groho

Since I'm redoing the interior after the paint, I might as well look for a descent set of seats. I stumbled upon a set of BMW E36 fully electric seats. Will they fit in a 66 coupe? I can do the welding for the tracks and electrical, my concern is height and width. I intend to have the recovered to match the interior.

clowe1965

clowe1965

double post

groho

First, the video is junk cuz its doesn't do anything other than say "hey, look what i got!?" The E36 seats are very nice, and laterally they fit perfect. Height wise, they're atleast 2 inches too tall due to the frame. To mount as is it would be necessary to completely remove the interior seat pan and likely strengthen the floor. This is where the fun begins. Since I didn't pay didly for these things, I can cut the crap out of them and build a new bottom support to attach to the 66 track. It looks like I can dismantle these down to the bottom frame, separating it from the motor mechanism and electronics. . . . I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend.

clowe1965

Read the comments, he talks about the floor pan modifications (Briefly). I agree about the video, but he does say stuff down in the comments section. Cut away at it.

groho

OK, was able to locate a manual set of E36 seats. The youtube says you need to beat the heck out of your seat pans to get these two buckets to fit. A look at the lower seat frames show plenty of room to modify them and lower a good 1-2 inches and attach to an existing 66 track. I'll take pic's to help understand what's happening. Because the stock seat pans are higher in the front, than the back, if I do this right, I should be able to remove the front riser and modify the frame so only the back rotates upward for adjustability (using the center button to raise and lower the seat in the vid). The seat will continue to slide forward/back and recline.

clowe1965

So you are not modifying the floor pan at all right? Post up some pics when you're done.

Retired Boomer

To lower the seat pans: http://www.mustangsplus.com/tech/seat/index.html

This article also has tips for removing the pans.

groho

As I type this I'm eating crow, with my tail between my legs, and head hung low. E36 seat won, I'm done. I broke the seat all the way down to the frame, and remove the tracks. The best I could accomplish with all the shaving and trimming was 6" from track to seat, and even then the head rest was still too close to the roof. The stock seats are 5" from track to seat. Why not remove the seat pan you ask? Cuz I don't want to. It was fun and enjoyable and learned allot, but I'm stuck buying the Elites. Thanks for the feedback.

clowe1965

Owell, at least you can say you tried.