# Recaro Sportster CS in TTRS - Help needed



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Hello,

A few days ago my new Recaro Sportser CS seats arrived. They look brilliant. I like to do things myself with my car so decided to replace the seats myself. It seemed like a pretty doable job and I knew I had to fiddle with the airbag plugs etc. The store that sold me the seats gave me some premade resistorplugs and had to solder these on the airbag connector (2 wires he said). So first thing: the seat was mounted with some torc like bolt, but like a 12-star instead of a 6-star one. So went to the store and bought one that fitted (15 euros...). Seat demounted easily after. Then I have the following issues and questions:

- The recaro seats and adapter set doesn't come with a seatbelt buckle. That means I have to use the one of my current seat or buy a new one. I tried to unscrew the one, which started as a pain in the ass. It's an electric seat and I was unable to reach the bolt, so fitted the seat back in, then slide it backwards. It was the only way to reach it. So now I was able to reach it, it had another torc-like 12 star bolt in it. But this one was smaller. With the show closed and decided to try it with a torcscrewdriver T40 which fitted actually. The bolt was tightened so extremely hard I was unable to loosen it. Then eventually I stripped the bolt a but, but I still think it will work with a 12-star torc screw bit. Now if I put enough power on the T40 screwdriver it wont grip anymore 
Anyone with the same experience? Or should I buy 2 new seat belt buckles? Any suggestions where? Don't know how to get these ones loose...

- Then I have an issue with faking the passenger airbag unit. There aren't 2 wires but 3, brown, blue and black. On the other side there is a white one, but can't remember to which wire it should be connected. Now, with the seat demounted, I tried to put the resistor between the blue and brown wire (not soldered, just loosely fitted the metals in the plug, just to see if it will work. Then turned on the ignition (I disconnected the battery when demounting the seat and working with the airbag wires ofcourse, then connected the battery). Now the airbag light stayed on!! need to go to the garage to reset the warning light are get myself an expensive rosstech vagcom cable (which I want anyway...)  So I guess I tried the wrong wires? Anyone with advice here? I could try the other two, but now sure yet.

- Another question I have is what to do with the passenger seatbelt light? I thought the seatbelt buckle whould have some kind of wire for detect if the seatbelt is connected, but there is no such cable. The buckle is only mounted with a screw. How does the car knows if the passenger is buckled up?? I know the driver seat gives such warning, never noticed one for the passenger. And what If I do nothing with the cables and fake there is no one seated on the passenger seat, will the airbag in the dash for the passenger still be enabled?

- I've also take a look underneath the driver seat and looked at the wires. I saw it also had a black plug, which did not exist on the passenger side. I expected the opposite. A plug specificly for detecting if someone is seated, which is not necessary on the driver seat. Anyone an idea what to do with that? I've came across this thread http://nickscarblog.com/diy/how-to-...ts-into-a-b7-a4-with-no-airbag-warning-light/ and it seems to be a pressure control module (which I expected on the passenger side, not drivers side).

Now I've put back in the original seat, unfortunately with the airbag warning still on. 
Of course, the easy way out would be to give it all to the specialist dealer and let them deal with the seat switch. It's not about the costs but I just want to do it myself 

Hopefully with enough input I can retry my attempt of switching the seats


----------



## brittan (May 18, 2007)

Not much there I can help with except that the airbag warning light will now stay on until reset by dealer or VCDS. If you'd put it all back together before switching on the ignition the light would not be on but that wouldn't have worked for what you were doing. AFAIK there is no warning that the passenger has not buckled up.


----------



## suffeks (Jun 16, 2010)

i installed the oem bucket seats in mine, you need to fake a lot of things:

1) passenger seat belt buckle is needed (it has a force sensor inside of it)
2) passenger seat occupant sensor
3) airbag dongle (this is just a resister in the yellow connector)

the light didnt bother me much, but in my car if i didnt do it right, the passenger airbag was permanently disabled

but for parts 1 and 2 i couldnt fool with resistors, since its CANBUS data, so i had to buy a retrofit kit from audi for $800, here it is, all of this had to be installed in the new seat along with buckle from old seat, fun!


