Fitting Electric Memory seats into non-electric 318ci
Discussion
I very much doubt it will be easy, or economically viable unless your an auto electrician! Apart from upgrading your seats to the leather, why would you want to do it? I have a car that comes with electric seats as standard, but apart from the memory function (which I can quite happily live without) I really can't see the point in them! It's just one more thing to go wrong, plus I wonder how each one of those seats weighs with all those electric motors.
Save yourself the grief!
Save yourself the grief!
I picked up a complete genuine black nappa sport leather trim from ebay for £400 and thought that when I come to sell my car on in 6 months time it would help it sell as its a very desirable extra. I also have had fitted the full genuine 330 sport body kit, so the interior complements this just perfect.
M400UK said:
I picked up a complete genuine black nappa sport leather trim from ebay for £400 and thought that when I come to sell my car on in 6 months time it would help it sell as its a very desirable extra. I also have had fitted the full genuine 330 sport body kit, so the interior complements this just perfect.
For the extra money, you could probably have bought an early E46 3 Series coupe with a six cylinder engine.
I used to laugh and joke about the 318ci too, but all jokes aside it's not as underpowered as I imagined. It's probably a better drive than the 320ci, it's just the 320 has the right sound!
Honestly I would look to move the interior on at a slight profit if you picked it up for a bargain. Then keep your eyes peeled for a leather interior for manual seats - makes your life simple.
Honestly I would look to move the interior on at a slight profit if you picked it up for a bargain. Then keep your eyes peeled for a leather interior for manual seats - makes your life simple.
Edited by markda on Monday 23 October 15:27
agent006 said:
markda said:
I used to laugh and joke about the 318ci too, but all jokes aside it's not as underpowered as I imagined. It's probably a better drive than the 320ci, it's just the 320 has the right sound!
Not any more it doesn't. 320 is now a 4 cylinder.
I have just taken a quick look on bmw.co.uk, so what is the difference between the 318i and the 320i then? They both have 1995cc engines, C02 and mpg is practically the same. It looks like they have de-tuned the 318i, so they can charge an extra £1500 for what is essentially the same car!
I managed to wire the seats up so that the electric and memory functions all work, took me half a day inc changing trims over and install new wiring to the seats , but it is definitly well worth it, seats feel and look MUCH better than the standard crappy cloth. The seats are fully ajustable and the seating position and height is much better than the standard seats.
The reason I didn't go for a 6 cylinder version of the E46 is because this car is for my 19yr old brother to drive about in and he don't really need anything powerful + 318 is cheaper to insure. It definitly has the complete 330 look now but with the sound, still cant complain for his first car.
The reason I didn't go for a 6 cylinder version of the E46 is because this car is for my 19yr old brother to drive about in and he don't really need anything powerful + 318 is cheaper to insure. It definitly has the complete 330 look now but with the sound, still cant complain for his first car.
No not an auto electrician but have a sound knowledge of stripping and fitting interior bits back, and anyone handy with a tool kit, soldering iron could do it.
I removed the rear seat bolsters, rear seat base, front seats and the plastic trim running down the inside of the sill. I then ran wires from the rear battery junction box (behind the right boot carpet side panel) to each seat along the original wireloom(I also put 30A fuse inline close to the juction box as originally required by bmw) and then earthed the seats to a earth point which is located on the inside sill under the carpet in front of the seats. By wiring it up this way the seats work with the ignition off as original. tested the memory function and it all works fine. I thought it would of been much harder but bit of common sense thinking and done it in no time.
I removed the rear seat bolsters, rear seat base, front seats and the plastic trim running down the inside of the sill. I then ran wires from the rear battery junction box (behind the right boot carpet side panel) to each seat along the original wireloom(I also put 30A fuse inline close to the juction box as originally required by bmw) and then earthed the seats to a earth point which is located on the inside sill under the carpet in front of the seats. By wiring it up this way the seats work with the ignition off as original. tested the memory function and it all works fine. I thought it would of been much harder but bit of common sense thinking and done it in no time.
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