I've got a 2007 base roadster with the cloth seats and was interested in the idea of upgrading to leather. If I were to find a pair of Ltd seats would they just bolt in or am I getting into trouble with electrical hook ups? Are the base models prewired? Should I just go the reupholstery/recover route with something like Katskins? Thanks for any advice.

 

Send member 240M3SRT a PM, he was looking for a pair of base seats plus some $$$ in trade for his SRT6 seats. He has a post in the for sale section of the forum.

 

Bump.

I have often wondered if the wiring was in place for a simple swap or not. I have had the driver seat out before, but did not look around for any wiring under the carpet. If it is a simple plug and play, that would be pretty nice with the low cost of LTD seats on ebay......

 

Whatever you do, remember this:

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY BEFORE YOU REMOVE THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAT. DO NOT REPOWER THE CAR UNTIL AFTER THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SENSOR HAS BEEN RECONNECTED!

Sorry for the caps, but I'm trying to save you $80

 

Let me guess.
Experience!???

 

I have a 2006 SE. I acquired seats from LKQ with no use on them. The bolt in is easy. I ran a wiring harness for power. I am a refrigeration tech so it was easy. . No substitute for leather. Gary

 

Good guess!!!

 

What was the $80 for?

 

Having them run the supplemental restraint system diagnostics and turn off the light. I know this too from experience. LOL

 

I was looking at the schematics for the limited and compareing it to the wiring in the base model. There are three plugs under the seat on a limited that are used appearently (heaters, power for powered seats, and seatbelt latch sensor). Under my base model driver's seat, there was wiring for the seat belt latch, and the power seat part (I didn't test if there were hot because I had the batt disconnected) that did not continue through the harness under the seat obviously. There were no wires ran for the seat heaters. Also the 4 pin harness behind the dummy (seat heater) switches is not behind the dash anywhere on the base model. You could wire up the heaters but you would have run your own wires to a set of limited seat heater switches ie. 30A constant +, 5A switched+, and the L and R + outputs out of the swiches to each heater. You would also run a ground out of the heaters.

 

I just did a seat swap on an 05 base model roadster for slk seats. My car did not have any airbag plugs under either of the factory seats, but the SLK seats did have a yellow 3 pin connector under the passenger seat. Im guessin it has a pressure switch or weight sensor that is connected to the passenger airbags some how. You still want to disconnect the battery however. I just swapped out the seat belt latches to keep the harnesses crossfire style. Now for those seat heaters...

 

speaking of seats. I wonder why didn't they make the limited leather seat backs the same thickness as the base model cloth. I noticed I had less room in the limited as far as moving the seats back. It looks like the limited backs are at least 2" deeper. The base model is more like the slk w/o the power seats and the slk has leather. I can't recline the seats as far without putting my knees into the dash and I'm not that tall. I don't have the issue on the base model or the slk. The limited doesn't seem it would be as good for overweight people either. It really craddles you. don't get me wrong, I really like the limited, just an observation. so if you want leather in your base model, you might want to try to find slk seats, especially, if you're tall. Or you could use various options in covering yours.

 

Hey! Did you swap the seats with the R171 or R170 seats? im interested in swapping with the R171 setas but not sure if its possible. any picturtes?

 

I just replaced my base model cloth seats with power leather seats from a 01 slk230. The tracks are a perfect match and they bolt right in. The base model has the power there for the powered seats, but not for the heating portion of the seats. You would need to replace the switch module with one that has the heated seat switches and then run wires to the seats. The part can run from $230 to $300 new. I used the seat belt latches off the base model seat to use the existing wiring harness, but had to cut the power connectors and wired in some off the shelf connectors, not as pretty as a factory, however they are under seat so only you would know. I like these seat much better than the cloth, in looks and in comfort. I got them for $400 including shipping from IKQ. They were pretty dirty, but cleaned up nicely. I think I got one heck of a good deal on them and obviously I'm very happy.

 

What about having your current seats covered by a good aftermarket auto upholstery company?

A few people at my workplace have ordered vehicles and had aftermarket leather added and it looked better than factory.

I would also think you could get some customized additions.

Not sure but it may be worth checking out One thing is for sure, they will not need alot of leather.

Good Luck!

 

This is interesting. I have had my passenger seat out twice. Once when installing door sills, and once when going to the drag strip. I did not run into a problem either time. Maybe I was lucky. So, you are saying that you should leave the battery disconnected until the seat is reinstalled? Would there be a safe work around for taking the seat out for a track day? I do not want to tempt fate in the future. It does make me wonder why I was able to do it though. Not that I will do it again without a proper solution. Thanks for the information.

 

safety isn't the issue. The issue is that your airbag light will turn on and stay on. You won't be able to clear the code yourself without a DRB-III / STAR system and only dealers and some independent shops have those. And all of those people will charge you money.

 

Yeah, I picked up on that, but my airbag light did not come on and stay on. I don't think so anyway.... LOL I will double check tonight when I get home.

 

I was quoted $1500 to recover my base seats by a highly regarded interior shop.

You could buy 5 sets of limited seats for this cost

 

this is what she looks like in slk leather. these seat backs aren't as thick as the limited high backs, so you can recline further. I like the slk seats better for comfort, long trips without a sore behind is nice. . the color of the charcoal is a good match too. also installed in this picture is a synthetic carbon fiber dash kit. I have wired in oem fog lights too. For me, this just about does it for modifications. Now I have an all black Xfire with just the extra features I want. The silver trim is ok, I perfer all black, my wife likes the silver on her limited ragtop better... It's nice to pick and choose the options you want. Only one thing left, that would be to replace the sound system with a slk cassett and disc set up like on my 1998 slk.