Aftermarket Seat Install

[JACKAL]

I decided to install aftermarket seats as my stock seat (driver side) was starting to show some wear in the leather. I opted for Braum Racing Orue series. I will say that the install was not completely straightforward since I couldn't find any definitive writeups stating what was required to prevent airbag and parking brake warnings. I also needed to make some modifications to the Planted brackets so everything fit properly. In hindsight and with the info I can share, I hope it becomes a little easier for anyone attempting a seat swap in the future. Let's get started...

Parts needed:
- New Seats
- Sliders (if desired)
- Planted Seat Brackets, p/n SB098DR and SB098PA (driver and passenger respectively)
- (2) 2.2 ohm resistors (for airbags) OR
- (2) connectors, p/n 4H0972773A AND (1) repair wire, p/n 000979034E (see posts 17, 18, and 19 for details on this)
- Hardware for mounting your new seats to sliders (mine came with)
- Minimum of (4) M8x1.5x20mm Hex Head Bolts. The stock seat mounting bolts are M8x1.5x20 with an M10 triple square head. However, given the geometry of the Planted seat brackets, I needed to purchase hex head bolts to place in the fastener locations closest to the center console as there was not much room to get a socket or M10 bit between the fastener and the bracket. If you want to just have consistent hardware mounting the brackets, then pick up 8. I preferred the more discrete look of the black M10 stock hardware in the more visible areas but only needing one tool for removal is nice as well
- 1/4-20 x 3/4" (or similar - length may need to be ground down) carriage bolt. This was used to mount the seatbelt lap catch to the Planted bracket. You may need to play around with the bolt length and geometry for your specific seats/application but it shouldn't be hard
**The remaining parts on this list can either be purchased or stripped off your stock seats. I stripped most from my seats because I simply didn't know what would be needed before hand but either option will work
- 8T0971365H or 8T0971365A - Driver side seat belt wiring harness
- 8T0971365M or 8T0971365F - Passenger side seat belt wiring harness
- 8T0963553 or 8T0963553G - Passenger occupancy detector mat
- 8K0959339C - Passenger occupancy detection module
- Seat belt receivers (I don't have part numbers - I just pulled the stock receivers off my seats and re-used them)

Again, I ended up stripping the wiring harnesses from my stock seats so i only purchased the occupancy detection mat and plugged it into my stock wiring harnesses

I don't have pics of the stock seat removal but it wasn't hard. You need an M10 triple square bit to remove the 4 bolts holding the seats to the floor and the seatbelt lap catch (not the receiver but the anchor point for the lap belt near the door) can be removed by snapping off the plastic cover and lifting up the metal tab. I didn’t get a shot of the removal but below is the lap catch and the carriage bolt I used on the new seats:


After those are free, just unclip the wire harnesses and remove the stock seat. Take a moment to marvel at how incredibly heavy and cumbersome the seat is and how tricky it is to get out of the vehicle without scratching your floorboard trim or your paint. This part (removing the stock seat from the vehicle) is the hardest part of the removal process BTW.

After measuring the resistance of the airbags at 2.2 ohms with my multimeter, I went ahead and installed dummy resistors. I ran a couple resistors in parallel to achieve the necessary 2.2 ohms. The image below is the passenger side airbag module with the resistors in the proper terminals (the resistors are in the BOTTOM and CENTER terminals):


I stripped the passenger side wiring harness from the stock seat and added the occupancy detection mat. The image below shows the stuff you will need (along with the resistor) to eliminate any warnings (driver side is similar but without the occupancy detection mat):
8t0971365M - Passenger side seat belt wiring harness (stripped from stock seat)
8T0963553 - Passenger occupancy detector mat (purchased since removing it seemed like a nightmare and it isn't very expensive)
8K0959339C - Passenger occupancy detection module (stripped from stock seat)



Another shot of the passenger wiring that is necessary to turn off any warning lights:


This is what you will need to transfer over to your driver side seat along with the 2.2 ohm resistor


Since I didn't purchase new seatbelt receivers, I had to remove the the stock ones using an M8 triple square (below):


The new seats arrived from Braum nicely packaged:


Installed:




Additional comments:

- My specific seats/sliders were not entirely compatible with the Planted brackets. The brackets matched up fine with my floor mounting holes but due to the geometry of the thigh bolsters, I needed to drill out a few mounting holes in the brackets as the pre-cut slots and holes did not match up. This wasn't hard but it did require a little iteration
- If you start the car or turn the ignition on at any point without all the proper resistors and wire harnesses in place, you will likely get an airbag and parking brake code. This is normal but it will NOT clear itself even if you have everything properly installed. You will need to clear out all fault codes with Vagcom, Carista, or something similar

