[kierownik]

Hi everyone.
I just wanted to let you know that I have successfully retrofitted the folding rear seats to my F30 Lci.

All I needed was set of rear seats, lock/release mechanisms, new centre seat belt (the one that can be fully retraced) and a new clip for it.

To replace the seat belt I had to remove the window shelf. To do that all I needed to do was - remove couple of plastic clips, both c pillar panels (they hold on 3 clips and come off fairly easily). Change the seat belt and refit the rear shelf.

As for the seats, when you remove your old seats you'll see that the car is already prepared for the folding ones. All the fitting points, holes etc are already there. So it's basically a plug and play job. The bolts you remove from the bottom of the top part of rear seat can be reused to fit the new seats.

There's really not much to explain.

I just wanted to let you know guys that it's possible and easier that anyone would think.

[jbeer]

Great job

[bishbosh]

Well done, I would gladly do the conversion, however folding f30 coral red seats are as rare as unicorn poo.

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

Well done, I would gladly do the conversion, however folding f30 coral red seats are as rare as unicorn poo.

I can imagine. It took me about a year to find matching folding rear seats and mine aren't anything special.

[sensible]

Nice job.
I spec'd it as an option on the 320i I bought in 2015, and I think it was £295, which was money well spent. It was always very poor of BMW not to include it as standard, as 99% would want it. At least they rectified it with the later cars.

[MY340i]

Hi what socket is needed to remove rear seats

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by Barsj111

Hi what socket is needed to remove rear seats

T50 Torx.

[SantaEugence]

Nicely done.
I'd also love to do it but as above, folding rear seats for mine just don't come up for sale!
Are the bottom parts the same, so just the rear bits that need changing?

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by SantaEugence

Nicely done.
I'd also love to do it but as above, folding rear seats for mine just don't come up for sale!
Are the bottom parts the same, so just the rear bits that need changing?

The seat bench for the f30 and f31 is the same, so it's just the backrest and side bolsters that need changing.

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

The seat bench for the f30 and f31 is the same, so it's just the backrest and side bolsters that need changing.

The bottom part is completely different. If you want to get it done you'll need bottom, top and sides.

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by kierownik

The bottom part is completely different. If you want to get it done you'll need bottom, top and sides.

Correct, got myself mixed up. I was thinking the seat bench is the same for both the f30 and f31 for the folding seats. For non folding seats you're right it would need to be changed.

[muka1993]

Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this thread after researching how to built in the lower part of the rear seats.

To quickly pick you up: I always wanted seat belts which matched the accent color of my interior and for that I only needed to remove the lower part of the rear seats. Now I can't seem to built them back in. Can you tell me if you first built in the lower part of the rear seats or the upper part?

Sorry for my bad english

Thanks in advance

muka

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by muka1993

Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this thread after researching how to built in the lower part of the rear seats.

To quickly pick you up: I always wanted seat belts which matched the accent color of my interior and for that I only needed to remove the lower part of the rear seats. Now I can't seem to built them back in. Can you tell me if you first built in the lower part of the rear seats or the upper part?

Sorry for my bad english

Thanks in advance

muka

Upper part should go in first. Then lower part should slide under the upper part and then you just push it down to make sure it popped into the clips.

[muka1993]

Originally Posted by kierownik

Upper part should go in first. Then lower part should slide under the upper part and then you just push it down to make sure it popped into the clips.

Unfortunately this didn't work for me. I removed the upper part of the seats and put the lower part first in. After that I put the upper part back in. This saved me about 1 hour.

Nevertheless thanks for your reply.

[SantaEugence]

Can anyone advise of the part numbers for the new bits required? Eg seat belt and the latching mechanisms? Thanks

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by SantaEugence

Can anyone advise of the part numbers for the new bits required? Eg seat belt and the latching mechanisms? Thanks

Hi. Sorry for late reply. Haven't been here for a while. When I was buying my parts I was just making sure they come from a F30 LCI model. That's it. So if yours is an LCI then do what I did and you'll be fine. Apart from seats you'll need a new centre seatbelt and setbelt clip at the bottom. Everything can be easily found on ebay.

[curtrob97]

Do you know if you can use old seat belt from the non folding or does it cause an issue

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by curtrob97

Do you know if you can use old seat belt from the non folding or does it cause an issue

In theory you can but it will be getting in the way every time you'll want to fold your rear seats.
I'd recommend changing the centre seat belt to the one that can be detached. It's not a big job and the cost isn't high either. Parts can easily be found on ebay.

[MaxB58]

I think I’ll be attempting this on my 340i this year. Crazy how they don’t come like this with standard spec

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by MaxB58

I think I’ll be attempting this on my 340i this year. Crazy how they don’t come like this with standard spec

Definitely worth getting done.
I overlooked it when I was buying my car 4 years ago as for some stupid reason I assumed it would be a standard thing. Only to realise the mistake the very next day.
Luckily this retrofit wasn't expensive and was fairly easy.