appreciative.

These clips look exactly like the ones I used on my '85 Scirocco and my '88 GTI, though. Nothing like these could be found under my seat, though.
____________________________

Also, I followed the procedure in the Bentley for removing the seat. Some additional comments:

...the electrical connections are tricky to separate b/c the clip mechanism has a tab on the bottom and the top (up against the seat bottom...a picture will help explain...and you only need to disconnect the fat wire on the seat side (five connections lined up together), not the single, thin wire (the fore/aft adjustment) which comes out with the motor and seat together.

...once I removed the two front bolts which are supposed to disconnect the seat from the car, I needed to shoulder bump the seat to dislodge it from the front bracket...it wasn't a s simple as "move the seat back and out of the track".

...I did not have the airbag adapter but following the Bentley procedure (moving the seat into position and then disconnecting the battery) allowed me to do this with no codes...not even the radio (though I have to reset seats, clock, one-touch down windows, etc.)

________________________________

[Scotty@Advanced]

What has happened with me is there are a few guides internal to the seat frame that break or wear out. Unfortunately Audi with their infinite wisdom has not made the $4.00 plastic piece available, so you have to buy a $800 seat frame.

[Scotty@Advanced]

Pardon my ignorance but the S6 and RS6 have sport seats?!?!

The S6 could have the regular seats or the sports.

The frames are identical aside from the bolster bar that supports the lower bolsters. In fact only sport frames are available and as part of fitting them into the regular seat that bar has to be cut off.

[danspach]

What has happened with me is there are a few guides internal to the seat frame that break or wear out. Unfortunately Audi with their infinite wisdom has not made the $4.00 plastic piece available, so you have to buy a $800 seat frame.

AWESOME. I'd like to junk-punch the guy who thought that was a smart way to design these. I know these cars are packed with incredible technology, but that makes it even more frustrating that it's become apparent that they haven't given a better/robust seat design any serious thought since my A1 Scirocco.

This is my daily driver (read: daily annoyance) but I have much cooler, gratifying automotive fish to fry.


Thank you Scotty - as always - for your real-world experience. (I'm going to hit you offline to buy the trunk release button that sits on the driver's B-pillar. Mine's been missing and it's bothering me now.)

- Dave