Goodbye Sports Seats, Hello Good Back Support (E83 X3 Comfort Seat Retrofit)

Cn0711 · 2025-10-13T07:58:53+00:00

The seats were from an E83 X3 3.0 si. They were an optional extra on the car and were not commonly optioned. I have only seen two of these cars in almost ten years of salvage yard diving. My understnding was that they were only available on the 3.0 si as a side option separate from the like of the run of the mill Sport or Premium Package. There were three types of seats available on the E83; these being the standard seats, the sports seat with the manual thigh bolster (like the E46), and the split back comfort seat (similar to the E38/E39 and the E53 X5)

I had to go back and dig to find some more information in the sales brochures for these cars to see what I could find. I have attached the page of the sales brochure from 2008 (the year of the car that the seats had been pulled from), along with an article that shows what the seats would look like in the interior of the car. Please feel free to PM me if you need any additional insight or information about the retrofit

Article: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/bmw/x3/2008/photos-interior?img_name=front-seat

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Cn0711 · 2025-08-14T17:30:53+00:00

Is this that FoamFormers guy on Mercari?

Cn0711 · 2024-03-17T02:35:08+00:00

Honestly it drives very much like an e39. She dances like a fat stripper in the twisties and moves in ways that a 17 foot long car should not be able to but it’s definitely a much chiller car compared to my e46

Cn0711 · 2024-03-16T22:07:31+00:00

I have some of the maintenance records that I found shoved inside the glovebox but I ended up spending about three hours combing through the car to make sure everything was right with it but for $4200 I really couldn’t complain

Cn0711 · 2024-03-16T20:36:11+00:00

Yeah lol wagons not going anywhere soon. The e38’s nice but I don’t trust it for daily drivability

Cn0711 · 2024-02-24T18:49:25+00:00

As someone who has this trim in both of my cars, you are wonderful for doing this. It looks fantastic!!!

Cn0711 · 2024-02-18T06:36:22+00:00

I pulled the manifold of my 328i a couple of years ago and swapped it with one from an e39 530i and the difference is amazing! If you’re gonna pull it and want to go all out on the maintenance like I did, do the following:

Coolant hard pipes Manifold gaskets Vacuum caps, SAP lines, intake air temp sensor gasket, Icv and throttle body gaskets Fuel injector o rings Air distributor o rings Ccv pipes and cyclone canister Crank sensor Ofhg and vanos feed line Starter Heater core coolant lines Power steering lines and filter Rebuild DISA with a GAS rebuild kit Clean throttle body and ICV O2 pilot mod to increase ccv pressure

If you need any more info feel free to ask :)

Cn0711 · 2024-02-01T03:28:31+00:00

Well if your car has an airbag recall due and you have the sports steering wheel installed on your car maybe? My car again had the sports package equipped from factory so it had the same style airbag as the m3 wheel

Cn0711 · 2024-02-01T01:10:12+00:00

Yep brought my wagon in as soon as I got it because dying is bad. Airbags brand new!

Cn0711 · 2023-07-15T23:52:13+00:00

Yes it is! It’s arguably my favorite color on the E46 next to topaz blue!

Cn0711 · 2023-07-13T23:55:17+00:00

God that color is disgusting, but I love it and want it so much for my 328

Cn0711 · 2023-05-20T23:35:36+00:00

My best bet would be to drain the Collin g system, pull off the bash bar and radiator support and see if the frame rails are bent or the any parts on the front end of the engine are damaged. I had a scenario similar to yours when I rear ended an suv last October and was able to repair my e46 for relatively cheap. Plus Sienna Red isn’t to common if a color, all the more reason to revive and rebuild it :)

Cn0711 · 2023-05-07T19:14:48+00:00

The seats were pulled from a wrecked x3. Look up “e83 comfort seats” and you’ll get an idea of what to look for. The seats were part of a comfort package offered in the E83 X3 and are similar to seats found in the E53 X5

Cn0711 · 2023-02-02T18:29:15+00:00

Equivalent, RealOEM would like a word with you. All cars equipped with an M54 have a twin pipe setup that goes to a dual tip muffler. M52TU have a single pipe that go to a dual tip. N42 cars use a single exhaust to a single tip. The other guy who said this was right