Overall, I'm happy with the seats. They are not as plush and cushy as stock but that's to be expected. They are around 31 lbs including the mounting brackets so about half the weight of the stock seats. They do sit a little lower and do not extend back quite as far so at maximum rear extension, I am still a little closer to the wheel than I was with stock but it isn't unpleasant by any stretch. They are snug and I feel well-planted. For reference, I am 6 feet tall, about 170 lbs, 29" waist, 32" inseam. I'm pleased with the appearance and quality of the seats. I do wish I hadn't needed to mess around with the brackets so much to get everything to fit but perhaps a different brand seat or even Braum model would work with the pre-cut holes and slots. These just didn't. While I didn't enjoy messing around with trying to trial-and-error the airbag and parking brake warnings, I eventually came up with the right combination of parts and hopefully saved any readers of this thread who tackle the job themselves a lot of time and hassle.

I hope this is helpful to anyone considering an aftermarket seat install and if you have any suggestions or tips, please share and I will be glad to update as needed. This wasn't the most thorough DIY I've ever posted or read for that matter so please take this with a grain of salt. It was the best I could put together with the patience I have

[rrated]

Nice seats and writeup!

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[JACKAL]

Nice seats and writeup!

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Thank you!

[Bikel]

Great write-up and love the stitching detail in the Braum seats!

Do they have all the same auto adjust-ability as stock? (esp the lumbar support function)

[JACKAL]

Great write-up and love the stitching detail in the Braum seats!

Do they have all the same auto adjust-ability as stock? (esp the lumbar support function)

Thanks!

They are basically only adjustable forward-backward and recline (both are manual). Everything else is fixed so you do lose much of the 'customization' the stock seats offer.

[hmc2261]

The seats look great!
I have had my eye on Braum for a while

[Envy187]

New seats look phenomenal, JACKAL! Do you lose heated functionality with these new seats over the OEM ones?

All that's left now is to remove those rear seats and replace them with diamond-stitch BRAUM ones because matching. Can't be having a mismatched look now!

[JACKAL]

The seats look great!
I have had my eye on Braum for a while

New seats look phenomenal, JACKAL! Do you lose heated functionality with these new seats over the OEM ones?

All that's left now is to remove those rear seats and replace them with diamond-stitch BRAUM ones because matching. Can't be having a mismatched look now!

Thanks guys - I’m really happy with the look too! Lol, I know what you mean about that mismatched back seat. For some reason, my wife doesn’t seem as concerned about that...

[RWD2quattro]

The seats look great!
I have had my eye on Braum for a while

Same here, great pricing too when compared to Recaro CS. Question, will the passenger airbag deploy as it doesn't acknowledge when an occupant is on the seat to activated it due to blader under the seat not on the seat?

[JACKAL]

It depends on how you choose to position the mat. If you just leave it in a bundle beneath the seat then no because it will never sense any load. If you stick it under the seat, between the cushion and the springs, then it will. I initially had my mat installed in the seat itself to maintain airbag functionality but while I was going through my troubleshooting to turn off the light, I removed it and I haven't yet stuck it back in the seat but I plan to this weekend. My only question is whether the pressure applied to the mat by the support springs would potentially cause it to register a passenger and activate the bag when there isn't one.

I will test this and report back what I find. For reference, the image below shows how I started off with the mat in between the springs (I ended up centering it more than this, but that picture was blurry so this gives the idea):

[RWD2quattro]

Nice job bro .
I'd been wanting to do this but been afraid of the airbag light and its functionality but I think it will work nicely for you where its at. I bet the tension on those springs are less than 8ft/lbs. or less each.

[JACKAL]

Nice job bro .
I'd been wanting to do this but been afraid of the airbag light and its functionality but I think it will work nicely for you where its at. I bet the tension on those springs are less than 8ft/lbs. or less each.

Thanks! I did some testing tonight and unfortunately I couldn't find any location/placement of the occupancy mat between the seat and the springs where it didn't assume a passenger was present. This may be very much seat-dependent but in my case, the support springs seem to apply enough pressure even with no one in the seat that the occupancy mat registers a passenger. For me personally this isn't a big deal as we never do any family rides in my car and I don't drive with passengers, but for those who do (and especially if you have various-sized front seat passengers), you may want to explore this a little more carefully so you can have proper airbag functionality and keep your passenger safe.

Again, a different seat may be a completely different story - this was just what I encountered with this specific set of parts.

