I'm looking for a low-mileage, N-18 engined replacement for my R55. I keep finding good vehicles, except for the seats. Vinyl is not acceptable (for me), and the cloth seats don't have heating and lumbar (required for my back). I'm considering buying a 2013-14 R55 with the leatherette seats, and swapping my very good condition (at 80K+ miles) Punch leather seats into the new(er) car, and selling my old car with newish leatherette. Swapping the seats seems straightforward, but I'm also considering swapping the front seat cushion left to right, to equalize the wear (rotate the seats every 80,000 miles). Anyone have any experience doing this?
Rotating the seats in my car has never occurred to me. Wouldn't the seat position levers be on the wrong side if you switched them left to right?
The side airbags are in the seat side bolsters in my MINI. Seems like a wee bit of a problem, to me. CD
I'd be swapping out the cushions (bottoms), not the seats proper. The seat back cushions (with the exploding bladders) would stay in place. But the part that has been supporting my 200+ lbs would be 'refreshed'. My wife would appreciate the 'softened' seat bottoms being moved to her side. ;-)
The covers of the seat bottoms aren't interchangeable -- the cutouts on the sides are different, and besides the passenger side seat cover has the stupid airbag weight sensor glued on. So the only thing you might be able to swap is the relatively thin padding underneath the cover.
You can carve a little of the denser foam from the bottom cushion and replace it with some softer upholstery grade foam from Jo Ann's. I've did this on my last car because it would give you TB in an hour.