1996 was pre wired. 1997 they started making specific looms per car.

So early PF car, you can easily fit heated seats as all the connectors were there.

Later, PF car, you will need to install the wiring to handle it.

To find out, pop off the blanks on the dash where the heated seat switches should be. If there are connector blocks behind there, you're in luck. If not, you're not.

Most probably I’m not that lucky as I’ve checked under the drivers seat and couldn’t find any spare connectors/wires, also no green connector at all, they all look different. Anyway I’ll have a look behind the blanks on the dash.

I am thinking about removing my FL D2 S8 seats to allow access for an interior deep clean.

Is there any more knowledge to impart or easy steps I need to follow for both removal and reftting of these seats.

And what tools, such as size and shape of spanners, will I need?

Will I need the radio code given I'll be disconnecting battery (hint: I don't have it...)

Apart from cleaning, any other jobs it'd be useful to do while the seats are out?

Power the headrests all the way down and then a sharp tug up will disconnect them from the mechanism, then remove them.
The plastic trims on the base have a tang in the middle which holds them to the mechanism. Push them 'on' a little more and lift the tang with a pick, then slide them off
Power the seat all the way forward and remove the rear bolts (T45 torx)
17mm spanner for the seatbelt
Power the seat all the way backward and lift the front up all the way then remove the front bolts
Tip the now loose seat backward and you can reach under the front to disconnect the wiring
The wiring harness is clipped to the base of the seat. You can reach round to the back of the panel and squeeze the two tangs of the clip together and pop it out.
I always put a towel over the sill before removing the seat as it is heavy and difficult to handle and easy to damage the trims. Don't lift by the switch panel as it will break. You can lift from under the front bolster though.

I never bother disconnecting the battery as all the airbag connectors will short themselves out as soon as they are disengaged to avoid any stray currents or static doing anything bad. You could disconnect the battery if you really want to, but the system is all shut down with the ignition off anyway. Just remember not to turn the ignition on with the seats disconnected otherwise it'll throw an airbag code and you'll need VCDS to reset it.

If you do lose the radio code you can get it from onlineradiocodes.co.uk for £20.

I managed to find a nice set of sport seats but from facelift D2, anyone (@IT) know if the connectors are the same on both pre-facelift and facelift models? :Confused:

The basic power / memory / heat is the same. Later cars had airbags and rear passenger footwell lighting, but they come on extra pins and connectors from memory so FL seats into a PF should work ok.

Note that FL leathers are different colours and textures to PF. Black PF is darker than Black FL etc. You will need to change the armrests to match as it will be obvious, and door cards might show it too depending on the trim of your car.

The tricky bit, is that the rear FL seats differ quite a bit as they are designed for a 3 point middle seatbelt, not a lap belt, so they might not swap in so nicely, and if you have PF rears and FL fronts the colour match will be awful imo.

@IT - thank you very much sir. I’m glad the basic power and memory are the same connectors. I already got the FL armrests so hopefully I’ll manage to fit the rears nicely. And I’m not worried about the color because my dashboard and door cards are dark blue almost black and the seats are black, so the new ones are black and grey alcantara…