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. But here is the thing, I couldn't find any wires to the passenger seatbelt buckle so I guess there is no sensor. On the passenger side I found 3 plugs:
- A yellow one (airbag), with 3 wires. So which of the 2 out of 3 needs a resistor?
- A red plug. This one only has 2 wires and is only for the electric seat
- A green plug. This one seems to be for the heated seats

There is no black plug, which I expected, which is for 'passenger awareness'. Or am I wrong here? The driver seat however has this black plug.

Today I'll ask my passenger to not buckle up for a moment and see what happens


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Ok, so there is definitely no passenger occupant sensor. Passenger unbuckled the seatbelt but nothing happened. Which was what I expected because there were no wires. My previous TT TDI definitely had such sensor. The driverseat does have it. I can fake this connection.

So I guess the only thing left is how to fake the airbag sensor properly. Got 3 wires, which of them needs a resistor?


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Ok, after some searching I think I need the blue and black one, which needs a resistor. Will try it, but cannot verify after I've cleaned the airbag warning light. Will keep you updated here about the progress


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

I've measured the weights.

Standard TTRS Passenger seat (electric) is 28 KG
Recaro sportster CS including adapter frame is 22 KG.

So only weight difference of 6 KG. Perhaps everybody measured the Recaros without the heavy weight adapter set?


----------



## caney (Feb 5, 2004)

Joerek said:


> I've measured the weights.
> 
> Standard TTRS Passenger seat (electric) is 28 KG
> Recaro sportster CS including adapter frame is 22 KG.
> ...


Pole positions are 12kg with mounts etc.


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

The mounts alone weigh 7 KG (= 15.4 lbs), which is halve the weight of the seat itself!


----------



## RichieO (Aug 27, 2011)

I havent long fitted the rs4 buckets to mine which feel much better especially with the bolsters all wired up had mine done by a garage tho


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Afterall I guess it was better if I've had it done by the garage 

I've heared I can disable the passenger side airbag easily using the vagcom cable / vcds, without fiddling with resistors in the wires. Someone can confirm that? Then I can get myself such cable (want it anyway), then disable drivers and passenger side airbags and even disable the driver seatbelt alert. It would make life much easier.


----------



## RichieO (Aug 27, 2011)

Joerek said:


> disable the driver seatbelt alert


Get down the scrappys and cut of a seatbelt and put it in yours no beeping then


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

So, I finally did it. The seats are mounted in the car and also did the wiring.










I just cut the connector of the original seat and connected a resistor between the black and blue cable.










This made it easier to fake the airbag and wouldnt have to buy a new plug. I cramped a male and female plug on the wires so I can easily put the plug back on the original seat.

Unfortunately I couldn't verify if the airbag plug is connected properly now, because I cannot reset the airbag warning light. I don't have a vagcom cable. Next monday the car will be for service anyway so I'll let the garage sort it out.


















Also did the same for the heated seat. I actually picked the plug that is used for the electric seat but it's just a 12v connector which I need for the electric seat part of the Recaro.

I used the original seatbelt buckles and as you know one was extremely hard to get off of the original seat. Bought the right tool so it was easier, but on the passengers seat the bolt was fastened extremely well. I haven't connected the drivers seatbelt wires so the car always thinks the seatbelt is used. This was the easy part. In same cars its the opposite and you have to use the wires to know if its being used.

Then mounted the seats into the car. This again was a horrible thing to do. I got a special TT adapter set, but when this was in place, it was still 1 to 2 mm off. That gave me a hard time to getting in the bolts of the seats to the adapter set. But finally after 30 minutes of sweating (and absolutely no space to get to the bolts properly...) I managed to get in all the bolts. The only thing is now, manually adjusting the seats is very hard, the mounts are too tights. It doesn't slide easily at all. Don't know how to get this better, but once its set its set for a long time (I'm the only driver).

And here is the result:


























The seats feel absolutely so much better compared to the originals. The side support on the back is much improved and you can feel the seats on the shoulders now. Also the heated seat works well, its warm within seconds instead of 2 minutes in the original seats. Well worth upgrade, but a bit disappointed in the weight loss (6 to 7 kg per seat).


----------



## knarf_st (Jul 28, 2008)

Looks great!!! That was a decent amount of work.

Where did you buy the seats?


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Local dealer (Anders Auto), they could have mounted the seats but I liked to do it myself. They gave me good instructions and prepared the resistors for me.

