# DIY for TT front seat removal and aftermarket seat install



## TTQ2K2 (Jun 25, 2009)

I got a lot of help and advice from the folks on the TT forum at quattroworld.com on this seat install. Much thanks goes out to all at QW.

*CAUTION: Disconnect the battery. It is imperative that the battery is disconnected to avoid the dreaded dashlight and error codes that will result when the airbag sensor connectors are unplugged. Also, make sure you have your radio code so that you can unlock you radio when you are finished. Frequently touch the body of the car to discharge any static electricity that may have built up on you. The Bentley manual say to attach an adaptor to the seat any time it is removed from the car to avoid accidental discharge of the airbags, but accidental discharge is highly unlikely unless you touch an electrical charge to the exposed connectors. *
1. Disconnect the battery (see caution above).
The seats are bolted to the floor at each corner of the sliders. The rear bolts are uncovered and fully visible. The front bolts are hidden by a plastic cover that clips onto the runner. 








The cover slides forward to reveal the front bolts as shown. You may be able to wiggle the plastic cover forward by hand or as in my case, use a flat blade screwdriver to coax it forward. 
2. Slide the seat fully forward and remove the rear bolts with an 8mm allen wrench or T-50 socket. 
3. Slide the seats fully rearward and remove the plastic caps at the end of the runners .
4. Remove the bolts with an 8mm allen key or T-50 socket.








5. Once all four bolts are removed, tip the seat rearward to expose the electrical connections on the bottom of the seat-base.








6. Disconnect the electrical connectors. I found there was little working room to disconnect these plugs, so I removed the connector bracket from the base of the seat. The connector bracket is secured to the seat by Philips head screws as shown and is simple to remove. My passenger seat had two connections, green for seat heat and yellow/purple for the airbag. My driver's seat had three to include a red connector for the seatbelt. If you are going to reuse your OEM seatbelts with aftermarket seats, you'll need to remove the seatbelt receiving end from the OEM seat. (Described below.) My car is an 8/2000 build 2001 225 coupe US model, but later 2001 models have the red connector installed with the passenger's seatbelt too. 
7. Once the bracket is removed, with a little effort you can disconnect the connectors and lift the seat out. It is heavy and awkward. Place a blanket or towel on the door-jam to protect it when removing and replacing the seats. I found that by rotating the seats 90 degrees and tipping them rearward, I was able to lift them out without removing the headrests. 
8. Re-installation is the reverse. That's it unless you are installing after-market seats as I did.
9. If you're installing after-market seats without airbag and you don't have some type of "airbag" kit, you'll need to install a 4.7ohm resistor on the airbag connector as shown to prevent the airbag light from illuminating and throwing codes. 








If you can't find a 4.7 ohm resistor, two 10 ohm resistors wired in parallel (resulting in 5 ohms resistance) will suffice. 
10. I used my original TT seat belts so I then had to remove the receiving end from my OEM seats using an 18mm socket (or spanner if you like). Also, the red connector with cable is needed and must be reconnected to the electrical harness to prevent throwing codes and illuminating the seatbelt light in the cluster. This was a bugger. You'll see that the seat belt electrical connector cable snakes along the bottom of the seat and beneath a black plastic clamp that secures the back of the seat bottom upholstery to the seat frame.








The black plastic c-clamp is stitched to the upholstery as shown in the photo and would be easy to cut, but don't as you need this to hold the upholstery on tight should you want to reinstall the OEM seats or sell them. 
11. First, remove the plastic shield from the back of the seat base. It is secured to the seat base by two screws on the bottom and two plastic plugs on one side (not shown). Bentley says to use a small screwdriver to pry out the plastic plugs. I got the small one out easily, but the large one broke. Then remove the two Philips head screws.
12. To release the black plastic c-clamp, you'll need to apply pressure to the back of the seat bottom and squeeze the seat bottom which releases pressure on the black plastic c-clamp. It took two of us to do this as one set of hands is not enough to squeeze and release the plastic. 








