# How to: Removing Seat Padding and Covers



## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

I recently fitted electrically adjustable seats but after waiting for ages I couldn't find any in the exact spec I wanted (red leather, heated, fully electrically adjustable) so I settled on black, non-heated ones and swapped over my existing heated seat padding and leather covers.

It isn't the easiest job but isn't too bad, and providing the plastics are the right colour for your car, no other parts need to be bought. The plastics are black on most cars but not all, and buying them from Audi isn't worthwhile for this, so check that first.

However, all are black on my car, except the back trim (red) but this can be reused anyway.

Part 1 - Remove seat

Removing the headrest is tricky to explain so I have attached the workshop manual image. Press in point 3 and push to the right, while simultaneously pulling the headrest up and out. This point is on the left side of both seats.









The seats are attached by 4x M10 spline bolts. When refitting, tighten them to 40Nm. They are bulky to remove but putting the seat to its lowest height setting helps

Part 2 - Remove backrest from base

Remove 4x spreader rivets on rear of trims. Push the centre out, don't lose them as they will be reused


















On the tunnel side of the seat, unscrew the bolt (T20) near the belt buckle and lift off the plastic trim









On the sill side of the seat, use a flat screwdriver to pop off the plastic trim clips









Then for electric seats, lift off plastic trim upwards and disconnect the connectors for the seat adjustment and lumbar support switches









Or for manual seats, start by prising off the reclining knob, which is held on by 3 clips









Then remove the height adjustment pump handle by pushing a screwdriver into the retaining clip and pulling the handle off at the same time









Then remove the 3x metal rail bolts (T25)









Release the fabric straps from the underside of the seat base









Remove cable bracket from tube









Remove bolt (T25) for cable bracket









Unclip and disconnect the wires coming from the seat backrest and separate from those of the seat base (various connectors depending on spec for airbag, heating and electric adjustment)









Unbolt 4x backrest bolts (M8 spline), feed wires out and then detach the backrest from the base. These are refitted to 35Nm


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

Part 3 - Remove backrest padding

Prise bottom of backrest cover out to release the 2 clips









Pull down the edge of the leather to detach from the edge of the plastic cover









Pull the leather out from around the edge of the cover. There is a plastic strip that can be prised with a screwdriver. Then pull out cover









Prise off the strip that pulls the fabric tight to the seat frame but lifting it up out of the groove









The side airbag needs to be removed. This has a single T30 bolt then slides up and out (no photos). Unclip and feed out the wiring (circled in photo). This is refitted to 10Nm. Take note of the way it is fitted, including the way the fabric is wrapped around it as it will need to be refitted in the reverse and it is quite tricky to do









Remove the folding handle by first prising the outer trim piece, which will unclip in a few places. The handle itself needs to be pulled very firmly and it is quite difficult, but it will eventually come free (no photos)
The seat padding and leather will now come away from the frame as one part (lumbar support version on left, standard on right)


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

Part 4 - Remove base padding

I don't have many photos for this but there aren't many steps.

Unclip the plastic strips around the edges of the underside of the seat base. This is quite fiddly and I used a combination of small flat screwdrivers to prise it off








There is some double sided tape holding the front edge down, so carefully peel this off so that it doesn't damage the padding foam
This shows the seat bases with the padding removed (electric on the left, manual on the right). If you need to remove the seat belt buckles, tighten them back up to 34Nm. I don't have the size but they are a spline bolt


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

Part 5 - rear seat backrest

Prise the plastic trim off from around the folding handle
Cut the cable ties off from the bottom brackets









Unclip cable from brackets









Unzip sides of backrest, 4x zips in total









Prise out plastic clip strip with a flat screwdriver









Remove fabric strap clip









Remove padding and cover. It is held on with lots of double sided tape so be careful not to rip the padding


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

The guides are finished. Not the most common job to need doing but hopefully useful nonetheless


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## Iceblue (Jul 20, 2018)

Great post and guidance. Did you put in extra padding to stop the saggy seat issue?


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

No I didn't, it would actually be quite tricky to remove the leather from the padding. I'd be worried it would be difficult to put back on properly, as there are wires that keep the leather in shake under there


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

Nice write up!  For anyone who's interested, Audi's leather seats are built in Austria by a company called Boxmark. Nice video on how they process the leather.


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

Do you know what it takes to remove the seat back tilt release? Mine are black, and I've seen them in brown to match the leather. I'm just curious how much of a hassle it is to remove and replace them.


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

It's difficult as it's brute force but step 8 above briefly explains

Basically the outer trim is prised off but can't be removed until the handle instead is removed. This pulls off but pulling very hard in an upwards direction. Will try and get a photo for that step

Some seat trim colours are discontinued so check if it's available before pulling it off in case it breaks. Though I did remove 4 without breaking them so they are quite strong


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## jakon316 (May 22, 2011)

MT-V6 said:


> I recently fitted electrically adjustable seats but after waiting for ages I couldn't find any in the exact spec I wanted (red leather, heated, fully electrically adjustable) so I settled on black, non-heated ones and swapped over my existing heated seat padding and leather covers.
> 
> It isn't the easiest job but isn't too bad, and providing the plastics are the right colour for your car, no other parts need to be bought. The plastics are black on most cars but not all, and buying them from Audi isn't worthwhile for this, so check that first.
> 
> ...


Hey I'm wondering if you could help me, I'm trying to remove the black plastic cover on the back of the seats to fix as its had some damage. Every time I try and prise the leather out away from the cover it just feels like its about to rip. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

What part of the leather do you mean? The bottom corners of the strip around the sides/top?


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## jakon316 (May 22, 2011)

MT-V6 said:


> What part of the leather do you mean? The bottom corners of the strip around the sides/top?


All of it around this bit of plastic trim, seems proper glued on can't seem to separate any of it feels like its gonna tear if I pull it any harder 😬 any advice would be great if you can think what I'm doing wrong


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

The leather has a black plastic strip sewn in. You can just about make it out in the photo of step 14

Starting at the bottom, prise it out with a small flat screwdriver. Once the edge is out, it's quite easy to pull it round


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## jakon316 (May 22, 2011)

Thanks I think I see where you mean I'll try working on that


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## darrylmg (Oct 16, 2021)

Thanks for this post.
Having stripped the seats down, do you think that the seat leather with bolster is exchangeable between drivers and passengers seats?
I know the backrest won't be due to the airbag and the area for the handle to get into the back seat, but I am wondering if the base section (once off the frame) is interchangeable. 

The reason for asking is that (like others) my driver's seat base and bolster is more worn than my passenger seat. Second hand passenger seats on eBay look to be in better condition and cheaper.
So I'm wondering if I could strip my driver's seat leather bottom area and swap with a donor passenger seat with same style & colour combo.


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## darrylmg (Oct 16, 2021)

darrylmg said:


> Thanks for this post.
> Having stripped the seats down, do you think that the seat leather with bolster is exchangeable between drivers and passengers seats?
> I know the backrest won't be due to the airbag and the area for the handle to get into the back seat, but I am wondering if the base section (once off the frame) is interchangeable.
> 
> ...


Ignore this.
I had a detailed look at my seats and noted the slight material change on the side where the seat belt clip is.
Impossible to swap the leather from a passenger seat to a driver's seat.


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## MT-V6 (Jan 11, 2015)

I don't seem to get notified recently from this forum so missed this

Was going to say, the centre console side has cloth instead of leather. My thinking is so it doesn't "creak" when rubbing the centre console/seat belt buckle


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