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F83 Convertible M4 Seat Badge Upgrade Replacement Guide

moonstone

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Having trawled the net looking for a guide on how to change out the older (cracked) silver badges to the newer M4 ones on a convertible and finding nothing but a bunch of threads on other forums that don't go anywhere, I decided just to start pulling things apart and work it out for myself.

Having just completed it I thought I'd put a guide together for those who also want to do this mod. Contrary to other stuff online, you do not need to replace the headrests just to get the newer badges! Dealers are telling people this because the parts system doesn't show the badges as a separate item on the F83

parts.jpg


Part No's - 2x 52 10 9 503 039 (£199 from Cotswolds on here)
The part number on the M4 F83 is exactly the same as that used on the F82.

Tools required
  • Very small screw driver
  • Long-nosed pliers
  • 2x cable ties - medium
  • Flat head screw driver
  • Snips

Overview
You'll be removing the black plastic side trim on the seats (closest to the arm rest) and opening up the leather in order to gain access to a plastic connector that you need to free up so that you can completely remove the headrest. Then you'll swap the connectors from the old badges on to the new ones and opening up the underside of the headrests.

This took me longer than it should take you if you follow this guide as I had to open up the back cover of the seat entirely so I could find out where things were.

INSTRUCTIONS

Step One - Trim removal

Remove the black plastic side trim nearest to the armrest. You can do this by hand. Be gentle and listen for some of the metal clips from the inside of the trim falling down. Get these once you've taken the trim off. Pull from the rear working your way from top to bottom and then pull from the side.

Open the legs of any of the clips that fell out before putting them into the trim and set it aside (that way they won't fall out again when you're putting things back together again).

Next, you'll see that the leather is hooked on to the frame of the seat. Pull it towards you to free it from the hooks. Start from the top and work your way down. There is a metal bar that forms the structure of the rear seat pocket. It is held in place by slotting into the seat frame at the top of the pocket and a plastic clip further down.

You need to push the bar towards the middle of the seat to free it up.

storage-frame1.jpg

storage-frame-hook-clip.jpg


Now you'll be able to get inside the seat as shown below

seat-interior.jpg


Step Two - Unplug and free the connector

This photo shows you the socket (red arrow), the plug removed from it (cyan arrow) and the the cable tie fixing that is push-fitted into the metal frame of the seat (green arrow). Unplug the connector and then give the cable a gentle tug to remove the cable tie fixing. Next you need to carefully snip the cable tie, remove and then set the fixing to the side (you're going to renew the cable tie and refit later).

connector.jpg


Step Three - Remove the headrest

This actually took me a while to work out as I didn't even know that the headrests on these moved up and down and it doesn't look like the previous owner did either. You want to pull the headrest up as far as it goes. Next using a flat-head screwdriver you're going push in the collar around the right-hand (as you face the front of the seat) pole so that you can remove it completely. It is the exact same mechanism that you find on most cars that have an adjustable headrest but it's hard to see the collar due to the design of the seat. Feel with your finger and you'll get what I mean. Use your flat-head to push from the right side of the collar in towards the left and you'll then be able to remove the head-rest.

Next you'll pull the cable and connector (that you unplugged) out through the hole. Be gentle and be prepared to give the cable a wiggle to get it out.

Step Four - Open the headrest

Take the headrest inside and sit at a decent workspace indoors. Now when you look at the underside of the headrest, the leather is in two sections that meet underneath in a long, hidden plastic clip. Imagine inside that there is a plastic gutter and both sides clip into this with one side going in first and then the other side holding that one in place.

Using a plastic trim removal tool or your flat-head screwdriver lever up the side closest to the front of the headrest first (cyan arrow) and then the other side (green arrow)

open-headrest.jpg


You'll now be able to access the socket that your original silver badge plugs into. Unplug - DONT DAMAGE IT - We need this.

headrest-socket.jpg


Now remove the silver seat badge from the head rest. Do this just by using your fingers and a bit of pressure. You'll end up freeing one side first and then you need to wiggle and pull to remove it completely.

Step Five - Swap the connector plugs on the badges

The plug on your new badge doesn't fit the socket on the headrest so we need to remove the one on the silver badge and swap it over to the black badge. We do this by releasing the pins from inside the plug on the silver one but if you don't have a special tool we need to carefully hack up the connector on the black badge to get the pins out.

Not that there is a new socket and male pins for it included with each new black badge but this would entail changing the socket inside the head rest and I found it easier just to it this way.

connectors-badge.jpg


Removing the plug on the silver badge

Using a very small flat head pop-up the cover below

connector-cover.jpg


The pins inside have a barb on them so that they push into the connector but don't come back out so we need to use a small screwdriver to flatten the barbs and pull them free of the connector (if you've done this correctly you won't need to use any force to pull them out).

Firstly push them down one at a time at the green arrow. Then pull the cable and they'll pull out a little bit. Now do the same thing at the red arrow and this will allow them to come out altogether. I find it easier to do this while gently holding the cable taught so that it comes free as I'm doing it.

pins.jpg


Now set the black connector aside in a safe place.

Remove the pins from the connector on the new badge

Be careful here.

The pins inside the connector on the new badge have the same barbs mentioned previously but you can't access them unless you have a special pin removal tool or you carefully snip the top of the connector. If you look at the end of it you'll see the two holes that the pins occupy and two small slots above. If you have the required tool, you'll push it into these slots and the pins would come out. I don't have it so I took the top of the connector off so that I could remove them the same way as the old ones.

I pushed my screw driver into the slots and wiggled it to open them up and break the top of the connector a bit before using my snips to cut the top off and giving me access to the barbs as shown below

new-badgeconnector.jpg


Then I just removed them as per before and pushed the pins into the connector from the silver badge (make sure you put the colours in the same sides as before!) The brown cable on the plug should connect to the brown cable in the headrest socket.

blackpins.jpg


blackpins2.jpg


Step Six - Fit new badges & close up headrest

Now that your new badge is ready to be connected just fit it to the headrest, guiding the cable connector through the centre hole on the head rest and then connect it to the socket from underneath.

Next close up the headrest in reverse order. You'll see that one part of the leather is stitched to what, in cross section looks like a hookshaped profile. That obviously gets pushed in first and then the other bit pushes into that. I found it tricky to get it in tight so it's easier to use your thumb and forefinger to pull it in and down like so...

close-headrest.jpg


Now your headrest is ready to be refitted.

completed-headrest.jpg


Step Seven - Refit headrest and close up seat

Putting the headrest back is fairly self-explanatory. It just goes in the way it came out. Remember the push fitting with the cable tie? You're going to renew the cable tie and put it back as well as plug it back into the connector inside the seat.

tie-wrap-renewal.jpg


Next just put the leather back over the hooks in the frame and put things back together again in reverse. If you're struggling to get the leather back over the hooks, I used my long nose pliers to pull it. I also bent the hooks out a bit to make it easier and then pushed them flat again afterwards.

Step Eight - Enjoy your new badges!

completed.jpg
 
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