Larry Victor

The seats: "Trend" w/full option (heat & ventilation). Retail price: $1280/seat. My installer, Bill Pfister of Eurotech Advanced Automotive in Framingham, Ma., charged me $1140/seat + $275 for mounting brackets (ordered direct from Germany because Recaro USA no longer supplies them because of airbag issues). My upholsterer, Vatche Sarkissian of A1 Auto Upholstery in Waltham, Ma., supplied Recaro w/ our choice of leather for the trim (Recaro leather good quality but not right color gray). Recaro sent add'l cloth ($345!) so that rear could be done to match. <br>The airbag issue has been addressed in the archives, but to summarize: 5 Ohm resistor needs to go in the circuit to bypass the airbag when disconnected. <br>The heat system works as follows: the Audi factory seat heat controls on the dashboard actually operate through a chip (what doesn't nowadays!) which cycles the power to the heating elements on & off ,thermostat style, depending on the setting dialed on the switch. There is a sensor which sends feedback to the chip for this function. This sensor must be removed from the OE seat (it is located under the upholstery, in the center rear of the seat, approx. where your tailbone would contact the seat cushion), and be installed appropriately in the Recaro. We simply bypassed Recaro's on/off switch on the seats.<br>Total labor cost: $352.50 (4.7 hours @ $75/hr).<br>Hope this helps! I'll be glad to try to answer other questions by e-mail or phone. <br>P.S.: I'm pleased to say that the whole thing came out looking as though it could have been a factory option!

MichaelB

Larry,<p>Glad to hear that the seats came out well. Can't wait to see them. Are you planning on being at Joe's American Bar & Grille on January 16th for the Northeast A4 Group gathering? I think we will have a fairly good turnout. <p>Mike

Stu Koch

Could you please post some pics?? This sounds very intresting!

Cameron

I have Recaro SPG for both driver and passenger, and for 1997 and earlier A4's, brackets are available from Recaro USA. The airbag issue is really a wiring issue and more affects installation than bracket design... though I understand (as you do, I'm sure) Recaro's apprehension when faced with thousands of potential airbag lawsuits per year.<p>Cameron<br>

Larry Victor

You have stated the obvious, which is also correct. The bracket issue has nothing to do with seat mounting design or wiring, it has everything to do with liability,(for which I hate to say that in todays ridiculously litigious atmosphere, I more or less sympathize with Recaro). In fact the brackets are labeled something like:<br>Audi A4 '96 & later. Please, everyone understand, I did not WANT to remove the side airbags, I made a very difficult calculated risk decision based on many factors.

Larry Victor

I'll try to post some pics within the next couple of weeks. I'm not as computer literate as many of you, & I need some technical assist get this done. I'll work on it!

Larry Victor

Mike, nice to hear from you. Unfortunately I'll be skiing that weekend, but I'll still be happy to show the car to anyone in the area almost anytime by request. Sorry to miss the meeting, I wish it had been 1 week earlier or later.

AlAgAvant

dealer said the age of the vehicle was primary it mantaining the service interval. That included plugs, air filter, oil and pollen filter...

MikeC

Just had mine, 99.5 QMS, done. I asked the dealer same question since I only had 4,200 miles on the car but purchased in June. He said 6 Months OR 7500 miles. I also asked about synthetic oil and he recommended to wait until over 10,000 miles on the car.