But there are tons of Recaro dealers. Had to wait for about 5 to 6 weeks for the seats to be ready. I even managed to fit both seats including the adapter frames in my TT to drive them home. One seat in the back, one seat upsidedown on the passengers seat.


----------



## knarf_st (Jul 28, 2008)

What are you going to do with your old seats?


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

I think I'll keep the old seats and put them back when I sell the car in about 3 years. I can bring the Recaro's to the next car or sell them seperately. Guess that's better then selling the TTRS seats.

I've made a big mistake in wiring the heated seats tho. I used the electric seat plug, but that has constant 12v. I need to have switched 12v ofcourse. Last night I left the heated seats on, and this morning came back into the car and realized it was still on. No problems starting the car which is odd. I guess the heated seats soaks a lot of power from the battery and it was on for 10 hours. Didn't realized the electric seats was running on constant 12v... stupid!

I will change it to a switched 12v wire then directly from the fusebox...


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

Hello Jorek,
I am new and I have also just purchased some TTRS bucket seat. Do you have any details about the resistor used to trick the airbags ?. 
Hope you can Help.


----------



## robokn (Feb 21, 2006)

if you have OEM Seats you won't need a set


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

really, even though my car does not have the bucket seats as standard. The seats I have are Audi TTRS buckets. very expensive. but they dont have airbags and only have one connector. Ill check when they arrive. Thank you for the reply. [smiley=book2.gif]


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

I have faked the airbag with a resistor. My local Recaro dealer supplied me with some premade resistor wires and used those. For some reason one seat was ok and one seat gave a warning light. Because my car needed to be serviced that week my garage checked it (at first I thought it only needed to be reset). They told me that on one seat the resistance was too high. That changed it with a proper resistor. I do not now what the proper Ohm should be, but googling it tells me that 470 Ohm should be ok.

Haven't had any issues so far


----------



## suffeks (Jun 16, 2010)

someone with bucket seats please post their seat coding with vagcom

i cant get rid of my seatbelt buckle warning light...


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks Joerek, 
My seats will arrive next week, just in time for me to get back from China. I hope to fit them in the weekend. 
I found some pre made resistors in ebay. I really hope they work. 
The other thing I was thinking was to simply change the airbag ECU for a TTRS / TTS one that is pre programmed for the bucket seats. It cant be that hard if they offer the car with and without the Buckets. How do they do it in the factory ????? 
[smiley=gossip.gif] [smiley=gossip.gif]


----------



## mattyl (Mar 19, 2010)

V6KMO said:


> Thanks Joerek,
> My seats will arrive next week, just in time for me to get back from China. I hope to fit them in the weekend.
> I found some pre made resistors in ebay. I really hope they work.
> The other thing I was thinking was to simply change the airbag ECU for a TTRS / TTS one that is pre programmed for the bucket seats. It cant be that hard if they offer the car with and without the Buckets. How do they do it in the factory ?????
> [smiley=gossip.gif] [smiley=gossip.gif]


The factory buckets still have airbags.


----------



## illingworth22 (Sep 6, 2011)

RichieO said:


> I havent long fitted the rs4 buckets to mine which feel much better especially with the bolsters all wired up had mine done by a garage tho


Can you post some pictures of the RS4 Buckets? Where and how much 8)


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

Hi Mattyl,
The TTRS Buckets don't come with airbags. The seat airbag is omitted when you buy the car with this option. That's what it says in the literature anyway, and its what the guy at Audi UK told me. Anyway Ill know soon enough.

:?: :!: :?:


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

suffeks said:


> someone with bucket seats please post their seat coding with vagcom
> 
> i cant get rid of my seatbelt buckle warning light...


In the RS some how my passenger seat belt buckle didn't came with a sensor. But I fitted the original seat belt buckles from the original seats to on the Recaro's. With Vagcom you should be able to remove the warning if the buckle is properly wires.

In terms of disabled the airbags of the seats. Thought of that as well but I thought faking it was better so I can easily put the original seats back when I want to sell the car.


----------



## bbsboy (Sep 4, 2011)

Have you any pictures of the seats installed, particularly interested in how they mount, the height off the floor and the angle of the seat base, how are you finding them compared to the OEM seats for comfort and seating position?

