Aftermarket Recaro Questions

[rmeglior]

Hey guys, quick question on some aftermarket recaros I just won via ebay. These are out of a SVT focus, and are heated, have airbags, and the driver side is power. How much of a pita will these be to get in my 05 a4? I'm assuming I'll need a braket from recaro, but what about the airbags. Can I even make those work?

Any guidence would be awesome. Thanks!

Rob

[aaron1085]

Keep us posted on this status of install....buying something other than the S4 Racaro's may be a cheaper, viable option for many

[manhertm]

Unless the seats are already from Recaro's line, you'll probably have to use universal sliders. I don't know that just any A4 sliders by Recaro would fit ,but I might be wrong. As far as the power to the seats, well that's easy. Find the power wire on the seat then find a source. If you feel like a challenge, then try to get the air bags and seat heaters to work with Audi's factory control module. That might be as simple as finding with which wires on the seat is for the airbag and seat heaters, then using a factory connector to match it up. If you already have heated seats, I think you can pretty much do that, if not I know you have to buy some module to get it all working like OEM, including the control unit in the dash. If you can't do that then you can at least get the seat heaters working without a dash unit, but you will have to buy some switches from an aftermarket kit and wire them up.

Start here for the info on wiring the seats to the factory unit. http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=189105

Here's another link to the seat heater kits if you don't already have heated seats and don't feel like tackling the wiring http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/index.html

[golgo13]

focus recaros ??? pics when you get them please.

[Shi-Fu JaY]

yup, they look similar to the B6 S4 seats....very nice!

You'll probly need new brackets.
and the airbag? your gonna have to find out yourself, and report back to us.
We are all dying to know!

focus recaros ??? pics when you get them please.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

here's how they look:

[rmeglior]

Thanks all. Here's a link to the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...SA:MOTORS:1123

[rmeglior]

oh, fyi, my seats are heated in the car now.

[manhertm]

oh, fyi, my seats are heated in the car now.

Well, it should be just matter of match the focus seat wires, your OEM connector.


PS. for that price you should've just waited for S4 seats, that would've been a direct swap.

[sandspeed]

Hmmm... I like this idea. I see Recaros all the time on Ebay.co.uk, and I've thought about it, but I really didn't want to deal with the hassle. I suppose if you have a spare set of A4 seats, some time, and the willingness to play around with some wiring, you can get these to work fine. See if you can adapt stock A4 seat rails to these seats, for an even more OEM look.

[rmeglior]

How much are they when posted to the classifieds? I saw a pair of recaros similar to the ones I just won for 1500 shipped the other day, so I figured 1225 was a fair deal (for new seats).

Thanks!

[Arclight]

Keep us posted on your progress. Like others here, I had thought about the possibility of doing the same thing.

[manhertm]

How much are they when posted to the classifieds? I saw a pair of recaros similar to the ones I just won for 1500 shipped the other day, so I figured 1225 was a fair deal (for new seats).

Thanks!

I usually see them go for around $1200 shipped on AZ and about $1300 on Ebay.

[Ill 3.0]

^^ B6 S4 Recaros? definitely not that low.

[PCYC]

yeah OEM s4 recaros are like 1800 shipped

[BlackB6]

$1800 for new front seats, what a waste.

[dirtybrd]

As long as the resistance is the same for the Audi and Recaro airbags you should be ok. If they're different you might have to add a resistor inline.

[rmeglior]

ok thanks all! Once I get the seats I'll try to document and take pics of what I end up doing.

[manhertm]

ok thanks all! Once I get the seats I'll try to document and take pics of what I end up doing.

Sweet, if you do get everything to work it will be another resource for better seats.

[rmeglior]

Hey Gang. Got the seats today. Quick question. I noticed on side of the brackets on the seats is higher than the other. Is this normal and will a recaro universal bracket help me out here? I also don't see anyway to detach the existing bracket, but I'll look more later. Thanks!

[rmeglior]

btw, the wiring should be cake. I have to make sure I don't confuse the airbag and seat heaters :)

[Arclight]

Post some pictures of the brackets and the seats...

[rmeglior]

Pics!

[rmeglior]

I don't know guys, it seems like these aren't going to work without a ton of effort. The brackets look like they are held into the frame by four gold bolts. But then I would imagine I would need a special bracket made to fit that placement. The typical recaro bracket doesn't seem like it applies to this seat for some reason.

Any other thoughts before I toss them on craigslist?

[dirtybrd]

I thought you might have a problem with the frames, sometimes the same seat in the aftermarket isn't the same as used in a factory car.

[rmeglior]

weaaaak. I'm sure it could be done with a bit of creative welding, but blah for now.

[dirtybrd]

Anything is possible.

[aaron1085]

they look awesome...make it happen. TOO bad I have a tan interior, any seat I buy would have to be reupholstered

[Arclight]

Nice seats...look like the model in the S4. BTW, what Recaro model are they? It seems like you should be able to order the Recaro B6A4 brackets and adapt them for these seats. Maybe you should place a call to Recaro NA and see if they can provide some guidance...

[SKIDMRK]

take the bottom bracket off, snap a few pics of the bottom of the seat itself, take some measurements of distances of the bolt holes and send all of the info to Wedge Engineering. They should be able to put together a bracket/slider combination that will work for you.

www.wedgeengineering.net/

I have wedge brackets and Recaro sliders on my Koenig K5000's. Not super cheap, but worth every penny.

[rmeglior]

Not sure what model they are honestly. Maybe the 'Ford Focus won't fit in my oodi' model?

I like the ideas about calling recaro/wedge. Thanks!

[SKIDMRK]

no worries. fyi: wedge stocks the recaro sliders too. one stop shopping.

[rmeglior]

EPIC FAIL.
Unfortunatly I can't use these. I tried to take the bracket off, and they are pretty intergrated into the whole seat. The 4 gold bolts I mentioned just hold the seat bottom in. There's no realistic way a custom bracket would work for these.

Anyone wanna buy some nice ford focus recaro seats? Probably the best thing about a focus :)

[dirtybrd]

Thats sucks! Also in your sig. it's Alpine, not Alipne.

[Louis J.]

I thought about buying A3 or MkV GTI/GLI seats but they won't work without some welding. I rather just buy aftermarket seats but since you already have them, it'll probably take more effort/expense to resell them. I'd say keep them and make it work.

[rmeglior]

yea, I never was the best speller :)

[Arclight]

There has to be a way to disassemble those seats... if for nothing else than warranty purposes or airbag replacement.

Maybe a ETKA screenshot of the B6S4 recaros would help point you in the right direction...

Or the equivalent type of deal from Ford.

[rmeglior]

does anyone know a good metal shop in the Pittsburgh area that works on seats? It the bracket is so intergrated into the seat, I could probably do something by removing the 'raised' part of the bracket attachment and fastening/welding a new bar. oh hell. Does anyone have a pic of an A4 specific bracket?

[dirtybrd]

You got one more Alpine to fix

[rmeglior]

Or maybe I'm running the knockoff brand called Alipine.

the day is yours.