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Wedge BMW Recaro seats in a wedge

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T

tr8todd

Jedi Knight
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I am parting out a 1982 BMW 320is in the driveway at the moment. On a whim, I took one of the ratty Recaro seats and stuffed it into a TR7 parts car. The results are nothing short of total awesomeness. The fit, the proportions, the style, is perfect. Looks far better than the stock seats. They are about the same width, but with taller side bolsters that angle out and follow the contour of the rockers and tranny tunnel. The seat bottom height and seating position are the same as the wedge seats. The back is just as thin and has nice side bolsters. It is 4 inches taller at the shoulder and the head rest is bigger, but it works. All in all, they look like they were designed for the car. Not like some of the other seats I've seen swapped into wedges and other LBCs, that look oversized and out of place. They also have cool front sections that slide out and extend the support area under your thighs. Now I guess I need to tear these down and get them to the upholstery shop to be recovered. Think I'll go with tan faux perforated leather and suede, and put them in the green convertible. I have been looking for nice Miata seats for that car, but these are a better fit.
 
Pictures, please!

Are the Recaros the stock seats in the 320?
 
If you think pics of a ratty seat sitting in a ratty parts car will help. Here you go. You really need to see them in person to see how well they fit. The tan seat is stock. Other two are Recaro LS models. One in leather and one in cloth. They were standard with the sport option on the BMW 320. That option package gave you LSD, BBS mesh wheels, leather sport wheel, Recaro seats, air dam, and probably some other stuff. Later e30 models had a slightly different style. They were also supplied on some VW, Porsche, Ferrari, Toyota Supra, Renault, Audi, and some other cars as well. Google image Recaro LS and you can see tons of variations that were stock seats. The LS is the model that had the head rest and the extending leg support.
 

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I've a ratty cloth one in the MG. Driver's side.
 
I just spent 1/2 hour going thru all the Recaro seats on eBay. Yikes, pages of them.
Any one sat in both the Miata and the Recaros to compare?
 
Sliders shouldn't be a big deal. The mounting points on the Recaros sit up inside the seat. I'll make pedestals and then mount onto stock wedge sliders. Used TR7 sliders for many a custom seat installs before. Height should be about spot on. In the pics you can see the seat part of the Recaros are actually a little lower than the stock seat. Thats because the stock seat still has the sliders mounted. My wife said she would have a crack at recovering them for me. She's made covers for the stock seats before, it's just time consuming. Need to find a place to order some Alcantara Ultra Suede and figure out how much I need. Picture these babies in tan or tan with black inserts sitting in this car.
 

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Todd, Mine is the darker Metalic Gtreen and I'm going to use green carpet with tan seats and just a little green on the bolsters or just the seat piping
 
Mine is Poseidon Green Metallic. I ended up using BMW Boston Green Metallic when I painted the car. It has a little more pop to it than the stock color. Also went with a BMW color on the wife's TR8. I felt the stock platinum had too much green in it and it clashed with the blue check interior, so I went with BMW Space Grey Metallic instead. It is a cross between silver and a light anthracite, but it tends to pick up whatever color it is next to. I really like it. Gives the car a more elegant look. Here is a pic of the car right after I painted it. I was getting ready to install the new top. Still could use a little more wet sanding on the clear coat and some polishing.
 

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Nobody knows what color mine is. The painter was murdered after he decided to paint it differently than asked


Oops, not by the car owner
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Well, found my seats for my Wedge
One problem, no tracks. Will have to figure something on that

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Not yet. I'm ordering the carpet and when that shows I'll bring a piece to my Upholsterer and we'll figure out color schemes for the door cards and back panel and seats. When I pull the old seats from the Wedge I'll figure something out then.
Anybody know if there's the same slick fix for the Wedge tracks as is for the 6's tracks for the Miata conversion?
 
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