Swapping seats. Do i need to program?
 

So i got sport seats out of a 2005 4.8is. Ty TTGTR. Put them in, and the seat memory doesnt work. Do I need to do some coding, or activating to get the seat memory to work. I had comfort seats before. All other stuff seems to work just fine.

And my laptop is out for the count, so I cant even connect to scan for issues.

Let me know if you seem this issue before.

Heating and all other adjust abilities work?

If so I would look in the owners manual you prob have to redo the memory from scratch. It won't remember the memory from the old seats if that's what you're asking.

:iagree:

No thats the thing. It won't allow it to be programmed. I also get a suspension inactive messege constantly flashing, but suspension works. If i connect comfort seats back to the car, everything is fine.

Wait what do you mean all memory from scratch? You mean there is something more than hold memory button and number?

Could be a bad memory module on the new seat.

Seat Memory not working - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

You probably need to re-initialize your keys.

Edit:

This doesn't look like the solution. Maybe switch the seat memory module from your old seat to the new one?

That link is nuts. 3 different procedures, and nothing definative.

I will see if i can find something about it. Does that clear the seat memory module thing? For a 10 min seat swap, this is turning into a process.

The seat module is good. When TTGTR removed the seats, the memory worked as soon as he turned on the power.

Ok found the procedure by qsilver on bimmer forums.

BMW E39 Key Initialization Procedure

Gonna give it a go tonight. Hope my issues go away.

But wouldn't that module be coded to his car and not your car?

Thats what i was asking before. Can the seat module get coded to my car? The amount of strange issues is sort of absurd. Simple seat swap.

Yeah it's kind of shitty but I can imagine it can be coded to your car. Either way hoping you are enjoying the seats!

To be honest I never use the memory function on my seat unless I am just done cleaning my interior out, but if you are throwing other errors that's weird. I'm sure it's not a fault in the seats themselves though

Which is strange. I have put my fronts back in, and boom no errors. Everything back to normal.

I have taken these seats out 4 times now. They will stay in for now. Trying to sort this bs out before spending money.

Seats are strange after nearly 3 years in the comfort seats. I like how they feel though. Looks nice thats for sure.

I read that the seat module might actually store crash data. And as we all know, ttgtr was smashed. The SLS message is clearly just that, my air susp operates just fine, so its just sending a message. There is a huge possibility that i need new seat modules. Which would suck. I cant even figure out how to take that plastic trim off.

Are you using the seat belt tensioner from the new seat or from your old seat? The pretension in the seat of the crash car might had gone off and should not be used.

Where is the tensioner. I thought that was in the belt, not seat. I guess in the seat. I did not pull anything out of my seats. Any idea where the pretensioner is? Is it the buckle. Makes sence. I didnt even thing of that, and my friend suggested I change the buckle out.

A friend that has a body shop just stopped by. He brought his inpa with him. The seats are bricked. The tensioner code that keeps going off cannot be cleared. He said i will most likelly need to replace all the modules in it. How crazy is that.

I'm not 100% familiar with the difference in e53 seat control modules...but is the seat control module designed the same in the comfort & sport seats? If yes, then remove the seat control module from your comfort seats and swap it with your new sport seats. Instead of pulling the whole seats in and out...just swap the driver's seat control module that's mounted in to the plastic seat cover (surround).

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EDIT:

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looking at the part database diagram & finding an image of the comfort seat control module...then at the driver's seat switch in my X5 which just has the regular seats with lumbar...looks like the e53's comfort seat switch is different than the switch for the seats that don't have the upper articulating back & electric head rests. There appears to be an extra little button built into the main seat control module that has 4 arrows on it (headrest up/down + articulating upper back section forward/backward). This is not how the e38/e39 driver's seat control module is designed...the upper articulating back on those models has a separate switch that controls that function. :(

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/232494_x800.jpg

But I still wonder if you can use this switch anyway...if there's no wiring harness for the electric headrest & articulating upper back...that shouldn't stop the seat memory and the other seat movements from working. I'd still give it a try...and see if the module from your comfort seats will retain their memory when installed in the new sport seats. Its just that the headrest and upper back won't be electrically activated anymore. :)

The seat belt tensioners have an explosive charge that goes off in a crash that keeps the seat belt pulled tight to prevent the passenger from moving toward the dash. So if the seats came from a vehicle that was in a crash...as mentioned above...you may need to use your old tensioners as well as swapping over the seat control module. Find out if the SRS/MRS system was fully functional in the X5 that you got your seats from...and if no one was sitting in the front passenger seat...then that explosive shouldn't have gone off...and only the driver's side needs to be replaced. If the SRS light was on in the crashed X5...then the front passenger seat belt tensioner went off as well regardless if someone was sitting in the seat...so that one needs to be replaced as well.

