According to WIS it is possible to remove the seat base cushion without taking the seat out of the car. Has anyone done this? Looking for helpful hints and gotchas...

 

I would like some info on this also if anyone here has done this. Both seat bottoms in my car need repair. I’ve pulled an entire seat out before and it’s kind of a PITA because the seats are so heavy.

 

I ended up taking the seat out, couldn't get the trim off easily. Now that the seat is on the bench I'll post some photos of getting the trim and then the cushion off but it will take a few days, busy with a few other things...

 

Okay, now that I know what I know it is possible to remove the seat cushion with the seat in the car. But there's some tight work and some fiddly bits that were difficult even with the seat on the bench so I'd opt to take the seat out anyway.

First you have to move the seat all the way back and as high as it will go. then remove the front storage, 4 small torx screws and one T30 on the latch. Then detach the storage from the side trim, there are two plastic tabs that hold it in and the bottom must be twisted away to release, you'll need a scope or mirror to see how it's attached and if you're not careful it looks easy to break. Easy on the bench as I just flipped the seat on its back and had a clear view.

Move the seat all the way forward and the seat back forward. Remove the two rear corner trims, the inside is easy, only the one torx screw. The outside has the same screw AND a push clip inder the 1" round plug on the sider. This is a bugger, gentle prying with a bent pick to get it off in reusable condition. Then there is a tab at the top of the trim piece hooked over the seat fram, quite tight and finger pain force required to release clean.


Once this rear corner piece is off you can then remove the side trim, It pulls up off of two metal tabs pretty easy but be careful not to stretch the wire harness for the pulse/lumbar/bolster control panel. The panel pops out of the trim piece or disconnect the harness.




Pull down on the spandex apron on the back to release, once this is done there are 2 torx screws that hold the seat back in place. They come out and then the seat back cover slides down and off. It must come off to expose the seat cushion rear fastenings. The grey felt-like material has rigid edging on the sides that pops out of a metal channel.

Remove the big Hex bolt in the center while holding your hand underneath the seat at the same spot to catch the seat cushion motor. There is a wire harness to be disconnected, this will be a real bugger with the seat in the car. I elected to detach the motor from the seat pan as that was a lot easier and made removing the seat cushion a snap.



Lastly, disconnect the red and blue plugs for the seat heat and cooling under the front above the main wiring harness.

The seat pan/cushion will now easily slide out off its metal tracks.

Hope that's helpful.

 

Great job and thanks for the write up!

 

Did you disconnect the 2 batteries before taking the seat out? If not, did it give you a SRS error after putting the seat back in?

 

I disconnected the batteries and had no errors upon re-installation.

 

Did you have to recalibrate the windows afterwards? Thank you for your help!

 

No recalibration needed. Worth noting that I had the car on the lift and batteries disconnected for over 3 months. Hooked up batteries and everything was good to go. There were a few codes but they all cleared with the first drive.