S4 seat swap - D.I.Y.

[7speed]

Here is a little of what I learned on my S4 seat swap experience.

- Tools that are needed
- Ratchet
- Extension
- Torx T27
- 12 point Tox (Large)



Start by sliding the seat to the back and remove these covers


Under the covers are the bolts that need to be remove. Repeat for the rear.




Remove screws and pull the seats out. Then you should be here, old seat next to new

Notice the memory module on the drivers seat and the seat recognition module on the passenger






For those of you wit memory seats you will need to swap this module from your old seat to you new seat


For those of you without the seat memory option, you will need to remove all of this
- side of the seat control panel and the attached harness
- Don't let this scare you it is very simple and east to do









Once these modules are swapped simply place the seats back into their new homes. No programming needed

The rear seats are pretty self explanatory.
- to remove the rear bottom seat, you simply pull up at the center of each passenger seat

The top halves have a couple steps
- All that you need to do is pop up the plastic tab pictured below. Unscrew the Torx, and lift the metal cover.
- You then need to unplug the airbag sensor under the rear passenger seat that is connected to the rear of the seat uppers
- You then lift the seats up and away to remove them
- Installation is in reverse



Hopefully with this help you can go from this




to this




I am no expert so if I missed anything let me know and I'll add it to the post.

[kwbdc]

were there supposed to be pics after "To This"? Nothing is showing up...

[1_clean_Audi]

April Fools joke?.. No after pic! ! lol

[Turco]

showed in the 3rd pix :P

[7speed]

Got to dark for a good pic of the seats installed. I'll get a better pic tomorrow.

[Highlander1010]

Looks good. Now if only I could come up with some reasonable cost black leather Sport/S-line/S4 front seats...

[pinoyzoi]

Looks amazing, the red pops out

[bwoy1981]

Saw the swap in person today and all I can say is WOW!!!! What a transformation!

[TDIaholic]

I did this a while back as well, going from the standard cloth seats to half leather S-line seats w/o memory. No need to disassemble anything in the seats if your old and new seats don't have the memory function. The biggest pain in the a** in my swap was running the power wires to the seats for the electric lumbar support adjustment. I still need to run the passenger side wires but haven't gotten around to it yet :)

Nice swap though! The sport seats are so much better than the stock ones.

[Highlander1010]

Agreed - I'm trying to find some of the S-Line/Sport seats either in full leather or the Leather/Alcantara in black with power, memory and heat. I have only had luck in ebay.UK, but no replies thus far.

[7speed]

Keep an eye out on ebay and European salvage yards.

[Highlander1010]

Keep an eye out on ebay and European salvage yards.

Any in particular you recommend?

[TDIaholic]

There are several in Germany who are willing to ship abroad and they all advertise on ebay.de. Do a search for "Audi A4 B8 Sitze" and you'll get a number of hits. Expect to pay about 1500-2500EUR for a complete interior, depending on material, color, etc. Not many European cars have been equipped with memory seats from the factory though. Most of the sport seats you'll find for sale are manual w/ electric lumbar support. Most cars originally sold in Germany have seat heating too.

[Limey]

I've got a guy in the UK who's got a full S4 interior for $2800. But shipping is about $1200. As for Germany I've been looking lots and a full S4 interior is over $4k with out shipping. A S line interior is around $2-3k


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[audinepa]

Excellent work, seats look great always lusted after the S4 seats but a bit to pricey for me.

[WAF]

Glad I've got the sline seats already.

[Liquid Smoke]

very nice, yeah i love the red and black S4 seats, too much for me to just upgrade seats for now but thats what inspired me to do my interior with the red leather trims.

[1_clean_Audi]

if i could only find a set my self!, i would sell my S-line interior!

[Shimmy]

Awesome! I'll be installing my seats soon! black leather with white thread

[The Infiltrator]

Awesome! I'll be installing my seats soon! black leather with white thread

Where did you get those? I've been looking for the S-Line Sport seats though.

