moonstone
Tyre Kicker
Overview
A couple of folk have done this but the information online is a bit fragmented and so I thought I'd share the info on this project as I go. It's quite common for R8 (gen1) owners to install wingback seats, which were available as an option on these cars, but even a tatty set costs around £2500 and then you have around £1800 on top of that to get them fully re-trimmed. Having been very happy with the seats in my TTS and discovering that the seat-frame mount was the same (so they drop right in), I decided to keep an eye out for a set. My preference would be to get an electric set to keep the electrical functions of the standard R8 comfort seats.
I was lucky enough to snag a pair of B9 S5 Supersports seats from a local scrapyard for only £600. These are grey, but as I'll be getting them re-trimmed anyway, worked out a bit of a bargain for me. Before I shell out to get them trimmed, I need to make sure that I can get the, working, so after a test fit in the car, started to pull together info online.
R8 Comfort Seat Functionality
These basically have a couple of motors in them for tilt, slide, height and rake, as well as lumbar functions and they're heated.
B9 Supersport Seat Functionality
These are found in all B9 S & RS models and have electrical slide, tilt, rake, bolster, lumbar, heat and massage functions. They also have their own seat control modules that require both LIN bus and Can bus signals to operate properly. Massage is impossible to have as it required a Climatronic and MMI combination with massage control options. The lumber and bolster adjustment is achieved on these, not by motor control, but by compressor operation, which is controlled by the seat control module.
Compatible Functions
Motorised adjustment and heating are confirmed as possible and working. There are mixed reports that lumbar and bolster operation can be achieved by running a LIN bus feed cable from another point in the car to the seat control module. If I can get adjustment and heating working I'll be happy to fit them and everything else that I can get working will be a bonus.
The lumbar and bolster movement on the S5 seat is via compressors the inflate/deflate, whereas the R8 seat is just more motors. I believe the compressors need more intelligent control (whereas the motors only require limit switches) and so this is why the seat controller unit is in charge of these functions and it's not as straight forward to do.
Wiring Differences
The wiring coupling from the seat to the car is fairly standardised on Audis. There's four connector blocks, Red (Power and Motor Functions), Green (Seat Heating), Black (Seat Belt Connector Sensor) & Yellow (Airbag). Due to the increased complexity of the B9 Supersports, all of the connectors are slightly different with more cabling on the new seat. We need to work out how to re-wire the connection of the new seat to the old connection in the car. Here's what I've worked out so far from the official Audi wiring diagrams for both. I've yet to test this, so when I do, I'll report back.
*Note that this is all for the drivers seat. Passenger colours may be different. I'll get the drivers side working first and then sort out the passenger and update.
The R8 only has two wires going to this connector but the S5 seat has a load and these are all redundant as they're for LIN, CAN and various other stuff.
The wiring diagram for the S5 seat is much more complex around the heated seat function but the number or wires in the block are the same and this looks to be correct. I'll report back once tested.
The S5 seat has an additional red wire on this connector, which isn't present on the R8 seat. I don't know what this does yet or if it's needed.
Although the physical connector is different, the cables are all the same colour here so looks like a straight swap.
Re-wiring the connectors
The connector blocks are the same overall shape for most but have different layouts or shapes. The only one that plugs straight in is the black one. I don't really want to hack the original seat wiring up, so my plan is to order new (R8) connectors and re-pin the S5 cables in. I've found the part numbers and these are as follows:
A couple of folk have done this but the information online is a bit fragmented and so I thought I'd share the info on this project as I go. It's quite common for R8 (gen1) owners to install wingback seats, which were available as an option on these cars, but even a tatty set costs around £2500 and then you have around £1800 on top of that to get them fully re-trimmed. Having been very happy with the seats in my TTS and discovering that the seat-frame mount was the same (so they drop right in), I decided to keep an eye out for a set. My preference would be to get an electric set to keep the electrical functions of the standard R8 comfort seats.
I was lucky enough to snag a pair of B9 S5 Supersports seats from a local scrapyard for only £600. These are grey, but as I'll be getting them re-trimmed anyway, worked out a bit of a bargain for me. Before I shell out to get them trimmed, I need to make sure that I can get the, working, so after a test fit in the car, started to pull together info online.
