Replacing front seats
 

I've got the standard 'comfort' seats in my A8L FL, and the driver's seat seems to have a hotspot that I'm convinced you could cook sausages on, or in the real world, my left thigh. I'm looking to replace them with the 'sports' seats or Recaros - see attached pic of intended purchase. Is there anything I should know about before attempting this job? In particular, is the wiring loom already present and correct for the transplant to take place... I've seen a good quality and good condition set of the Recaros on FleaBay and wanted to check with you knowledgable people first.

It's a straight swap. The only possible difference is a PF / FL swap. PF cars didn't have airbags in the seat so if you put PF seats into a FL then the will be a couple of wires spare. Viva versa your short a couple of wires. HTHs.

Buy them quick!

Thanks
 

Nice work, chaps. I shall approach the vendor at my earliest convenience and hand over the cash. They came from a 2000 A8 V6, so they should obviously be from a facelift model.

Thanks again.

Airbags
 

early PF cars didn't have airbags in the seats.... but late PF did... I believe this was standard from 97 (before FL). Early seats (stand, not sure about sports etc) had airbag tags on the piping at the edge of the seats while later cars hard it kinda embossed on the seats... Hope it helps...

There is also a change in later cars to include a footwell courteousy light for rear passengers built into the underneath of the front seat, but its trivial and wouldn't be the end of the world.

Seat memory is something to bear in mind. Memory was standard on sports seats (drivers) but optional on other.

The bigger battle you might have is to change the rear seat. Obviously you were going to change the rear ones so it doesn't look really odd right ? ;)

The long wheel base model you say you have has a slightly more reclined rear seat, which means the screen holes won't line up properly when you try and fit the rear seats in. I did (with some drilling and swearing) get a set of long wheel base seats into a SWB, so the opposite ought to be true.

Rear seats on LWB may also have heating and electric headrest retract which may not be on the donor sport seats.

Watch out for the wires in the rear armrest for the media control that need transplanting across too.

Enjoy +++

Front and rear.
 

Front seats popped in easily. The rear seats (back) went in perfectly but the seat squab/bench fits ok but the two retaining bolts at knee/shin level won't line up with the holes in the tabs. I think we'll have to cut a slot in the tab to enable it line up and then I'll be able to secure the rear seat bench.

As confidently predicted by IT, the front and rears have now both been changed. I did make a slight boo-boo by purchasing platinum grey seats only to discover my current seats have a slightly darker grey colour. It was a bit of a 'Crikey' moment when I discovered my mistake, but I went for it and to be completely honest, I actually quite like the slight difference. I'm certainly not anal enough to worry about having to change all interior trim panels to match at this point in time.

I might be brave enough over the coming weeks to take some proper photos and post them up here to show you what I mean. Anyhow, I'm in complete agreement with Norretal that the Recaros are the best seats and I've thoroughly enjoyed all the recent trips taken in the Audi since changing them over. Thanks to all for your advice and wisdom.

Great to hear you've had success Johnny, I told you the Recaro seats would be worth the effort and expense, they're the ultimate in luxury in my opinion.

Looking forward to seeing photos of your A8L with new seats and wheels, sounds like it's getting to where you want it to be now +++

Previously-installed seats now up on Fleabay
 

If anyone is remotely interested, I've put the front and rears up on eBay. Can deliver locally thanks to my mate with his trusty Transit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/182387880706?

Sorted
 

[1] Rear seat squab/bench now installed with judicious use of hacksaw to cut a slot in both retaining tabs.
[2] I now have no concern for the comfort of rear seat passengers who will have cold bums and cricks in their neck after having to manually adjust the rear head restraint height.
[3] My rear armrest contained nothing except the cup holders and a blank space where the First Aid kit should reside. I simply transferred the official Audi kit over from my previous seat.

End result, very happy.