[timmyzr1]

How do you like the seats so far!!?? Nice write up, i was thinking swapping seats in my RS3, cuz i hate leather!!! To me, from passenger seat airbag always on isnt a big deal, because its either my wife or nobody, because kids are always in the back! Unless im wrong it should be good right? Also, before open this thread i NEVER heard of Braum seats!!! And the recaro sporster is too much imo. I thought about the recaro speed from a
DC5 Type-R.
But man those Braum look nice. Would think retrofit mat from the oem seat is possible by taking apart the bottom seat of the Braum??

[JACKAL]

How do you like the seats so far!!?? Nice write up, i was thinking swapping seats in my RS3, cuz i hate leather!!! To me, from passenger seat airbag always on isnt a big deal, because its either my wife or nobody, because kids are always in the back! Unless im wrong it should be good right? Also, before open this thread i NEVER heard of Braum seats!!! And the recaro sporster is too much imo. I thought about the recaro speed from a
DC5 Type-R.
But man those Braum look nice. Would think retrofit mat from the oem seat is possible by taking apart the bottom seat of the Braum??

Thanks - so far I love them! They really do make me enjoy driving the car even more. The driving position just feels a little more sporty than stock and I do really like the appearance. I had looked at the Recaro but they are very pricey and I can't justify spending that much.

As for the occupancy mat, I imagine if I were to dig in and take the Braum apart more, I could probably find a spot to put it. Trying to sneak it between the bottom of the seat and the springs was the quickest and easiest way to go initially but it didn't work quite like I wanted. In any case though, I would think that you could get by with about the same process for the RS3 using a resistor for the airbag and then just pulling off or purchasing the necessary wiring harnesses for the seatbelts and passenger occupancy sensor mat.

Not to derail my own thread too much but how do you like the RS3? I've been considering that for awhile now as my next car when I leave the S4 (which I don't plan to do in the near future).

[timmyzr1]

Thanks - so far I love them! They really do make me enjoy driving the car even more. The driving position just feels a little more sporty than stock and I do really like the appearance. I had looked at the Recaro but they are very pricey and I can't justify spending that much.

As for the occupancy mat, I imagine if I were to dig in and take the Braum apart more, I could probably find a spot to put it. Trying to sneak it between the bottom of the seat and the springs was the quickest and easiest way to go initially but it didn't work quite like I wanted. In any case though, I would think that you could get by with about the same process for the RS3 using a resistor for the airbag and then just pulling off or purchasing the necessary wiring harnesses for the seatbelts and passenger occupancy sensor mat.

Not to derail my own thread too much but how do you like the RS3? I've been considering that for awhile now as my next car when I leave the S4 (which I don't plan to do in the near future).

Insanely fast with few bolts on and very responsive around town Specially on stage 2 E85 tune! Also getting 32 mpg on highway(93 oct)!

Why you went with this seat model exactly? I was looking at the new elite x, and it look very well design! RS3's can be coded throught VCDS to cancel passenger airbag! Do you feel like quality of the seats will make them holding up for a while?IMG_20200429_142155.jpgIMG_20200429_142224.jpg

[JACKAL]

Insanely fast with few bolts on and very responsive around town Specially on stage 2 E85 tune! Also getting 32 mpg on highway(93 oct)!

Why you went with this seat model exactly? I was looking at the new elite x, and it look very well design! RS3's can be coded throught VCDS to cancel passenger airbag! Do you feel like quality of the seats will make them holding up for a while?IMG_20200429_142155.jpgIMG_20200429_142224.jpg

Beautiful car - I love the Nardo Gray! I imagine with the e85 stage 2 tune that thing scoots!

I originally chose the Elite X but ultimately I just liked the style of the Orue a little better so I changed my order. Purely personal preference. From what I can tell, these are well-made and I expect them to hold up, but time will be the ultimate judge of their quality. On the surface and based on some research I had done prior to ordering, I do expect them to have very good durability.

[DBFL]

After measuring the resistance of the airbags at 2.2 ohms with my multimeter, I went ahead and installed dummy resistors. I ran a couple resistors in parallel to achieve the necessary 2.2 ohms. The image below is the passenger side airbag module with the resistors in the proper terminals (the resistors are in the BOTTOM and CENTER terminals):

Why not do this the safe way and make a proper connector? That is not electrically sound and is asking for problems. Do something like this:





Also, after measuring the resistance in several sets of seats, 2.2 ohms is on the lower end. I use a single 4.7 ohm resistor per seat.

[JACKAL]

Why not do this the safe way and make a proper connector? That is not electrically sound and is asking for problems. Do something like this:





Also, after measuring the resistance in several sets of seats, 2.2 ohms is on the lower end. I use a single 4.7 ohm resistor per seat.