R8 Comfort Seat Functionality
These basically have a couple of motors in them for tilt, slide, height and rake, as well as lumbar functions and they're heated.
B9 Supersport Seat Functionality
These are found in all B9 S & RS models and have electrical slide, tilt, rake, bolster, lumbar, heat and massage functions. They also have their own seat control modules that require both LIN bus and Can bus signals to operate properly. Massage is impossible to have as it required a Climatronic and MMI combination with massage control options. The lumber and bolster adjustment is achieved on these, not by motor control, but by compressor operation, which is controlled by the seat control module.
Compatible Functions
Motorised adjustment and heating are confirmed as possible and working. There are mixed reports that lumbar and bolster operation can be achieved by running a LIN bus feed cable from another point in the car to the seat control module. If I can get adjustment and heating working I'll be happy to fit them and everything else that I can get working will be a bonus.
The lumbar and bolster movement on the S5 seat is via compressors the inflate/deflate, whereas the R8 seat is just more motors. I believe the compressors need more intelligent control (whereas the motors only require limit switches) and so this is why the seat controller unit is in charge of these functions and it's not as straight forward to do.
Wiring Differences
The wiring coupling from the seat to the car is fairly standardised on Audis. There's four connector blocks, Red (Power and Motor Functions), Green (Seat Heating), Black (Seat Belt Connector Sensor) & Yellow (Airbag). Due to the increased complexity of the B9 Supersports, all of the connectors are slightly different with more cabling on the new seat. We need to work out how to re-wire the connection of the new seat to the old connection in the car. Here's what I've worked out so far from the official Audi wiring diagrams for both. I've yet to test this, so when I do, I'll report back.
*Note that this is all for the drivers seat. Passenger colours may be different. I'll get the drivers side working first and then sort out the passenger and update.
| Red Connector (Power) | R8 | S5 | ||
| Function | Colour | Pin | Colour | Pin |
| Ground | Brown | Pin 5 | Brown | Pin 16 |
| Live | Red/Green | Pin 4 | Red | Pin 15 |
The R8 only has two wires going to this connector but the S5 seat has a load and these are all redundant as they're for LIN, CAN and various other stuff.
| Green Connector (Heating) | R8 | S5 | ||
| Function | Colour | Pin | Colour | Pin |
| Ground | Brown | Pin 3 | Brown/White | Pin 3 |
| Live | Black/Yellow | Pin 4 | Red | Pin 5 |
| Sensor 1 | Brown/Black | Pin 1 | Green/Brown | Pin 6 |
| Sensor 2 | Black/White | Pin 2 | Green/Brown | Pin 1 |
The wiring diagram for the S5 seat is much more complex around the heated seat function but the number or wires in the block are the same and this looks to be correct. I'll report back once tested.
| Black Connector (Seat Belt Buckle Sensor) | R8 | S5 | ||
| Function | Colour | Pin | Colour | Pin |
| Ground | Brown | Pin 5 | Brown | Pin 5 |
| Live | Green | Pin 6 | Green | Pin 6 |
| ??? | N/A | N/A | Red | Pin 8 |
The S5 seat has an additional red wire on this connector, which isn't present on the R8 seat. I don't know what this does yet or if it's needed.
| Yellow Connector (Airbag) | R8 | S5 | ||
| Function | Colour | Pin | Colour | Pin |
| Ground | Brown | Pin 1 | Brown | Pin 1 |
| Aibag Ignitor + | Blue | Pin 2 | Blue | Pin 2 |
| Airbag Ignitor - | Black | Pin 3 | Black | Pin 3 |
Although the physical connector is different, the cables are all the same colour here so looks like a straight swap.
Re-wiring the connectors
The connector blocks are the same overall shape for most but have different layouts or shapes. The only one that plugs straight in is the black one. I don't really want to hack the original seat wiring up, so my plan is to order new (R8) connectors and re-pin the S5 cables in. I've found the part numbers and these are as follows:
| Red Connector | Part Number: 4F0 937 733 B | Big Pins Part No: 000 979 243 E | Small Pins Part No: 000 979 151 E |
| Green Connector | Part Number: 4F0 937 731 F | Big Pins Part No: 000 979 243 E | Small Pins Part No: 000 979 151 E |
| Yellow Connector | Part Number: 8J0 972 576 | N/A | Small Pins Part No: 000 979 035 E |
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