B7 S4 Recaro seats in a B6

[audinuts13]

I'm picking up a set of B7 S4 Recaros and will install them in my B6. I was wondering if I would have any issue with the front passenger seat. I searched and all I could find was "I think it would fit" or "dual stage airbag wiring could possibly be an issue" type of posts. Nothing for certain. There's the Nick's blog which details the process of retrofitting B6 Recaros in a B7, but it has no mentions of retrofitting B7 Recaros in a B6.

Has anyone done this before? If so, was it a P&P or was there any modification needed to make it fit without getting an airbag light? Thanks in advance!

[Charles.waite]

Should be plug and play. Assuming your current seats are wired for power and heating etc, you wont even have to mess with the harnesses. The dual stage airbag is for the steering wheel swap from b7 to b6. Shouldn't be a problem with seats I assume.

[RLB6]

Plug and play. Even if you don't have provisions for heated seats in your car and the recaros are...still not an issue as there are separate harnesses for power, heat, & airbag.

[Turbavanttro]

You are good, plug and play. Keep in mind, there was a service bulletin for the S4 recaros associated with a bad airbag connection at the yellow plug. Check out the service bulletin if you get throw a code, its a simple fix.

[DownhillA4]

Damn, i'm jealous.

[MLJS4]

I have 3 sets for sale

[Turbavanttro]

^^^haha i have one set not for sale. evan go for it you know you want it.

[DownhillA4]

^^^haha i have one set not for sale. evan go for it you know you want it.

I'm in conserve mode. Car is getting some much needed exterior attention before extra mods are bought.

[dougyfresh]

^^^haha i have one set not for sale. evan go for it you know you want it.

I could be persuaded to sell mine.

[nofearhawk]

I have 3 sets for sale

Are any two tone with the alcantra inserts? If so let me know how much your looking to get.

[audinuts13]

Plug and play. Even if you don't have provisions for heated seats in your car and the recaros are...still not an issue as there are separate harnesses for power, heat, & airbag.

You are good, plug and play. Keep in mind, there was a service bulletin for the S4 recaros associated with a bad airbag connection at the yellow plug. Check out the service bulletin if you get throw a code, its a simple fix.

Awesome. We have two veteran members' confirmation that it's a P&P. Thanks a lot, guys!

One last question. I was doing some research on the harnesses the plugs from the passenger seat are connected to. First pic (courtesy of deephouse) is from a B6 and last two pics (courtesy of nnnick) from a B7.

B6 harness and plug:


B7 harness:


B7 plug:


From the above, you can see that the number of pins in the black harness differs, as well as the number of active posts in the black plugs (2 in B6 VS 5 in B7). According to nnnick, the B7 black plug comes from the pressure plate. What does the B6 black plug do then? Is it ok to connect the B7 black plug to the B6 black harness? Thanks again!

[Charles.waite]

I would wager It would still be fine. If Audi has pins there the CC module SHOULD be able to sort it out correctly. My B6 and B7 have slightly different part numbers for the some of the modules though so there may be issues:

B6
Address 46: Central Conv. Labels: 8E0-959-433-MAX.lbl
Part No: 8E0 959 433 BB

Address 15: Airbags Labels: 8E0-959-655-84.lbl
Part No: 8E0 959 655 K
Component: Airbag 8.4EP 1001

Address 09: Cent. Elect. Labels: 8E0-907-279-8E2.lbl
Part No: 8E0 907 279 F

B7
Address 46: Central Conv. Labels: 8E0-959-433-MAX.lbl
Part No: 8E0 959 433 BT

Address 15: Airbags Labels: 8E0-959-655-94.lbl
Part No SW: 8E0 959 655 H HW: 8E0 959 655 H
Component: Airbag 9.41 H11 3540

Address 09: Cent. Elect. Labels: 8E0-907-279-8EC.lbl
Part No: 8E0 907 279 L

Of course my B7 is an Avant so that may have something to do with it, though that should only differ in the coding I would think.

[SlickFix]

I have a dumb question. Why doesn't the OP simply purchase a set of B6 S4 Recaros? Are the B7 Recaro's different/better?

I know that the Recaro's in my B6 S4 are awesome, and I'm thinking of putting a set into my wife's B6 Avant.

[audinuts13]

I have a dumb question. Why doesn't the OP simply purchase a set of B6 S4 Recaros? Are the B7 Recaro's different/better?

I know that the Recaro's in my B6 S4 are awesome, and I'm thinking of putting a set into my wife's B6 Avant.

No, it's not a dumb question. I want alcantara in a subtle color like black, but all of the B6 S4 Recaros with alcantara come in flashy colors. Apparently black alcantara is only available in the B7 platform. I admit I'm killing myself for doing all this.

[Charles.waite]

No, it's not a dumb question. I want alcantara in a subtle color like black, but all of the B6 S4 Recaros with alcantara come in flashy colors. Apparently black alcantara is only available in the B7 platform. I admit I'm killing myself for doing all this.

http://www.gmpperformance.com/index....ID=231712&VS=1

DONE. Plus no S4 embossed in the headrest. You don't want to be a poser do you!?

Of course those wouldn't necessarily be Plug And Play but it would save you some money and time combing for seats in the classifieds.