Pulling the entire seat is actually easier than getting that module out. 5 16mm bolts and 1 wire harness. I can swap them in 5 min now. That module has a million clips, which im afraid of breaking. Well the cover at least.

What im still confused about is the SLS message i get in OBC when the new seats are in.

I am also amazed at how much crash memory the seats store. I guess I have no choice but use the crap from my seats, at least to test. For now, my comforts are going back in. No time to mess around right now.

This sounds like how my projects go. Start simple, end up with days of nonsense and headaches. Let us know how you get it sorted. Cheers.

Tensioner is in the seat belt buckle assembly. But if you have issues with that, you should get SRS (airbag light) warning. Try unplugging the cable connection to the seat belt buckle. There are two. Connection at the hub of the seat belt assembly and another one that connects to main seat connector.

I recently replaced comfort seats with sport seats. Only error I got was the occupancy sensor message from passenger side. Since my X is 2004 and the seat were from 2006, design of occupancy sensor has changed so I couldn't use one from my X. I just ended up disabling this feature from Scanner 1.4 to eliminate the message. Besides that, everything worked perfectly, including memory functions.

I don't have air suspension (well just the air bags in the rear) so I couldn't tell you about the SLS. :dunno:

So what are you gonna do with the comfort seats?

I'm interested to see what happens if you swap the seat memory module from the sports to the comfort seats.

Have you tried putting just the passenger Sport seat in, and the drivers comfort seat, to see if the issue is related to just the drivers seat (indicating tensioner, etc)?

:iagree:

Eliminate some of the variables.

Qsilver mentioned the comfort seat module vs. sport seat module. If they are different and I suspect they are (I have seen extra features on the comfort seats that the sports don't and vice versa) you might need to update the SA number and recode the GM module to work with the new seats. I might be wrong though...

You right about that..
New seats are just the seats ...
Slick .. You have to transfer all the electrical components from the old seats to the new one .. Like seats air bags sensors , belt tensioners , memories modules ,,
Been there done that ...

I was going to sell them, but right now, I have no friggen clue how this will all play out. I mean, it feels like I will have to buy a bunch of new parts, so eventually, when you see the X by my user name, that's when the seats go on sale.

No, I sort of did it in pair, because I wanted to make sure I can restore my car to NORMAL. I have confirmed that. Tonight I will pull just the driver seat.

So you are saying everything has to come out?

Thanks for jumping into this thread. I was hoping someone would have a definitive answer.

I am scratching my head here.

Any pointers on how to remove all the plastic trim around the memory modules?

Remove screw from back then pry off front clip and two bottom clips off. Swing out and up from bottom. Wiggle two top clips off (hidden). Below is a link to E46 seat fix video but describes how to remove seat module cover and the design of the cover is exactly the same as E53.

BMW seat not working how to fix it. - YouTube

I recently purchased rear flares from TTGTR. Thanks TTGTR. Hope my project goes smooth... :cool:

Seeing that the TTGTR seats were in a wreck, is it possible the module has stored crash data?

Hey that's Brian, one of my favorite youtuber. If you find his video helpful, I hope you give him a thumbs up and subscribe to his channel so he can get some money from youtube for uploading his videos.

contact X604 - 15 pin black connector that goes to the seat module

pins 11, 12, 13 and 15 are not wired in the sport seats (probably just empty spots) and wired for the headrest adjustment in the comfort seats.

I bet the pyro charge in belt pretentioner has set a memory fault and that fault is the one getting in the way.

I can't see that the empty slots for the headrest adjustment would create such a havoc in the system (even though everything is possible!!)

the belt tensioners fire up in case of frontal and rear collisions, when the threshold for airbags has been reached...
The airbag module A12 is looking for a specific resistance coming from the belt tensioners to pins 1 and 2 (drivers side) and pins 3 and 4 for passenger side. I do not know what the value is, it is not listed, and testing the resistance with an Ohmmeter on live pyro charge is not really a good idea...

