Here goes!
I just took it upon myself to replace the driver's seat foam as it was slowly gathering in a pile beneath the seat and I started to feel metal through the fabric (not good).
As the seat remains inside the car there is no need to disconnect the battery. BUT bear in mind there are power cables under there linked to small plastic explosive charges that will be next to your face for most of this job.
I did this on a yr 2000 1.8T without heated seats.
For this you will need the following:
# 1 spare hour
# 1x new seat foam item 1J0 881 375 P (£70 with a discount)
# Philips screwdriver
# Some pliers
# Wear a long sleeve top (explained later)
# Some gloves if you don't want to wreck your hands.
# A hoover as it will get messy under the seat.
Unscrew the philips screw at the front of the seat.
Pop the loose plastic trim off to reveal another screw beneath. Remove this screw also.
The two front trims should hang loose now.
Jack the seat up and forward on the runners as far as it will go.
There is a screw on the handbrake side holding that trim on. Undo it and the trim will fall off.
Now working on the trim nearest you. Look under the seat and using the pliers pull out the small pointed plug. Release the clip from the frame and this trim should now fall away also. Here is the lug the clip fits into \/
Move the seat back as far as it will go on the runners.
Now you need to release the seat cover from the frame. There is a plastic lip attached to the front and side edges of the fabric, this holds the fabric under a groove around the frame.
Working at the front of the seat, pull downwards on the seat fabric and it should start to pop off.
Work your way around and release the lip from the front and sides. Leave it attached at the back.
Take a look at the new foam, it has wires within it. These hold the fabric down in that nice shape. As the old foam is knackered these wires can be pulled out along with the fabric. Pull the wire not the plastic bit attached to the fabric and don't go crazy doing this as the fabric could be damaged. Here is the old foam when I started to pull back the cover
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With the fabric removed, the manky old foam should now pull out.
You will be left with a mess of old foam under the seat and the old wires attached to the fabric \/
Gently remove the wires from the plastic clips on the fabric and discard \/
Look at the new foam. It has a slot at the back that needs to over a ridge on the frame. It has holes under each side that need to go over the metal bars on the bolsters.
Wrestle the new foam under the fabric. Be careful not to catch it too much on the plastic clips. It needs to go all the way back and fit over the ridge at the back of the frame. Make sure the fabric looks neat and the back.
You now need to refit the plastic clips to the new metal wires in the foam. This is a b1tch and how I cut my hands and arms to shreds!
You need to line the clips in the fabric up with the wires in the foam. Start at the furthest clip back at each side, line the fabric web and clip up then push it down onto the wire each side (the first one took me ages to get a technique and they get easier as you move forward). I had to pull the fabric forward a bit now to fit the first row
across the seat \/
Move forward left to right along the edges then do the second row
across. You may need to occasionally tug the fabric around a bit to line the clips up to the wires. Fit the final side clips at the front.
Pull the front of the fabric down over the foam. It should now be approximately in position. Where the bolsters meet the seat it may need some persuasion. It should be taking shape now! When the fabric is sitting properly over the bolsters pull it down tightly at the front to get it sitting properly.
The plastic rib around the front and sides needs to be turned up under itself now. This was a bit of a faff. I suggest you start at one front corner then it should pop under.
You now need to refit the fabric to the frame. Starting at one front corner you need to pull the fabric down making sure the plastic rib remains turned under itself. With one corner on it should be fairly easy to fit the rest of it back again. The fabric may need some persuasion to sit in the right position and the fabric may be quite tight at the second corner. With it all in place and looking neat the plastic rib needs to be locked back in position, so working your way around the seat with your fingers under the rib give it a good pull upwards back into the groove and it should click back into place \/
That’s it done. Check out your tight new Recaro seat
I’d recommend you hoover the carpet off before refitting the front/side trims.
No responsibility taken for damage to persons or property
