Seat Height Adjustment Mod for OE seats

[Greg_S]

Ive been following the guide from Audifans,

I am getting on for 6' 4" and also find this to be a problem.

I have found that it is possible to make the seat adjust 1 notch lower than standard. To do this:

1) remove seat from car

2) turn it upside down


WARNING - the height adjust mechanism is very powerfully spring loaded. If you activate (i.e. pull) the height adjust lever, whilst not sitting in the seat, the mechanism will move very suddenly. If a finger was in the wrong place at the wrong time it could easily be broken!!

3) remove the 2 BIG springs (the height adjust mechanism is now much safer but continue to take care not to trap fingers!).

4) untwist wire that holds fabric surround tight around base of seat and pull back the fabric to give access to the toothed locking mechanism.

5) you will now have to modify 2 parts of the locking mechanism:

a) there is an 'end stop' pin that physically stops the seat lowering past a certain point - remove the pin and extend the cutout that slides around the pin so that the seat can go lower (I found a Dremmel VERY useful for this part)

b) you will also need to create an extra groove on the toothed track of the locking mechanism (for this I used a small, sharp hand file).

6) put it all back together.



Doing all this didn't take too long and I now have an extra [EDIT] 2cm [/EDIT] of space to fit my oversized frame into. I'd definitely say it was worth it.

Ive got the seats apart at the moment, and wanted to double check before I get the dremel out and start cutting a new groove.

Here is a pic of the ratchet mechanism



From looking at it on the lowest position there isnt much that can be taken off.



do you just make an extra tooth where the bracket bends round?

[Rusty]

Good find Greg, I'll be having a look at mine in due course as I struggle fitting my rather shorter 6' frame into the car with the leather seats and sunroof. Recaro is fine height wise but it doesn't work for everyday use as I'm a little wider than is ideal for the seat

[Greg_S]

i'll let you know how I get on, im doing it slightly differently and still filing away to get the right fit at the moment

[Acidburn]

Would be interested to find out how you get on with this after seeing your fit in my seats in the car, I might drop mine down as that was on the middle setting, mine do drop down more still I just have not done that yet.

[Rusty]

Greg, pics are missing from the top thread. Any chance of posting them up again please?

[Greg_S]

Ive added them back on for you, I redid my website and had deleted the images from the server

[tscheel]

I missed the Pic's, so I had no other choice than to snap a few. I don't think it gives me 2cm's though.

[mcandmar]

Just done this to my own, feels much better wish i did it ages ago

[re2500]

I did this to the s4 seats in my coupe a few weeks ago, as i find i have a little less headroom in them i was going to put pics up as i didnt realise other people had done it before. i think it only gives me a cm or so extra drop, but i suppose every little helps!

[mcandmar]

I'm 6'3 and head room was never really a problem for me, but sitting that little bit lower feels nicer due to the way it tilts the seat back, also gives me a bit more legroom too. Its actually much closer to the driving position of the coupe, i always felt you sit on an avant rather than in it.

[andykingfishers2]

Are there anymore pictures on this thread? Would like to do this mod on my coupe seats, as I prefer to sit lower in the car.

[Skull]

I have pics, will link them later...

[tscheel]

After disassembly, You only need to concentrate on this part (attachment). Be sure to make the new tooth cut-out deep enough, otherwise the seat spring will send you a step up on the first bump on the road

[Skull]

it is an URQ seat, so it is a little different, but the point is the same...



i managed to lower it by 2 teeth...

[andykingfishers2]

Great, thank you for posting those pictures up.