Dennis, i'd say you are on the right path with the swapping your seat modules - your car will see the same electronics it used to seeing for all these years, and you will have the frame, cushion and leather that you wanted - car is happy, you are happy!!!

i got the passenger seat pinouts, they were first to pop on the screen. if you want the pinouts for the driver side, i can pull them too...


comfort seats pinout:

S56 Seat adjustment switch, front passenger's seat

Plug connector overview






Number X-pin, colour Description

X18841 3-pin, black Plug connector Seat adjustment switch, front passenger's seat
X604 15-pin, black Plug connector Seat adjustment switch, front passenger's seat

Pin assignments at plug connector X18841







Pin Type Description / Signal type

Connection / Measuring notes

1 M Ground Lumbar support switch, passenger's seat

2 Not used

3 A Voltage supply terminal 30 Lumbar support switch, passenger's seat




Pin assignments at plug connector X604


Pin Type Description / Signal type

Connection / Measuring notes

1 A Downward inclination signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat cushion tilt motor

2 A Upward inclination signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat cushion tilt motor

3 A Slide back signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat movement motor

4 A Slide forward signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat movement motor

5 A Signal, raise seat height Passenger's seat Passenger's seat height adjustment motor

6 A Ground Ground point

7 A Signal, seat backrest back Passenger's seat Passenger's backrest recliner motor

8 E Pin assignments at plug connector 3 Fuse F21

9 Plug connector

10 A Signal, lower seat height Passenger's seat Passenger's seat height adjustment motor

11 A Signal, lower backrest head Passenger's seat Passenger's back-rest actuator motor

12 A Signal, lower head restraint Passenger's seat Passenger's headrest motor

13 A Signal, raise backrest head Passenger's seat Passenger's back-rest actuator motor

14 A Signal, seat backrest forward Passenger's seat Passenger's backrest recliner motor

15 A Signal, raise head restraint Passenger's seat Passenger's headrest motor



sport seat pinout:


Number X-pin, colour Description

X18841 3-pin, black Plug connector Seat adjustment switch, front passenger's seat
X604 15-pin, black Plug connector Seat adjustment switch, front passenger's seat



Pin assignments at plug connector X18841

Pin Type Description / Signal type

Connection / Measuring notes

1 M Ground Lumbar support switch, passenger's seat

2 Not used

3 A Voltage supply terminal 30 Lumbar support switch, passenger's seat



Pin assignments at plug connector X604

Pin Type Description / Signal type

Connection / Measuring notes

1 A Downward inclination signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat cushion tilt motor

2 A Upward inclination signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat cushion tilt motor

3 A Slide back signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat movement motor

4 A Slide forward signal Passenger's seat Passenger's seat movement motor

5 A Signal, raise seat height Passenger's seat Passenger's seat height adjustment motor

6 A Ground Ground point

7 A Signal, seat backrest back Passenger's seat Passenger's backrest recliner motor

8 E Pin assignments at plug connector 3 Fuse F21

9 Plug connector

10 A Signal, lower seat height Passenger's seat Passenger's seat height adjustment motor

11 Plug connector

12 Plug connector

13 Plug connector

14 A Signal, seat backrest forward Passenger's seat Passenger's backrest recliner motor

15 Plug connector

Ty all. Fariz you are right i think. The missing wiring from the seats is probably causing the strange SLS shit, kbus comm errors, voltage spikes, and my gauge cluster to flicker.

So i went out to my friend today in Long Island to diagnose this issue further. Comfort seats in trunk.

Driver seat causes kbus error, pre-tensioner error, and bricked memory module. Inpa, dis can see all buttons being pressed, but cant talk to retrieve memory or take program. Even activating with inpa nets retarded results. Oh, seat occupancy too.

Pass seats gives seat occupancy, kbus error, SLS inactive, over voltage, and flickering cluster.

I am now convinced everything has to come out from my seats. Any of the sport seats in the car causes insane problems.

I'm putting this on the back burner for a week at least. Sweated my balls off with these bastards 2 days straight. Comfort seats in car now. I dont have time to rip apart 4 seats right now. Plus im sort of pissed off this wasnt an easy swap like i thought it would be. Even more pissed that the comfort seats really felt great on the drive home. It felt like i was in a couch.

So i decided on a new plan. Swap in sports, but with full electronics. Take out my seats and dye them black. Maybe burnt orange or chokolate. Yes, i will try it. Put mine back in, and sell the black sports. They are in better condition than my comforts, but my comforts are more comfortable for traffic duties in NYC. Yup. This should be done in about a year. Lol.

Denis, hell of a project. But I applaud your determination, once you start popping the covers off your comfort seats and swapping electronics I don't think it should be too bad.

Most people would be already listing shit in the classifieds but you're a man with a plan, subscribed to see how this turns out.

