How different can they really be?
"In this entry, I compare the standard Recaro Sportster CS with the BMW Performance seat."
- Matt
The Sportster CS frame.
In the first entry to this Series, we quickly understood the BMW Performance seats were designed off Recaro Sportster CS with significant changes made to BMW's specifications.
Our goal is to re-create the original Performance seat 1:1, or as close as we can get. As I dive into the differences with the CS seats, you should ask yourself whether these are worth the roughly 2x price point these will be compared to CS seats.
No structural changes.
Many of you messaged me as I posted the first article, hoping the seating positions of the replica seat would be lower. I understand why, the BMW Performance seats look massive compared to the CS.
The CS seat on the left has no rails nor mounts while the OEM seat on the right has the corrects and mounts already bolted to the seat. In the end, there is no height difference.
The design differences.
The immediate difference between both seats are in the ribbed design pattern of the BMW Performance seat.
The standard Sportster CS center section is divided into 2x larger sections, whereas BMW Performance created 5x distinct ribs. The ribs bulge further outwards for improved upper back support: the comfort differences are obvious once you sit in them.
There are further apparent differences in the underlying foam by the headrest: the 2x vertical lines are removed and the 3x ribs on the standard Sportster covers are removed entirely. We will know more once we remove the cover and review the foam.
The lower section of the seats are the same: the bolsters and foam design are the same.
The upholstery differences.
This second most impactful differences are in the materials used to create the BMW Performance seat covers.
Alcantara.
To begin with, BMW Performance chose Alcantara instead of Recaro's commonly used Dinamica. There is a quality difference between both: Alcantara is superior in durability, comfort and aesthetics. I have inserted pictures from another Sportster CS seat spec'ed in vinyl leather and Dinamica.
The BMW Performance's suede color is Deep Black (9040). It differs from the most often used 9002 Anthracite across BMW M interiors. It's further critical to note that BMW has its own shade of 9040 Deep Black, adding to the subtleties in re-creating this seat.
Leather.
BMW used Nappa leather on the seats: it's a full grain, high quality leather found across BMW M cars. Recaro uses artificial vinyl leather all of its Sportster CS covers combined with cloths or Dinamica. Full leather is available, but quite rare considering the cost.
The BMW Performance seats limited the use of leather to the outer sections of the seat covers, choosing to extend the center section's use of Alcantara towards the inner bolsters.
This design choice is a direct consequence from eliminating the vertical seams in the headrest as leather on the side bolsters would have stopped by the seam above the racing harness holder.
The stitching.
Beyond the original Tri-Color stitching on the steering wheels, few M3 V8s were available with colored stitching. BMW M reserved these mostly for Special Editions, notably the Frozen cars.
For their Performance parts, BMW chose white stitching across their upholstery as on the BMW Performance steering wheels.
Additionally, the BMW Performance seats use a double "French" stitching method across all sections of the seat. It's most often used on standard BMW M seats. This stitching method creates a more durable seam, and is perceived as higher quality.
This method is a premium detail when compared to the standard Sportster CS stitched in a basic, single pattern.
The branding.
The BMW Performance logo is one we've rarely come across. Interestingly, BMW chose to embroider the logo using grey threads. Differing from the white across the leather sections, they apparentlychose to match the plastic seat belt covers.
This is another subtle discerning detail that compares favourably against the standard Recaro cover. The later uses a much cheaper process: litho transfer. It will age poorly, and creates a break in the leather as well, it looks like an after thought.
We need to appreciate BMW's prior restraint in using the M brand: those were the days that performance parts used across BMW cars that weren't pure M didn't get to bear the M logo, with a few exceptions.
The painted accessories.
The standard Recaro Sportsters use uncoated ABS black plastics on most seat accessories, including the race harness holders.
BMW Performance opted for paint: the covers are finished in a satin light grey. They are a nice, contrasting touch. It's where I expect to differ from BMW M's approach and customize the color to their liking, or keep it black to save on cost.
The reclining symbol is not a sticker applied after paint, nor under the satin clear coat.
The mounting solution.
The BMW Performance seats use original E8x/E9x manual sliders and handle. It makes sense as the seats were intended for all E8x/E9x produced. Many wouldn't have had the harnesses required to connect the electrical motors to power the rails.
It's a major departure from most M3 V8 as the overwhelming majority of our cars came fitted with electronic sliders. We will need to source original manual sliders for my M3 V8 and for future customer orders.
In good faith, we may assume BMW wanted to support their Performance brand with a seat that was lighter than original. The Performance seats with its brackets weighs 25.3 kg / 55.7 lbs while the OEM seats weight 28.4 kg / 62.6 lbs depending on exact options.
The brackets that connect the seats to the sliders appear to be made to BMW's specifications. They quite different to Recaro's EuroSpec solution for the E8x/E9x. This is arguably the only area where the original Recaro solution is a higher quality product.
Later on in the process, I will compare the BMW Performance and the Recaro mounting solutions along with their height.
The airbags.
The BMW Performance seats use Recaro's side airbags as available on the CS EuroSpec Sportster CS.
I had to import the Sportster CS seat with airbags from Germany as it is only available in Europe. It more than likely has to do with US safety regulations as discussed in the first entry to the Series.
If you own an E46 M3 or earlier M car, you more than likely do not need them.
The heating elements.
The BMW Performance seats integrated OEM grade heating elements that were wired to the heated seat button on the center dashboard. This is admittedly pet peeve, but an important one nonetheless.
The heated Recaro Sportster CS are available with a 2 way heating element that is activated with a button on the side of the seats.
This will require some R&D as BMW doesn't sell the entire elements separately, they are sown onto the original leather or cloth. We will learn more once we remove the cover off the BMW Performance seats. We suspect differences in the wiring and heated pads that were used.
Fortunately, the original BMW Performance seat also came with the original wire loom and instructions for plug and play use. Unfortunately, this kit is discontinued. We will recreate a loom from scratch for the re-creation seat.
Inspecting the seats with the cover on may very well be half the story.
Up next: it's time to remove the covers, and pull out the scissors.
We start tearing into the Recaro CS seat to further understand its differences.