[Shimmy]

Where did you get those? I've been looking for the S-Line Sport seats like these.

these are s4 seats, not sport s lines. I picked them up locally from a auto recycling dealer that bought the s4 at an auction the decided to part it out. I also snagged the s4 mirrors and rear calipers

[SWONER]

Hey guys, followed the diy exactly. Swapped the premium+ harness into the S4 seats, removed the memory seat module. Bolted it back in and started the car, instantly got the airbag and parking brake warnings. I noticed the seat ID module is only in the passenger seat. I hoped that maybe because I had the S4 driver seat and the base passenger seat that maybe it was getting some kind of mismatch. Swapped over the ID module into the passenger S4 seat and bolted that in, same error. Now I'm scratching my head. I got these S4 seats from an eBay vendor and while I was installing them I noticed the stitches are not in the oem stitch holes. I'm afraid these may have popped previously and were not reloaded properly. Is there anyway to verify the airbags were reloaded and functioning? Is there any way in vagcom to disable the seat airbags? I'm hoping I didn't just blow this investment.

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[SWONER]

Hey guys, followed the diy exactly. Swapped the premium+ harness into the S4 seats, removed the memory seat module. Bolted it back in and started the car, instantly got the airbag and parking brake warnings. I noticed the seat ID module is only in the passenger seat. I hoped that maybe because I had the S4 driver seat and the base passenger seat that maybe it was getting some kind of mismatch. Swapped over the ID module into the passenger S4 seat and bolted that in, same error. Now I'm scratching my head. I got these S4 seats from an eBay vendor and while I was installing them I noticed the stitches are not in the oem stitch holes. I'm afraid these may have popped previously and were not reloaded properly. Is there anyway to verify the airbags were reloaded and functioning? Is there any way in vagcom to disable the seat airbags? I'm hoping I didn't just blow this investment.

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[Shimmy]

man that sucks! I wouldn't even try to disable the airbag... I'd honestly try and find another set.

[SWONER]

Vendor has promised to make good on the situation. He doesnt know if the seats are rebuilt but is contacting his supplier. He seems to think it might just need to be flashed but Im not so sure about that. Gonna go back through my install tomorrow and make sure I did everything correctly.

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[Shimmy]

^ either way that stitch job is half assed. i'd still want to return them.

[SWONER]

UPDATE: I found the problem. It was this sensor. I'm not sure what it is but it must have something to do with the airbag and parking brake system. It's located on the seat rail, driver's side seat, nearest the center console. It's its own wiring harness. If you're getting the air bag, parking brake, and ESC dash lights after a swap, pull this sensor off your base seat and put it on the S4 seat and you should be good to go.

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[Boosted_b8.5]

UPDATE: I found the problem. It was this sensor. I'm not sure what it is but it must have something to do with the airbag and parking brake system. It's located on the seat rail, driver's side seat, nearest the center console. It's its own wiring harness. If you're getting the air bag, parking brake, and ESC dash lights after a swap, pull this sensor off your base seat and put it on the S4 seat and you should be good to go.

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Is this necessary for every swap or only if u receive a error?


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[SWONER]

I can't say, only did one swap but my dash lit up like crazy after the swap and I followed the DIY to the letter. Swapped the sensor above and no more problems.

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[DJ_AudiA4]

I'm in the process of doing the swap, i'm slightly confused.

I need remove the entire wiring harness from my a4 seats to place in the s5 seats? some of the wires run up into the body of the seat for lumber and heat. does this require the seat to be disassembled?

[Lambda13]

I'm in the process of doing the swap, i'm slightly confused.

I need remove the entire wiring harness from my a4 seats to place in the s5 seats? some of the wires run up into the body of the seat for lumber and heat. does this require the seat to be disassembled?

No. Just swap the modules. S5 seats could be interesting, they fold and slide forward.

Wires stay where they are.

Unless you don't have memory seats. You'll have to remove some parts for that. That should be the only thing that needs changing.

