The original power seats in my car were reasonably comfortable but I changed the interior color to gray/ black and the original seats are linen colored and quite heavy (45-50 lbs each). The popular/ recommended replacement on the forums is the 70’s Recaro “sport” seats however, these are rare and expensive. As an alternate, I considered new seats made by Recaro, Sparco, Corbeau and others. I like the look of some of the vintage styled seats but could not make a final decision.
During one of my regular searches for treasure on the local Craig’s List, I found a pair of Sparco R100’s for a good price. Although a bit concerned that they would look too “boy racer”, I have found that I like the look and they are comfortable as well as being lighter (~30lbs each with sliders/ adapters) and more secure during spirited driving.
The Sparco seats came with sliders but they did not line up with the mounting rails on the floor of the car. I made adapters using some steel flat bar purchased at the hardware store mounted crosswise. On the rear adapters, I extended them to provide a bolt hole for the seat belts. An alternate option would be to bolt the seat belt receptacles to the center tunnel. If you choose this solution, be careful as fuel lines are routed through the tunnel.
I happened to get a good deal on some ’70’s Recaros (I think from a Porsche) and installed them in the BMW 2002. Later, I swapped them out for some BMW E21 Recaros and was able to move the Porsche Recaros to the Carrera. They are a bit less snug and significantly more comfortable than the Sparcos. The bottom bolsters are a bit lumpy but, when I get a chance, I’ll pull them and replace the foam.