I agree that using a connector that locks in place is a great way to go but I've installed aftermarket seats in other cars and used resistors for years without having a problem. Where did you get the connectors you show in the image above?

I had seen a post somewhere about someone using a 4.X ohm resistor and when I did this, I threw a code for high resistance so I physically measured each seat at 2.2 ohms. I have not codes so I'll stick with what I have.

[DBFL]

I agree that using a connector that locks in place is a great way to go but I've installed aftermarket seats in other cars and used resistors for years without having a problem. Where did you get the connectors you show in the image above?

I had seen a post somewhere about someone using a 4.X ohm resistor and when I did this, I threw a code for high resistance so I physically measured each seat at 2.2 ohms. I have not codes so I'll stick with what I have.

The parts can be bought at any Audi dealer.
Connector is part # 4H0972773A
The yellow repair wire for the connector is part number 000979034E
The wire has a clip at both ends, so only one is needed. Just cut it in half and solder in the resistor.

[timmyzr1]

The parts can be bought at any Audi dealer.
Connector is part # 4H0972773A
The yellow repair wire for the connector is part number 000979034E
The wire has a clip at both ends, so only one is needed. Just cut it in half and solder in the resistor.

Awesome!! Wondering if they change airbag connectors throughtout models!!

[DBFL]

Awesome!! Wondering if they change airbag connectors throughtout models!!

It's possible. But for that Audi would have to make changes to both the body wiring harness and seat airbag, which is unlikely.

[DBFL]

Other revisions of the seat wiring harnesses that will work:
8T0971365A - Driver side
8T0971365F - Passenger side
8T0963553G - Seat occupancy sensor

[JACKAL]

Other revisions of the seat wiring harnesses that will work:
8T0971365A - Driver side
8T0971365F - Passenger side
8T0963553G - Seat occupancy sensor

Thanks - I'll update my original post to include these part numbers and the harness part numbers as well.

[timmyzr1]

Do you think its possible to reuse oem rails? I bought a recaro srd(only doing driver). And im wondering if i could somehow reuse rails??!!

[JACKAL]

Do you think its possible to reuse oem rails? I bought a recaro srd(only doing driver). And im wondering if i could somehow reuse rails??!!

I'm not sure. It doesn't take very long to pull the stock seat out (at least in the S4 - not sure about the RS3, but I would guess removal is very similar) so you could just pop the seat out and see how things look.

[timmyzr1]

When you ordered the 2 connectors(4H0972773A ) did they came with the terminal inside the connector? Or the repair wire is for that purpose?

[timmyzr1]

Why not do this the safe way and make a proper connector? That is not electrically sound and is asking for problems. Do something like this:





Also, after measuring the resistance in several sets of seats, 2.2 ohms is on the lower end. I use a single 4.7 ohm resistor per seat.

Im confused here! Someone told me i have to use 2 resistance per Connector run paralel. one for low speed circuit, one for high speed circuit, both on ground. How did you managed to used only one 4.7 ohms resistance? Im getting all kind of very different way to do it! I bought the connector already, RS3's use 034E terminals. Last weekend my buddy and i, built custom Seat bracket to reuse OEM slider with Recaro speed, now i need to figure out the airbag trick before finishing up the install!

[JACKAL]

Im confused here! Someone told me i have to use 2 resistance per Connector run paralel. one for low speed circuit, one for high speed circuit, both on ground. How did you managed to used only one 4.7 ohms resistance? Im getting all kind of very different way to do it! I bought the connector already, RS3's use 034E terminals. Last weekend my buddy and i, built custom Seat bracket to reuse OEM slider with Recaro speed, now i need to figure out the airbag trick before finishing up the install!

Not sure what they mean about low speed and high speed circuits. What I posted about using 2.2 ohms worked though and all I did was put the resistor directly in the connector as shown in my pics. If you ran 2 4.7 ohm resistors in parallel you're at 2.35 ohms which should still shut off the light. Have you tried clearing the codes? They will not clear themselves even if you do have everything properly connected.

Can you take the wrap off your resistors and wiring and show us what you've got wired up?

[timmyzr1]

Basically, i think i was mislead by him, there is 3 wires ground(black) blue and brown. Supposed to be a low and high speed deployment circuit. But, other told me to use only one circuit(blue) with one 4.7 ohms resistor. I think that is where is the confusing, no need to do both circuit! If i understood correctly!

[JACKAL]

Basically, i think i was mislead by him, there is 3 wires ground(black) blue and brown. Supposed to be a low and high speed deployment circuit. But, other told me to use only one circuit(blue) with one 4.7 ohms resistor. I think that is where is the confusing, no need to do both circuit! If i understood correctly!