[DJ_AudiA4]

No. Just swap the modules. S5 seats could be interesting, they fold and slide forward.

Wires stay where they are.

Unless you don't have memory seats. You'll have to remove some parts for that. That should be the only thing that needs changing.

Are the mules the black boxs that are connected to the controls? or are they the silver and black things pictured above.

I swapped the harness as i do not have memory seats. i swapped the panel that has the controls are connected to, do i also need to move these silver things?

having real trouble, i thought i had the seats incorrectly but they do not move, no error codes

[DJ_AudiA4]

are both seats required to be changed to work?

I have removed the memory module and the harness attached to it. I assumed the "modules" are the black boxes connected to the controls on the side of the seat. i swapped the items and wired them into the seat with my old harness. the harnesses wouldn't have matched up so i'm assuming this was correct.

I also swapped that individual wire that goes on the indorse rail and has its own harness.

i start my car and the seats won't move. i haven't received and fault codes but the seats will not work

[Lambda13]

Are the mules the black boxs that are connected to the controls? or are they the silver and black things pictured above.

I swapped the harness as i do not have memory seats. i swapped the panel that has the controls are connected to, do i also need to move these silver things?

having real trouble, i thought i had the seats incorrectly but they do not move, no error codes

From what I did (which I missed a part, stupid passenger airbag sensor ) I swapped the memory seat module and that was it. Can you take some pictures of what you're looking at?

are both seats required to be changed to work?

I have removed the memory module and the harness attached to it. I assumed the "modules" are the black boxes connected to the controls on the side of the seat. i swapped the items and wired them into the seat with my old harness. the harnesses wouldn't have matched up so i'm assuming this was correct.

I also swapped that individual wire that goes on the indorse rail and has its own harness.

i start my car and the seats won't move. i haven't received and fault codes but the seats will not work

Both seats should not be needed.

Let me try and summarize to my best understanding of how it should go.

Driver's side I had memory seats so I only swapped the memory module. Everything else was straight p&p. From what it sounds like if you don't have memory seats you need to remove that harness and the side cover and replace it with your existing wires and side piece. (May be wrong on that.) The seat motors themselves should be straight plug and play. Make sure that no wires are unplugged between the car and the seat.

For the passenger seat you need to remove the seat sensor that tells the car someone is seating in the seat with the one that was in your seat. That way you won't get any error lights on the dash... Like I currently have.

[DJ_AudiA4]

Found the problem, make sure you triple check all your connections.

MY MISTAKE!! that you for the help!

[Lambda13]

Found the problem, make sure you triple check all your connections.

MY MISTAKE!! that you for the help!

Enjoy the seats! What colors are they?

[DJ_AudiA4]

they are blood red S5 seats in my black interior haha a little loud but can't wait, I'm going to get the interior upholstered so i can replace the worn out bolster with black leather and highlight the back seats with some red.

[Lambda13]

they are blood red S5 seats in my black interior haha a little loud but can't wait, I'm going to get the interior upholstered so i can replace the worn out bolster with black leather and highlight the back seats with some red.

Did you get them off eBay? I was looking at a set on there the other day when someone mentioned wanting S4 seats.

Sounds like it'll look great when your done.

[DJ_AudiA4]

Did you get them off eBay? I was looking at a set on there the other day when someone mentioned wanting S4 seats.

Sounds like it'll look great when your done.

No i actually got them from a friend who wanted to install them in his GTI but it wasn't realistic and he found a set of golf r seats. he offered me a great deal and i couldn't pass it up.

[GU_Audi]

I swapped a set of S4 seats into my 15 Allroad. Having some trouble with getting the rear seat backs out. Seems like the pin on the outsides of each side has some sort of clip or something because they won't come out. Also, the airbag connector is different on the front seats, at least between whatever year the seats I got were out of and the 2015s. I got the correct connectors, just need to figure out how to crimp the wires into them.