Before you say "NO" or "why not just buy an F56 if you like the seats so much?" let me explain
My wife and I are in the market for a new car. She loves the Roadster but prefers a snugger fit than stock R59 seats provide. When asked to choose between the Recaros (most of the vehicles we've tested offer them) or the new sporty F56 seats she chooses the latter.

I've been wondering for a while now if the new fronts seats of the F56 are compatible with the R56 platform (specifically the R58/59 models) and figured it was time to reach out to those with more knowledge/experience than myself.

I don't expect it to be as straight forward as plug and play, however, P8ntbollr's thread about installing Recaro EVO X seats in his R56 has given me hope a F56->R56 retrofit just might work.

A search of RealOEM shows that the parts# don't match up, but I didn't expect them to.
R59 (same as R56 LCI)

• Seat Mechanism Left - 52107335409
• Seat Mechanism Right - 52107335410
• Filister head Screw M8X50

F56 platform

• Seat mechanism Left - 52107310637
• Seat mechanism Right - 52107310638
• Fillister-head screw - Part # M10X28

I figure the next step is to measure actual dimensions of each generation and find out if the mounting holes are in the same place.

Are there any owners of both generations out there who wouldn't mind taking some measurements and checking bolt/thread size of their front seats?

Thank you for the help

 

I wouldn't expect the mounting holes to be in the same places, but I'd say the chances are pretty good that you could make them fit with a little bit of work fabricating an adapter. Measurements and a good look over for any odd protruding bits should tell you.

Bigger question IMO would be whether the side airbags can be wired up to work in the R59.

 

like above poster said, probably could fab something that works, or wait for aftermarket rails/brackets

 

I think i've seen another recaro seats from ecs that comes from the euro mini R5x, they do look different from the recaros from the dealers. you can try to google how do they look. part no: 52100446772/73/74/75.

 

HELIX has the Corbeau A4 Seats on their website.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Evidently it took a few days for my post to clear, I figured it had fallen through the cracks.

Excellent point Grueinthebox, I hadn't considered compatibility of the of the airbags. I'm not willing to compromise safety for this mod so I will definitely look into this more. In the mean time I will head down to my local dealer with my favorite measuring tape to get some more data.

Kyoo - any suggestion which shops I should keep an eye on for aftermarket rails/brackets?

a2oc & Mini #1 - I appreciate the suggestions and will check them out, but so far the new F56 sports seats are at the top and the list and those are my main focus for now. They seem to be a good compromise between a snug fit and daily comfort vs. actual Recaros.

 

You can always check the salvage yards for the "1" series front seats.

 

I have not taken an opportunity to sit in the one series. Are the coupe's seats comparable to the cloth sports seats of the F56?

 

Actually if you fit F56 seats in R5x, will the airbags still work or they might set of the airbag light if you have to do so?

 

Sorry to raise this post from the dead, but is it possible to put r56 seats in an f56? This was the closest post I could find. Not sure if it was clearly answered. I'm looking to put the older seats in a newer car.