Recaro EVO X seats installed in an R56
 

Well after my long trip up to the dragon this year, I decided that I was completely tired of everything that had to do with the stock seats in our cars. That being said, throughout my patrolling of the interwebs I have found two options for new seats:

1) Mounting fixed back, racing shells by modifying the Brey-Krause brackets (like so: here

2) Coughing up some serious $$$$ and going with the JCW Recaros.

Option #1 was out because I refuse to sacrifice the ability to recline and #2 was out because I am not made of money...so off to craigslist I went! Luckily I came across a pair of mint condition EVO X seats for a price I couldnt refuse. They even came with the stock EVO brackets, of which I heavily modified to fit in the position of the factory holes.

Here is a before picture of the garbage stock seats: Attachment 171286

The seats removed: Attachment 171287

Cutting up the factory seats to salvage the weight sensor: Attachment 171288

Cutting up my brand new Recaros to make room for the sensor (SO PAINFUL): Attachment 171289
Attachment 171290

Some Duct tape to smooth things out: Attachment 171291

Recaro reassembled: Attachment 171292

Heres where it got serious, the Modified bracket I made to match up to the factory holes. The Recaro's were about an inch wider than the stock seats, so I bolted (and welded for added stability) a plate to extend underneath the seat in which I could also bolt down to the floor. Like so: Attachment 171293

And here is the final, mounted pics:Attachment 171294
Attachment 171295
Attachment 171296
In the last picture you can see how I mounted the seats so that the reclining knob was facing the interior of the car for easier adjustment, similar to how it is on the stock seats.

All in all, I cannot be more happy with my decision to install these. It was a difficult journey with a few hiccups but I get compliments on the seats everywhere I go and they make every new motoring experience that much more enjoyable :) If anyone has any questions or comments let me know! Btw sorry I couldnt get more pictures for you guys-I got sidetracked a lot during this project and forgot to take more pics.

looks good, nice install. How much did the seats cost you?

Thanks! And $750 for the pair. And for reference, I was quoted by a performance shop at $650 to fabricate and install the brackets, so I pretty much told them to screw themselves and I did it myself.

Wow, nice job. Looks so much better than the stock seats and probably work that much better too.

nice! Those should do a better job of holding you in the car! haha. Harnesses are next.. I couldnt live without them once I got a taste of being attatched to the car!

yeah, they definitely hug my body WAY better than the stock seats and they actually have pretty good lumbar support as well. And trust me, Im definitely looking into harnesses-I just cant imagine spending ~$500 on a pair of the schroth ones :/

How are these seats for your back? I was thinking about going this route but I need the back support. I have a terrible back... especially on longer trips. The lumbar support adjustment on the stock seats are a godsend.

Theyre great on my back. They dont have adjustable lumbar support like I'd want, but it still is infinitely better than the stock seats. I was thinking about retrofitting the lumbar support in the stock seat but that still wasnt going to fix the lack of bolsters which is why I went this route, and I havent looked back since :thumbsup:

Do you have the air bag light on?

Really great mod! Love DIYs like this.

No sir, I had to cut the harness from the original airbag, solder a resistor in between the cut wires, then plug it in where it originally fit. I'll try to get you a picture of it as soon as I can.
Thanks! This was my first time trying to do something that hasnt exactly been done before and I'll admit I was nervous but I couldnt have been happier with the results :thumbsup:

That looks really good, props :thumbsup:

Ah! You beat me to it haha. I'm buying seats out of my buddies evo! Glad to know it works though I was thinking I had to buy new brackets! Looks awesome!

You are now on my level Zak. Salute to you \\!

Sweet! I'd appreciate it. I've been looking for a set of these to install on my stage 1 JCW too. Now that I know what to expect I'm looking a little more aggressively. Lol

Beautiful job and a mod I've definitely wanted to do. My issue beside finding seats at a good price is trying to find some Alcantara or equivalent to match my satellite grey color line. My factory seats are that color and I really want to stick with that scheme.

Yummy. Looks great, nice install.

Well you wont necessarily have to "buy brackets" but if you dont choose to pay someone to fabricate them for you. Prepare to get extremely frustrated. lol
Yessir! If it makes you feel any better, you were the one who inspired me :nod:

And thank you all for the compliments, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :razz:

That's ironic because YOU inspired ME to get EVO seats! I don't have access to frab equipment, so I went the money route :/ Please don't hate :(

hey Im cool with whatever works! I personally could not justify paying $800 for the seats and ~$600 for a local shop to fabricate brackets. But if you can afford it or know someone that could do it cheaper then by all means go with it!

Seats were less than $500 and brackets were less than $100 each. Everything was done locally as well.. I love sunny SoCal :)

But mOre importantly, your thread here was very helpful in the process!

Installing EVO seats is a sinch:lol: Newb

Did you say it wasn't? :sly:

You needed inspiration. Only thing you have to do is compensate for the airbags and weight sensor. You can see the light walk towarddddds it!:razz:

True, but I didn't think of EVO seats as an option until I saw this thread. Was inspiration the wrong word?

The task seemed so big when the idea first came about but at the end of the day, you're right.. Find seats, buy brackets, sliders, throw'em all together along with some resisters and oh yeah, rip out your sensor.

I guess for a guy, the seats weigh nothing and its all a "sinch". :nod:

Attachment 171297