Hi All,

My drivers seat has damage to the leather and the piping.

Had an idea rather than replace / repair the seat to swap it with the passengers side as that that is unmarked.

The damage will then be next to the centre console and not as noticeable, especially as I have a child's seat in the front.

This would just be swapping the leather not the actual seat / memory controls.

Has anyone done this or anything similar. Is it a DIY job or specialist trimmer?

Been asked before. Yes it can be done. Is a DIY. No special tools. But swapping the seat base, not just the leather.

Search for Cam Tech Craig, I believe he did the howto on it. .
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Interesting, i'd like to swap the bases over if possible as the drivers side bolster is getting worn. I have RSE so is it possible just to change over the base, saying the the passenger seat look new, so i might just swap them over Dave

2012 Vogue Westminster 4.4

few thing you need to remember when swapping them over.
You cannot do a direct swap, you need to strip the cover off the passenger seat and remove the occupancy sensor pad. then strip the cover off the driver seat and put the occupancy sensor pad in there. so when you put the driver base on the passenger seat the cable for the occupancy pad can be plugged back in, failure to do this will result in an airbag fault

The seat is like a sandwich
Passenger
1 foam pad
2 occupancy sensor
(next three are sewn together)
3 Foam backing
4 Heated seat element
5 leather

Driver
1 foam pad
(next three are sewn together)
2 Foam backing
3 Heated seat element
4 leather

(this is from memory and may not be 100% accurate)
to remove the base leather you first need to make sure the seat is lifted to the highest position. This will become apparent as you strip the seat and a complete pain in the a$$ if you have not done it because it stops you from removing the cover.
Behind the side control panned is a big plastic bracket. all the bolts need removing and once removed you can then get to when the leather is tucked around the frame. BUT one of these bolster is hidden and lifting the seat all the way up will expose the bolt/torx head. if you did not lift the seat then you would see it, maybe just get to it? but might not be able to remove it fully. and may have to plug the seat back in (they are not light) connect battery, fit seat,lift seat, disconnect battery, wait for the residue electricity to drain, disconnect seat, lift out and carry on...best to lift if first.

The back part of the seat needs to be lifted off the base frame. This is because the leather goes over two brackets which enables the seat back to then be bolted on. some people cut the leather but best to remove the bolts that hold the back on.

A few wires will get in your way, or stop you lifting off the base cushion with leather. the main one (apart from occupancy sensor which is clipped on at the back of the base just under where the rear passengers toes will be) is the heated pad wire that connects into the yellow block under the seat. Just slide the black cover off, remove plug from the block and feed the wire out.
** this will connect into the block on the other seat**

once the passenger seat cover and foam is off, you need to remove the occupancy pad.
the leather is secured to thin metal bars in the foam with hog rings. you need to remove them to get the leather cover off.
start with the side bolsters first. remove the hog rings from both sides, then take them out of the middle section.
cover off!

do the same with the drivers cover and put the pad in there, hog ring them both back together and you done...just need to fit it all back together.
Its best to change cover and foam as the bolster outer foams will be a bit warn just like the leather. So you will have a new leather outer bolster and as well as foam

hope it helps.

Thanks for the info Sleeper, seems like a hard task,
I've a guy coming to repair a small tear on the side of the bolster , i'll see what it looks like afterwards

Just noticed there a guy in Lincolnshire that does it for £75, he advertising on fleabay, search:

"Range Rover L322 Leather Seat Repair Base Swop Interior Boston Lincolnshire"

Cheers Dave

2012 Vogue Westminster 4.4

Hi Phil
The ebay service looks quite good and something to seriously look at.
The problem with tears on the side bolster is that I suspect the repairer will use filler
This will not last and you will be back to square one.
I would have the tear filled and then swap the bases, personally there is no point in doing the one without the other unless your not keeping the car.

Absolutely agree, theirs no way the repair could last as i'm sliding of the bolster with my arse

Only thing is the passenger seat look new, so the base may look older/used more than the top of the seat, hence i wanted to swap them over as one peice Dave

2012 Vogue Westminster 4.4

the seat constriction changes as the seat types change so the original lear seats are different from the ones in the first facelift which are different again from those in the latter cars

One option is to keep an eye out for a replacement on Ebay they do come up.

Another option to look at is to find a local trimmer, if you can remove the seat base then take the leathers to the trimmer they will be able to match in a panel of leather and stitch it in to repair the base. This will be a good permanent repair and as good as new. If they can't find the exact match then you could always do the swap for the other side and the repair would be hidden.  There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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I bought a new seat base cover from Dan @ Duckworths and an auto re trimmer in Rochdale (not too far from Bolton) fitted it for £100.
I had a go myself and after a few hours of faffing gave it up as a bad job, and had to put it all back in the car.


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How much was the seat cover? Dave

2012 Vogue Westminster 4.4

Mine was cloth which I believe is more expensive than the leather?

£225 inc vat

id be very suprissed if you can get an exact leather match.
Technically it will be a brand new panel and will not match the rest, unless you have the panel replaced and then had the full seat renovated to the same colour.
Very common and if done correctly and looks OEM
But if I were you (depending on how the hole looks) get someone who is good at repairing holes to a good finish.
swap bases..job done