[N08]

I don't like the gen 1 seats at all so i have been thinking on a swap.
My original plan was to go aftermarket, so I bought a set of Corbeau RSS leather seats and a set of planted seat brackets, but this set up looks too aftermarket for my taste, plus the huge "Corbeau" logo across the top of the seats bothers me. The corbeau seats are really nice so i will keep them as a back up if the S4 sets don't look good.

Looking around the local classified i found a set of B8 S4 seats for a really good price, so i figured why not give it a try.
The seats have the S4 logo but i think i should be able to cover that small are with a new piece of leather and probably add the R8, or Audi logo.

From my initial measurements it looks like this seats should bolt right in, plus with this set up i can keep all the power options, and hopefully the air bags will still work. The plugs look to be the same but some of the wires are in different pins, i have the wiring diagrams for both cars and it looks like i will need to move a few wires around, hoping i can make it work, if not i will eliminate the air bags.

Anyone here try a similar swap?


B8 S4 seats

Corbeau seats

 

[slngshot]

Stock S4 seats aren't much of an upgrade over the stock R8 seats.

Hopefully they were cheap?

I got Recaro's and the height was the larger issue using the planted bases.

So euro wingbacks was the only way to go for me.

Osman found me a set.
They should be here in the new year.

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk

 

[N08]

Yeah i would love to go euro wingbacks but they are out of my budget, the S4 seats were cheap and to me they look a lot nicer, so i think it's worth a try.

 

[slngshot]

if the "CORBEAU" billboard bothers you it's pretty easy to have that panel reupholstered to just black leather.

Again, the S4 seats are hardly a difference over the R8 seats. A tiny bit more bolster in the base and back but look at your stock seat side by side to the S4.

 

[N08]

Again different opinions, i think they look a lot nicer so i am going with it, easy to swap back if i don't like them.

 

[dinkman]

i owned a b8.5 s4 for many years and i can tell you they are no better than the r8 seats... they both suck in terms of bolster support. your motivation seems more visual so i wont comment on that since its subjective

 

[Trev450]

if the "CORBEAU" billboard bothers you it's pretty easy to have that panel reupholstered to just black leather.

Again, the S4 seats are hardly a difference over the R8 seats. A tiny bit more bolster in the base and back but look at your stock seat side by side to the S4.

My thoughts too.

 

[cgfen]

I agree, Gen1 seats = blah.
Sorry I can't help with wiring / pin out issue.
TriniTT supplies airbag defeat resistors.

Cheers

 

[R8GT313]

Get the Recaro GTs seats.

 

[N08]

I agree, Gen1 seats = blah.
Sorry I can't help with wiring / pin out issue.
TriniTT supplies airbag defeat resistors.

Cheers

Thanks.
Yes i actually got in touch with TriniTT for the resistors, will buy them from him if i end up installing the Corbeau's.
Hoping i don't need resistors for the S4 seats.

 

[N08]

i owned a b8.5 s4 for many years and i can tell you they are no better than the r8 seats... they both suck in terms of bolster support. your motivation seems more visual so i wont comment on that since its subjective

For my needs the R8 seats offer enough support, and yes the only reason i am swapping them is because i don't like the way they look.

 

[R8-Stuff]

Get the Recaro GTs seats.

The OEM racing bucket seats for the RoW GT were actually made by Sparco, not Recaro.

 

[g8ed]

Consider selling your stock seats? Dm me some pics

 

[N08]

Consider selling your stock seats? Dm me some pics

sorry but no, i want to keep them in case i want to return the car back to stock.

 

[IndyRon]

To get nicer looking seats IMHO, you can upgrade to the quilted leather ones in the '14-'15 cars or to really step up your game, the Recaro Wingbacks that were optioned overseas. Everything else is just a lateral move at best.

 

[N08]

Gents.
I appreciate the responses but i am not asking for opinions on if you like the seats, the reason i posted was to see if anyone has done a similar swap.
Now...you will probably say why would anyone do this swap as it may be dumb to you, but to me the S4 seats are a huge improvement over the stock R8 seats.

So, i can tell you that this is almost a plug and play swap, the only difference is that the S4 seats have a guide pin at the rear on both sides of the rails and the R8 seats only have one guide pin, a grinder with a cut off wheel took care of that real fast.
Other than that the S4 seat rails bolt right into the OEM spots.

Electrical- The S4 seats have the exact same number and type of plugs but they do have a few more wires going to them, i figured why not plug them all in to see what happens and to my surprise everything works as it should, all power options including the heating and lumbar works, and no air bag lights on, i don't know how it works but it does.
I still have to install the passenger side, i will let you know how that goes.
So this means that we should be able to use any seats from the B7/B8 platform including the RS4 seats.

 

[slngshot]

make no wonder you wanted something else.... your stock seats look trashed.

 

[N08]

make no wonder you wanted something else.... your stock seats look trashed.

No not all all, they are actually in really good condition. I think it's the pics.

 

[slngshot]

The outside upper bolster looks cracked at the stitching and the base bolster looks like it's collapsing and on its way

Alcantara is dirty and dark.
They could use some love

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[N08]

The outside upper bolster looks cracked at the stitching and the base bolster looks like it's collapsing and on its way

Alcantara is dirty and dark.
They could use some love

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk

Are you Ok?
Like i said the seats are actually in really good condition, not perfect but definitely not "trashed" i would know don't you think? maybe it's the pics that make it look like that.
You make a lot of assumptions based one simple pic, but no worries i will take better pics tonight so you can rest.