Did the rears and door cards swap in alright?

The door cards look identical. But i was going to rock the white cards for a while. It looked super cool with black everything, white door inserts and white child seats. I have a pic of the rear like this, but never got to snapping a pic of the fronts in.

I will put them in now though. I'm at a point where i might as well. Plus it takes 10 min to swap them in. Rears slightly more of a bitch, but not much more.

Deff not giving up without a fight. Plus im happy my car returned to normal. That gives me hope that it will all be ok next attempt.

For what it's worth, I swapped in a set of comfort seats (from a 2004) to my 2001 with base seats. Everything just worked, including the seat heaters when I swapped in the console that has the seat heater buttons. No coding required.

I guess I haven't looked closely if the seat memory is following the car key since I only use 1 key.

Regarding the k-bus error, I see that one all the time when I read some modules (can't recall which ones), but I think it's a don't-care in my case since everything is working ok.

Swapping seats. Do i need to program?
 

I just read the whole thing what a cluster Fuk. Lol. But hey your in NYC im in Nj. If you want to drive down nj again am about 30mins before TTGtr u can try to see if its seat of not i have my tan sports seats see if those works then youll know if its seat or something elsehttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/03/razyhe4a.jpg

Oh no i established that its the seat issue. They are out of car and all errors, including kbus error is gone. I need to swap over all my stuff to the black sports and I am sure it will work.

Rev i have a 2006, and u have the pre face lifted 01. That might be the difference. Probably new pins or some shit between the 2004 sports and my 2006 car. My car it all works too, just strange errors.

I guess i'm in for a treat with my swap. Just snagged a set of Sport Seats too.

I swapped my standard power heated seats for comfort heated seats and was a direct PnP swap.

Just chiming in to share that I too had the SLS level light come on along and my heated seats wouldn't stay on. I only installed the passenger side to see if it would work and sure enough it did NOT. The set I bought also came out of a car which was wrecked so maybe me and SlickGT1 share the same crappy luck.

I am bringing the seats to a friend of mine who specializes in BMW and owns a 4.8iS to see what he thinks we can do to simplify it. If he says we're swapping modules and stuff then this project will probably sit till spring.

Sorry to hear Olek, I guess we're both off to the races for Dynavin and running boards now haha!

haha yea I guess so. I'm going to get these seats to work I'm just a little disappointed that the comforts will be useless when i'm done. :(

Keep us updated, I guess whoever buys them will have to know they'd have to swap their internals?

I've been finding this more and more lately that upgraded seats aren't just PnP,

Just a quick update. I have been slowly getting parts from non smacked cars. I will test this out as soon as I have to eto swap them all in. feen, if you get them in beforeme, let me know. Ty

I PMed you the other day. Did you get it?

Had my seats installed by MP Motorsports in NY this weekend. Not sure how but Mike managed to make everything work. I didn't really ask for a detailed explanation as its clearly a trade secret since no one else could help me with them. Give him a shout SlickGT1. It will take him a few hours but he can get it done without swapping any modules.

MP Motorsports
71-05 64th St
Glendale, New York
(347) 725-4228

- Olek

Great to hear Olek, enjoy!

Hi All -

I just reread this thread and wanted to see what the general consensus was. Per 525it, it looks like some voodoo can be done without swapping out the modules, etc

Slick, any updates.

I'm considering the reverse. Putting comfort seats in-lieu of my sports

How difficult / possible would it be to swap the front seats? My seat heater in the left lumbar area is in the process of failing and the cost to repair seems really high since the element is integrated into the leather. As a work around, I'm wondering of I could swap driver seat wit the passenger seat.

Can't swap them side to side. But when you get a replacement it's really easy. Undo 5 bolts on the bottom of the seat, unclip the electrical harness (after adjusting seat w/ controls into the centermost and lowermost position and steering wheel into the furthest in and up position), then grab your backbrace and lift it out. Installation is the reverse of removal.

If you do not have the means to reset an airbag SRS light... do not put the key into the ignition after unclipping the seat hearness. Alternatively, you could disconnect the battery after making the seat adjustments to avoid the light. Reconnect battery after the new seat is plugged in.

Just out of curiosity, are the seats actually unique from side to side? The controls would need to be swapped and perhaps the mounting brackets but I was hoping the actual seat would be the same. Short of that, do you know if the seat heater could be disconnected for the top section only? Thanks for the help!

I believe the cushion itself can be switched side to side.
However, please double check part # from realoem.com to make sure.