E39 comfort seats vs E53/E46 comfort seats

[rolfi]

Hey.

I've driven the X5 over 3000km (1864,11358 miles) this summer, and now I really hate the sport seats... I can't adjust them to fit me correctly, because the back rest is too flat. And I won't miss sliding from side to side between the side bolsters either.

I'm looking for comfort seats from E46/E53, but I haven't ever sat in one. I have tried the E39 comfort seats, and they are good. But after searching, I understand that they're not exactly bolt on I didn't find a single page or article about anyone fitting E38/E39 seats in E53/E46. Just a bunch of posts saying that it's a no-go.

For those of you who have tried both:
How do the E46/E53 comfort seats compare to the E39 comfort seats? In terms of... comfort...

If they're rubbish compared to the E39 ones, I might just have to get a pair of E39 seats, a couple of wiring diagrams and some steel to make adapter brackets.

[THE VEIN]

What I noticed around here is that if a part from another car doesn't have the same part number as your x5 part they will tell u it won't fit. I'm pretty sure you can remove the seat rails from the e39 seats and swap them with your e53 rails. now for the wiring, i don't know but I'm sure you can cut and splice to get it to work but a lot of people on this site doesn't know anything about that

[Ricky Bobby]

Well if you weren't in effing Scandinavia I'd love to trade you E53 sport seats for my standard E53 seats, they aren't comfort seats but probably more comfy than the sport seats are for you!

[AquilaBMW]

I am with OP on this - I think the E53 Sports Seats suck! My favorite seats are still the E38 Sports Contour Seats!

[rolfi]

Originally Posted by THE VEIN

What I noticed around here is that if a part from another car doesn't have the same part number as your x5 part they will tell u it won't fit. I'm pretty sure you can remove the seat rails from the e39 seats and swap them with your e53 rails. now for the wiring, i don't know but I'm sure you can cut and splice to get it to work but a lot of people on this site doesn't know anything about that

"Not same part number = doesn't fit" seems to be quite a common conception on a lot of forums.
I just remembered that I have a E39 interior in my garage. Standard manual seats, but that doesn't really matter, as they will be used only for research purposes. Now I just need some free time

I also believe that the electrics is very doable. I had 5 minutes of free time at work today, and quickly looked at E53, E38 and E39 wiring diagrams. It doesn't look impossible at all. I hope I have time to sit down with the wiring diagrams this weekend, and draw a new one which will work. Or test fitting the seats... Or both

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Well if you weren't in effing Scandinavia I'd love to trade you E53 sport seats for my standard E53 seats, they aren't comfort seats but probably more comfy than the sport seats are for you!

Thanks but no thanks The standard seats are even worse for my back, than the sports.

Originally Posted by AquilaBMW

I am with OP on this - I think the E53 Sports Seats suck! My favorite seats are still the E38 Sports Contour Seats!

They're the fucking bee's knees! They're not as common as the comforts, but if I find a relatively cheap pair in my area, I'm buying sport contours instead of comforts!