Then, once removed you can remove the entire cable.








Note: it is attached to the other cables with three zip ties that can be easily cut. You'll need to again apply pressure to the back of the seat bottom to reattach the black plastic c-clamp. (Alternately a couple of carpenter's clamps will also work to squeeze the seat base enough to release the black plastic c-clamp as I discovered when I reattached the plastic c-clamp to the seat base.)
13. Bolt the OEM seat belts receiving ends to the new seats and reconnect the ends of the red connectors. 
14. Drop the new seats in, bolt them down, and enjoy.









cheers


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## ecko2702 (Jan 26, 2009)

Nice write up and nicer seats :lol:


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## stevebeechTA (May 16, 2009)

Good write up mate, do you know or does anyone ells know if the connectors the same across the years, ie the connectors for a 2001 the same as the connectors for a 2004


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## chrishTT (May 14, 2006)

nice
will put this in my favorites so can get hold of it when needed


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## TTQ2K2 (Jun 25, 2009)

stevebeechTA said:


> Good write up mate, do you know or does anyone ells know if the connectors the same across the years, ie the connectors for a 2001 the same as the connectors for a 2004


yes. connectors are the same...well, at least they are the same in my Bentley (2000-2006) service manual. Seat belts and Airbags are discussed in chptr 69 and seats are discussed in chptr 72. I could find no differences between the years.

cheers.


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## stevebeechTA (May 16, 2009)

TTQ2K2 said:


> stevebeechTA said:
> 
> 
> > Good write up mate, do you know or does anyone ells know if the connectors the same across the years, ie the connectors for a 2001 the same as the connectors for a 2004
> ...


Cheers for that your a gent


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## Hark (Aug 23, 2007)

Really, really useful.

Many thanks


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## TTQ2K2 (Jun 25, 2009)

Thanks m8s.  Just trying to give back a little.

cheers.


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## Hark (Aug 23, 2007)

Went to do mine today and realised the sockets I have are all too small.

Will try again tomorrow.


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## Bikerz (Aug 23, 2008)

Sockets? Mine are allen key bolts :?


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## TTQ2K2 (Jun 25, 2009)

Bikerz said:


> Sockets? Mine are allen key bolts :?


+1. 8mm allen key or T50 socket will work.


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## Mici (Sep 25, 2006)

Thanks for the enlighting post. I know this is old post but will come handy now as I'm going to get my aftermarket seats installed on my roadster. Nice to find out the resistor value. However, I do have a question, what seat sliders are you using on this? They look pretty much like oem? My new seats come with side mount install brackets but I really haven't even looked if the OEM seats can be separated from their sliders and just bolt the new side mount plates on with some adapters made or something... Any information on this? Thanks!

Mici


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## Mici (Sep 25, 2006)

Did some research and yes it looks like I could use the OEM seat sliders. This is way too easy... 

Mici


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## CATELUS (Oct 1, 2013)

Just a question on the Resistor.
How many watts does the resistor have to be rated for, as there are many different types of watt ratings in a 4.7ohm.


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## fishchicken (Aug 18, 2013)

I have a quick question, please excuse my lack of mechanical/electrical knowledge...

This is a great guide thank you, I think I will give this a go myself this weekend to replace my OEM fabric seats with some OEM leather seats I got from Ebay.

The seats I have bought have heaters, however my car is not set up with heated seat controls; I am assuming it doesn't make any difference and I can just leave the heater connection unconnected to anything, but just making sure?


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## AudiTT8N (Apr 18, 2015)

Great Thread on removing the seats... Unfortunately I didn't read it before I removed my seats and replaced them with much better OEM seats. 
And of course I have the "Dreaded" Air Bag light in the dash cluster. Anyone know how to turn it off?
Also the driver heater doesn't work. How might I troubleshoot that problem? Connectors are seated well.
Thanks in advance for any help.


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