Hi guys I may be way out here - but to use a passenger seat as a driver seat what would I have to do? It looks like I need the rear cover as the armrest goes into that , it also looks like the seat control panel would need changing and moving along with its trim - is it as simple as that or am
I missing a lot more?

Any ideas? I know the squab is the same for both its the back I'm unsure of?

What's wrong with yours, it's amasing what you can repair with the correct stuff... Pete

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2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
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The element has gone in the base, the foam has collapsed and the colouring has gone in the base and the back... If it just needed reconolising I'd have just done that but would probably be cheaper to get this passenger one in good condition

Although ive got one i cannot remember anything about the back bacause of the way the armrest fits.
Im not 100% sure the backs are generic but 99% the bases are, so all you need to do is strip the leather off the foam pad from the passenger seat, remove the occupuncey sensor mat and put the leather back on the foam.
Take off the drivers leather and foam complete and then fit the newer passenger leather+ faom

You will need to separate back of the seat from the base, its 2 screws ( i think) one each side hiding under the leather, undo them and the back will lift off. You will need to feed out the wires that run from the back to the base as they run though one side (where back and base are connected) and the leather surrounds it, you cannot cut the leather or it will look a mess when reassembled.

The seats are very similar to the BMW e46 coupe and as such you MUST raise the seat base up as far as it can go so that it exposes a hidden bolt before disconnecting the seat electrics.
If you dont then you will get as far as removing the side panel, but not the limp of plastic that it clips into and you need to reove that so you can unclip the leather around the sides of the seat frame.

Ok I have spent four hours (30mins on the base the rest on the back) getting the covers with foam off (so I don't need to retie them) however I'm really paranoid about pulling off my live seat first of all as its working and would hate to renders it useless ... And secondly stupidly I pulled all the plugs in the top bit any idea from my pics if I have it wired correctly - 2x black black into black brown - and I just have a spare black grey I imagine is for the base?

Looks ok
The two either side are for the heating elemets on the bolsters and one for the middle
The one thats left plugs into the base

The seats are plug and play and you can only "Forget" to plug a plug in.

There is a block under the seat, its yellow, hard to miss.
first, unclip it from the frame, then (may need a flat head screwdriver) pull the black slider out, this will seporate the main wiring loom of the car from the seat..dont forget to make sure your battery is disconnected and residual current drained ( unlug, have a coffee and leave for about 30 mins to make sure)

this will then let you slide the black cover off which protects the wires.

then you should see a group of wires that sit in the yellow block
The wire will be comming out towards you as you hold the block.
There are 3 or 4 seporate connector blocks (black) within the yellow block which just holds them together.
from memory, one of those black connectors within the yellow block will have to come out. Good thing is they can only go back in one way.
take it out, strip the seat, change the cover, feed the wire back under the base, plug it back in..job done
The only one you may have to look out for is a single connection that goes to the seat belt tesioner, again a little plug. unplug this. This will stay in place (on the seat frame)when the seat comes out, just dont forget to plug it back in or you will get a seatbelt fault (airbag)

1, move seat forward and take the bolts out of the rear
2, move it backwards and take the bolts out of the front
3, lift the seat base all the way up (as if you are really short and need to see over the dash)
4, align the seat so its in the middle of the runners
5, disconnet battery
6, coffee break (30mins)
7, tilt seat back and unplug the harness (and maybe tensioner)
8, remove seat (you might need help as they are heavy and taking in out the rear or back door may be best)
9, change it all over
10,Connet harness to the seat bottom (and i think seat belt tensioner)
11,check its all correctly plugged in
12,check again, and again and again
13,connect battery
14,move seat forward and backward to put bolts back in
15, input memory settings on the seat and also all your radio channels

If the seat is working fine when you take them out, they ill work fine when you put them back in. You do not need to touch anthing that relates to the movement of the seat other than disconnecting the main Yellow plug.
Yes you will need to unplug the harness from the side control panel but just make sure its fully home before you carry on.
Mark or add tape to all the plugs when you remove each one. The are made so that they can onyl really fit in one hole. Also mark the ones you see that do no go anywhere. There are some on some seats but depends on the spec you have.

Good luck

*** Forgot to add***
I see you have removed the leather and foam
Honeslty its 100% quicker and easier to:
1, remove the base leather and foam together
2, remove ONLY the leather from the back, leave the foam in place. Yes you have to undo all the hogrings that secure the leather to the foam, but once done your just left with the leather cover and a plug that feeds the heated seat element
doing it that way and you do not need to mess with the small airlines that feed the back support etc.

Another little tip for heated seat faults
If your seat heating will not work, say it goes on....then after a bit turns it self off?
You see in the image above. Two black plugs that come from the element on the side bolster?
Unplug the one nearest the door, bridge it with some wire and try your seats again.
Sometimes the element on the bolster nearest the door breaks down causing a fault (as it the most used part of the seat base) and causes the fault to arise thus shutting the heating of the whole base down.
Bridging it will take that damaged element out and hopefully the seat will then work.
Not sure if any faults need clearing...cannot remember.
Also use good wire and insulate it correclty

Just as an aside, the last time I did this I got new base seat foams for about 45 quid each.

Right chaps thanks for the advise - I manned up and started before I got all the replies - my foams had collapsed and as this was from a 20k car I thought they'd be fine...

Here are the bases next to one another

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

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