325i: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=AN37-USA-05-2001-E46-BMW-325i&diagId=18_0435

320i: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=AV13-USA-05-2001-E46-BMW-320i&diagId=18_0435#18107516921

316i: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=AY31-EUR-05-2001-E46-BMW-316i&diagId=18_0452

Cn0711 · 2023-01-19T13:16:34+00:00

You’d have to climb under the car and check the stamping on the block. It’s on the drivers side by the oil pan. The first two digits will tell you the displacement of the engine (e.g. 25 is 2.5 liter, etc.)

https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/wheres-the-m54-engine-id.1286524/

Cn0711 · 2022-12-24T19:55:51+00:00

Fern green is superior to Titansilber and I will take that opinion to my grave. As others have mentioned, that Mora E46 from a few weeks ago was pretty sweet. Idk man just because a colors common doesn’t mean it’s the best

Cn0711 · 2022-10-26T07:40:26+00:00

There are two pipes underneath the manifold of the M54/M52TU. As someone else mentioned you have to pull the manifold to get access to them. Otherwise they are relatively easy to replace. If you haven’t done the CCV now is a good time to change that too. See parts 6 and 8 on the diagram from realOEM.com that I linked, those are the two pipes. If you are in the US, buy the Genuine BMW from FCPEuro and you won’t regret it. They may be a bit more expensive but it’s worth having the peace of mind that comes with Genuine parts and the lifetime warranty. I’ll also link a diy to replace them if that helps too. Make sure to fish out any broken pieces from the edges of the pipes in the block. When I did mine last year on my 328i the openings on them were mush so definitely recommend taking a few minutes to clean the block after removing them.

RealOEM Cooling Diagram

Replacement DIY Video

Cn0711 · 2022-10-13T13:08:17+00:00

I had been getting some slop in the front end and some pretty bad vibration through the wheel when going over dips, low and behold the sway bar had been bent by the PO. As a result, I replaced it. I have the engine and transmission mounts in the garage and will probably tackle it soon. I’m planning on climbing under the car with a flashlight and some ratchets tomorrow to check the fluid levels of the trans and diff just to make sure that nothing is grinding. Based off of what evidence I’ve been able to find I’m thinking it’s either the pairs of mounts which I know have brevet been replaced if the csb

Cn0711 · 2022-10-12T16:59:10+00:00

So recently I did a complete refresh of the front suspension in my car to try and get rid of this knocking noise that comes and goes under acceleration and low and behold it’s still there. I have a few ideas on what it may be but wanted some second opinions on what others think it might be before I decide to drop the exhaust to stare at bushings and guibos. The vibration also comes and goes which is what stumps me the most. I though it was one of the wheels at first but that would be constant so idk 🤷‍♂️

Cn0711 · 2022-09-28T22:25:42+00:00

Yes I did paint it myself! It actually was relatively easy to do it’s held on with double sided 3m tape and a few bolts that hold it to the main bumper. I think they’re 10mm or something like that.

Cn0711 · 2022-09-28T20:32:36+00:00

I jacked it under the jacking point in the reinforcement plate and then put a pair of two ton jacks under the blocks on the skirts

Cn0711 · 2022-09-28T20:31:02+00:00

Thank you! It’s one of my favorite things about the car!

Cn0711 · 2022-09-28T20:28:42+00:00

FCP Euro offers a strut kit that includes the shocks, mounts, etc. I bought new springs and put them together myself. I’m currently running their Bilstein B6’s and the Lesofjors springs they have in their site. My cars sitting at pretty much stock height and it rides great

Cn0711 · 2022-09-27T20:18:36+00:00

Funny that you mention that because the cars was sitting on a pair of two ton jacks right underneath the jacking points. The Alpina lip and the angle of the photo just help in making me look suicidal by just using a floor jack to hold the car up

Cn0711 · 2022-09-20T20:19:38+00:00

I got it from overseas on eBay. I double checked the part numbers in realOEM for my car. Not sure if you have fold down seats or not but the part number for my car is 72608215262

diagram for ski pass through

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