S2 leather seats in an S1
 

So I know the Recaros fit into an S1, and I assume the leather seats physically fit as well. But what about the electronic connections for the driver's seat? The button layout looks a little different than the S1 leather seats, and there appears to be a button on the back of the S2 seats that mine doesn't have. I just don't know if the wiring harnesses are the same for each, and I couldn't find a thread on on this.

Also, how is the leather quality on the S2 seats compared to the S1? I haven't seen any in person, but I do like that they don't have the ribbed side bolsters or silver plastic backs.

Thanks...

Bump...

I'm mostly concerned about the seat memory buttons functioning properly, since the other power features seem to be pretty much the same. Are the power connections on the S1 100% compatible with the S2 power leather seats?

I installed seats from a 2009 GT into my 2004 Touring last weekend but just the passenger side so far. But the seat heaters work (I had a panel on hand withe switches) and everything plugged right in.

I plan on doing the drivers side one night this week, i will let you know if the seat back button and all the power functions work.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...840c188b79.jpg

Thanks man! Those seats look great without the ribbed bolsters.

Yeah they are way better. And I have been waiting on the drivers side because I want to compare the weight to S1 leather, a Sparcos', and R3 seats that we have around. My internal scale tells me they S2 leathers are significantly lighter than the S1 leathers. And way lighter than the the stock cloth seats of course. But I am just basing this on having swapped out many RX-8 seats over the years.

But we shall see when I get them on the scale.

Funny you should mention that, because I was thinking that the upper bolsters of the S2 leathers looked a little beefier than the S1's. So I thought they'd actually be heavier, but from your first impression, it seems at the very least they don't weigh any more.

Definitely not anymore, I just remember the S1 leathers being heavier by quite a bit.

So, I got a set of S2 leather seats, with the full interior door trim as well. It's all installed and looks great.

Just one thing that puzzled me: There's a piece on the passenger seat right rear bracket that the S1 doesn't have. Also, the plastic trim piece from the S1 will no longer fit here. It swivels up and down and has a stud attached (see pic). Any idea what this is?

Yeah from 2007 and up the part that the seat belt slides on was changed. I noticed that when I swapped in cloth seats from a 2007 a few years ago. Forgot to mention that.

Cool, thanks for the info. Do you know if there a plastic cover that goes around this area, similar to the S1?

Btw, if anyone's curious how the S1 and S2 leather seats differ, check out the side-by-side below.

yeah there is a plastic cover but it would not fit with the S1 slide bar IIRC. I never noticed the leather pattern was different.

Did you weigh them? I always thought the S2 seats felt lighter.

I didn't get a chance to weigh them, but the S2 seats felt a little lighter. Especially the passenger seat. I was in such a rush to get them in that I forgot to pay much attention.

The S2 leather seems to be better quality than the S1 too. It's also more of a matte leather than the S1s. Granted my old ones were more worn, but even when they were newer they had more of a shine to them.

And to top it off, the S2 driver's seat has a memory feature and a rear slide/tilt button!

Yeah they are much better seats overall. Not nearly as good as my 335i's seats but still an improvement. I am going to see what the AMMO NYC cleaner and conditioner can do for the RX-8 leathers.

I did my BMW over the weekend and it worked great.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...d335eec3ec.jpg

Oh yeah, those seats are really good quality. I've gone through so many different leather cleaners, but none of them did much for the RX-8 seats. They usually just made them shinier. On the advice of a detailing forum, I used a Mr. Clean magic eraser to lightly wipe them, and it actually brought back some of the leather's natural look. Well, temporarily anyway.

Let me know how that AMMO cleaner works for you!

I too did a S2 swap into a 2006. The only issue with my swap is lack of heating in the passenger seat which is probably due to a short within the seat. I need to get around to fixing it.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...de58fe40bd.jpg

wish i could find a set of S2 seats in SoCal. None of the ones on Ebay are willing to ship

I purchased my seats and panels from eBay from Hyper-racing. Free freight shipping from New Jersey to the FedEx Freight center in Oxnard where I picked it up. I had to rent a Uhaul pick-up though.

So Hyper-Racing had ANOTHER full set of seats and door panels for sale? This is the seller I just bought mine from. They seem to have all kinds of RX-8 parts up for sale.

Although for some reason, I was blocked from bidding on the seats on Ebay (or anything else from them). First time this has happened in my 15 years on Ebay. I'd bought stuff from them before and asked the seller about it. They said it must be an Ebay glitch, which seems unlikely. So they just offered the seats as an off-Ebay transaction and I drove up to get them. Everything went fine, but I still can't bid on their other items.

Anyway, I haven't checked my passenger side heated seat feature, but the driver's works fine. The heat in my old S1 leathers stopped working on the driver's seat, and I think it's due to a broken wire within the seat. Seems to be a fairly common issue where a metal bar in the cushion would pinch and eventually sever the wire.

I purchased mines back in the first half of 2015. I decided to take a look at the seat today after posting the remark. I took the seat out, tested it with a multimeter and pulled the lower cushion. I peeled back the leather cover expecting to see a cut wire but nope. So then I started to look around the wiring and peeled away some of the electrical tape near the connectors and found nothing out of the ordinary. Then, the blasted thing passed continuity test with multimeter. I put the seat back in and the heating works. I'll have to go back and completely replace the wires for good measure though.

Glad to hear you got it working!