[nofearhawk]

^ Definitely would not save you money since those are ~$2200 A PIECE vs used S4 seats in classifieds go for less than 2k for the complete set.

[Charles.waite]

^ Definitely would not save you money since those are ~$2200 A PIECE vs used S4 seats in classifieds go for less than 2k for the complete set.

Yea but they're new....



But I guess you're right. There are cheaper options for those also. Those ones I linked to were the most expensive ones. They have RS4 like seats for $1500 a piece. CLICK HERE and select the Sport Topline.

[RLB6]

Is it ok to connect the B7 black plug to the B6 black harness? Thanks again!

Yes!

[audinuts13]

http://www.gmpperformance.com/index....ID=231712&VS=1

DONE. Plus no S4 embossed in the headrest. You don't want to be a poser do you!?

Of course those wouldn't necessarily be Plug And Play but it would save you some money and time combing for seats in the classifieds.

Thanks. I was considering getting those before I turned my head to the OEM Recaros, but unfortunately they don't come with side airbags. Plus, I'm not mechanically inclined enough to custom fab the brackets for the seats. In the end, it might cost more than attempting to retrofit B7 Recaros in my car. And I'm getting a good deal on the B7 Recaro set which comes with heated rear seats.

[audinuts13]

Yes!

Without getting an airbag light?

[Kittrell]

http://www.gmpperformance.com/index....ID=231712&VS=1

DONE. Plus no S4 embossed in the headrest. You don't want to be a poser do you!?

I don't know why you keep saying this, I corrected you in another thread as well. S4 Recaros are not embossed.

[Charles.waite]

I don't know why you keep saying this, I corrected you in another thread as well. S4 Recaros are not embossed.

I must not have seen your post, maybe I'm smoking rocks then. Are the RS4 seats embossed? Am I just taking crazy pills?

Edit: the B8 S4 seats are. Maybe thats what I was thinking.


In any event thanks for the correction. i hate being that guy spreading mis-information.

[nnnick]

I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. The only thing different between B6/B7 is the seat belt receptor and the pressure plate. I don't think having the pressure plate will harm you, as the plug will match up. The seat belt is the only thing I'm curious about, but worst case scenario it will only take a few minutes to swap over the female end of the seat belt. I don't think you'll actually need to do this though.

B7 Recaros are actually harder to come by than B6s, you may want to consider either finding someone with B6 Recaros that would trade you + cash, or taking out the pressure plate assembly and selling that ala carte for $200 or so. I'm sure you'd find a taker...

[audinuts13]

I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. The only thing different between B6/B7 is the seat belt receptor and the pressure plate. I don't think having the pressure plate will harm you, as the plug will match up. The seat belt is the only thing I'm curious about, but worst case scenario it will only take a few minutes to swap over the female end of the seat belt. I don't think you'll actually need to do this though.

B7 Recaros are actually harder to come by than B6s, you may want to consider either finding someone with B6 Recaros that would trade you + cash, or taking out the pressure plate assembly and selling that ala carte for $200 or so. I'm sure you'd find a taker...

Thanks, Nick! Your blog is super helpful.

B7 Recaros are definitely rare species. That's actually the reason why I'm getting those. I could have gone with the rare B6 Recaros with blue alcantara, but they attracted too much unnecessary attention when I had those in my old B6. The blue alcantara is an attention grabber behind untinted windows.

[Kittrell]

I must not have seen your post, maybe I'm smoking rocks then. Are the RS4 seats embossed? Am I just taking crazy pills?

Yes, RS4s are embossed with Dove Gray piping.

[Normand_MI]

Plug and play. Even if you don't have provisions for heated seats in your car and the recaros are...still not an issue as there are separate harnesses for power, heat, & airbag.

Bump... but there is a twist...

First, hello to all, this is my first post. Just registered for this topic.

So I am also in a situation of installing B7 S4 Recaros from into my B6 1.8T. The twist is that my B6 is a US-spec, which I brought back with me when I moved back to France. So of course, the B7 S4 wreck which I bought the seats from here is a Euro-spec one, and I am running in a few issues.

Some I have solved, or is in process:
- door panel for memory seats (thanks to the DIY elsewhere on this site)
- hookup to CAN bus for said memory seats
- 30 amps fuse for passenger seat (just blew the 10 amps fuse today)

There are still two issues that bother me:
- My US B6 seats (leatherette, non-sport) had only 2 wires in the yellow airbag plug, while the Euro B7 recaros have 3 wires. The socket on the vehicle side does have 3 pins. Is it safe to plug straight up?
- The rear folding seat had a wire hooked-up to a yellow connector on the right C pillar. It seems that the US-spec A4s comes with a pretensioner on the middle belt as well, while Euro ones do not, and therefore the B7 Recaros do not have that wire. Should I swap the belt rollers & pretensioners between my original seats and the Recaros (btw, if anyone could point-me to a good teardown DIY, that would be great, I was not able to find one...), or should I try to recode the ECU to drop the middle pretensioner or (last resort), should I resistor patch the connector in the right C pillar?

Thanks for any help / confirmation,

Alex.

[Normand_MI]

anyone? Pretty please ?