Oh, I see. Correct, you do not need to do both circuits.

[timmyzr1]

great thanks!!

[Dr. Funk]

Awesome post overall, nice job. I actually came here to learn about the airbag resistance for b8 oem seats as I’m installing them in a c5 s6. It looks like you’ve measured several airbags floor resistance and landed on 2.2ohm. From the wiring diagrams I have the three wires on the seat side are blue black and brown (ground). I assume you wire resistors across the blue and black terminals leaving ground untouched correct?

Also when you pinned your airbag resistance did you use a multimeter on the connector? I’ve been too scared to do this with worry that the multimeter will apply enough power to ignite the airbag (in ohmmeter mode).

[JACKAL]

Awesome post overall, nice job. I actually came here to learn about the airbag resistance for b8 oem seats as I’m installing them in a c5 s6. It looks like you’ve measured several airbags floor resistance and landed on 2.2ohm. From the wiring diagrams I have the three wires on the seat side are blue black and brown (ground). I assume you wire resistors across the blue and black terminals leaving ground untouched correct?

Also when you pinned your airbag resistance did you use a multimeter on the connector? I’ve been too scared to do this with worry that the multimeter will apply enough power to ignite the airbag (in ohmmeter mode).

Thanks! You are correct - resistor across blue and black.

I did use a multimeter to confirm resistance but if that makes you nervous you could always start with something around 2.2-2.3 and do trial and error. I have seen some folks using as much a 4.7 ohms but like I said, my seats were both in the 2.2 - 2.3 ohm range.

Good luck!

[Dr. Funk]

Thanks! You are correct - resistor across blue and black.

I did use a multimeter to confirm resistance but if that makes you nervous you could always start with something around 2.2-2.3 and do trial and error. I have seen some folks using as much a 4.7 ohms but like I said, my seats were both in the 2.3 - 2.3 ohm range.

Good luck!

Thanks! I know my c5 platform seems to expect to see 4.7ohm from the stock seats whereas based on your information the b8 seats are less, around 2.2ohm. I made a pigtail for the airbag connector and am going to add a 2ohm in series to see if I can get the b8 seats up to what the c5 car is looking for. Question- do you know or have the wiring diagram for the b8 seat seatbelt? I’m having trouble identifying what connector and pins in the b8 are for the seat belt. The c5 doesn’t have an occupancy sensor, And instead uses the seat belt to determine airbag deployment.

[timmyzr1]

I sold the RS3 and i want to fit my recaro speed in the S4! In the Rs3, since its a manual seat, i built brackets straight to the oem seat rail. In the S4 i dont think it will work since it electric! Should use planted seat base with some universal sliders? repair wire with 4.7ohms is what i need for airbag?

[EuroSwag]

Thanks! I did some testing tonight and unfortunately I couldn't find any location/placement of the occupancy mat between the seat and the springs where it didn't assume a passenger was present. This may be very much seat-dependent but in my case, the support springs seem to apply enough pressure even with no one in the seat that the occupancy mat registers a passenger. For me personally this isn't a big deal as we never do any family rides in my car and I don't drive with passengers, but for those who do (and especially if you have various-sized front seat passengers), you may want to explore this a little more carefully so you can have proper airbag functionality and keep your passenger safe.

Again, a different seat may be a completely different story - this was just what I encountered with this specific set of parts.

Isn’t the mat detecting a passenger what you want?? I’d assuming for airbag functionality there needs to be someone in the seat. So if it’s always detecting what’s the issue? I’m currently putting aftermarket seats in my c7 A6, awesome thread by the way!

[JACKAL]

Isn’t the mat detecting a passenger what you want?? I’d assuming for airbag functionality there needs to be someone in the seat. So if it’s always detecting what’s the issue? I’m currently putting aftermarket seats in my c7 A6, awesome thread by the way!

Yup definitely is! Like I said, I just couldn’t find a good spot for it where it wasn’t always active due to spring pressure so in my case, the airbag would always be active. I almost never have passengers, but in the rare instance that I do it is generally my son who is still small enough that I would not want the airbag active. If I do have somebody who is a little bit larger, I just reached under the seat and push them out between the springs so it activates.

[EuroSwag]

Ahhh okay that makes sense, thank you for clearing that up.

[JACKAL]

Of course. Good luck with your install!


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[cybernet99]

So glad I came across your post, I'm just starting to install some BRAUM Falcon X fixed back seats in my B8 A4. figuring out how to mount the factory belts to the planted brackets, and as well want to figure out the air bag sensor issues etc. :)