Thanks

Steven


----------



## Daltzz (Mar 21, 2013)

CSs are the most comfortable seat ever, they look the part too. Win win.


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

Hi Jorek, 
Thank you for all your advice here. Can you answer me these quick questions. 
1. I am correct in thinking that the seats you fitted were genuine Audi buckets Correct ?

2. What were the resistor values you used for the airbags.

3. Did you simply exchange the seatbelt buckles form your original seats to cure the seatbelt issue?

4. What did you do with the passenger seat occupancy sensor ?

I really appreciate any help. I seem to be going cra :? zy with this...

Best regards
Mark


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

V6KMO said:


> Hi Jorek,
> Thank you for all your advice here. Can you answer me these quick questions.
> 1. I am correct in thinking that the seats you fitted were genuine Audi buckets Correct ?
> 
> ...


And something about the fitment: The seats at the moment are too tight, which makes it pretty difficult to move the seat back and forth. For some reason the adapter set didn't fit 100%, the holes for the screws are a few mm's offset. I could get back to the Recaro dealer and they will look at it, but didn't found the time and need yet. Set it in one position and thats it. Rarely when my girlfriend driver the car she complains about how hard it is to move the seat forward.

Another thing. You cannot move the seat fully to the back, because the headrest will touch the roof.

Besides those things I'm very very pleased with the seats. The fit is perfect and you get a much much more 'racier' feel in the car. Cornering is much more rewarding because you sit so tight. The standard seats had almost no side support which is a shame for such a car.

I'd recommend to get it with heated seats. It works fine and they can get warmer than the standard seats.

Here are some pictures of the process:


----------



## illingworth22 (Sep 6, 2011)

and the million dollar question.... How much? I google'd all morning and couldn't find any prices or places to buy!


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Find for a Recaro dealer. Lots of Recaro dealers in The Netherlands. My set was about 2550 euro


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks for the information.. Sorry for my late reply.
The seats will arrive tomorrow so I will try do this in the weekend. Ill put up some pictures if I can.


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Be sure you have a M8 and M10 ready. It also took me much longer to fit the adapter kit than I expected. Take your time


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

[smiley=gossip.gif] 
Thanks for all your help. all in and done fine. 2 hours from start to finish. Very Nice and well worth it.
Thanks to you all for the comments and advice.
Regards Mark.


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Pictures!!


----------



## mattyl (Mar 19, 2010)

Finally got mine done, feel they are positioned alittle high though. So im going to make new mounts to sit lower.


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Looks great!!

Did your adapter sit fit properly? My adapter set had holes which were about 5mm not in line with the seat, so the seat is too tight which makes it pretty hard to slight.


----------



## RobHardy (Feb 25, 2012)

Look really good!!!!!!!!!! 8)


----------



## temporarychicken (Oct 16, 2012)

They look amazing, worth the airbag system shenanigans. Even better than the OEM buckets IMO.

I recently changed an airbag control module on an A4 so have some sympathy with the trouble you have gone to to make this mod work. Really excellent!


----------



## mattyl (Mar 19, 2010)

Joerek said:


> Looks great!!
> 
> Did your adapter sit fit properly? My adapter set had holes which were about 5mm not in line with the seat, so the seat is too tight which makes it pretty hard to slight.


I have modified the bases from when i had the seats in my M3. but i understand what you mean, if the seat it not perfectly square or rails tweaked to lines the holes up makes them very hard to adjust.

Retrim was done by Sf-cartrim, thoroughly recommend Simons work. Even used genuine audi heater elements so is plug and play. im over the moon with them


----------



## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Not really bothered with it because I hardly adjust the seat, but when I do I think, damn I have to fix that


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

they look really fine. good job. i can load pictures yet haha still a new member. Having them fitted for a while now I really like them. as soon as I can post some pictures I will.


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

seems i can now. I will put the pictures of the seats later today if I get time. :wink:


----------



## KIFOO (Nov 19, 2012)

V6KMO said:


> they look really fine. good job. i can load pictures yet haha still a new member. Having them fitted for a while now I really like them. as soon as I can post some pictures I will.


Mate are they khan alloys they look superb

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)

yep they are 20" not for everyone I know but I like em....


----------



## V6KMO (Mar 24, 2013)




----------

