Has anyone replaced the drivers seat foam base on a VRS? Mine has collapsed & crumbled away on the lower outer bolster.

Before I go steaming in I just wondered if anyone on here has done it before.

I replaced the foam base on my old Golf Mkiv Anniversary, & it was really easy to do.

yes i have done it, costs about £65plus from dealer, is fiddly but if you have done a mk4 seat then basically its the same design.

Yeah TPS quoted me £65+vat. I figured it would probably be similar to the Golf. Will order the base tomorrow, & maybe do a diy thread coz there must be loads of owners with the same issue.

Edited 1 August, 201015 yr by pauldazzle

Yeah TPS quoted me £65+vat. I figured it would probably be similar to the Golf. Will order the base tomorrow, & maybe do a diy thread coz there must be loads of owners with the same issue.

Yeah lol mine is forked

Amazingly......................

Who do you know in TPS then ??

Yes please do a guide mate!

I need to do this too :(

its not hard, just take it slow when fitting the seat base cover over the new foam as its tight. There also some clips inside fitting the material cover (from the inside) to the base, this got me swearing like a mofo.

Its well worth doing as otherwise the metal bolster side inside the seat will rub through the seat cover (without the foam in the way to protect it) and wear out your bolster from the inside.

its not hard, just take it slow when fitting the seat base cover over the new foam as its tight. There also some clips inside fitting the material cover (from the inside) to the base, this got me swearing like a mofo.

Its well worth doing as otherwise the metal bolster side inside the seat will rub through the seat cover (without the foam in the way to protect it) and wear out your bolster from the inside.

you can take corners more comfortably too!

Yeah lol mine is forked

Amazingly......................

Who do you know in TPS then ??

Most of em know me down there as i've been buying parts from there for ages.

Yeah TPS quoted me £65+vat. I figured it would probably be similar to the Golf. Will order the base tomorrow, & maybe do a diy thread coz there must be loads of owners with the same issue.

Base ordered today from TPS & will be in on Wednesday.

Keep you posted.

There's already a good diy guide here http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/p/117290/795546.aspx#795546

More or less the same for the Octy.

If your car has seat airbags it's important to disconnect the battery before you unplug the connectors or you'll get an airbag warning light when you plug them back in.

Edited 4 August, 201015 yr by pauldazzle

Ok job done. It took me about an hour to do. The hardest part is getting the seat cover back on. I will post some pics later.

Ok job done. It took me about an hour to do. The hardest part is getting the seat cover back on. I will post some pics later.

Look forward to it, my bolster has crumbled away, covering the rear carpet in foam bits too.

is the base foam all one piece with the side bolsters? Anyone have a part number please?

Cheers

It's all one piece. Part number is 1U0881375P.

Will try to do a DIY tomorrow.

Never done a how to before so please excuse me if it's rubbish. I'll add some pics asap. Sorry I should of taken more, but I was rushing to get on as rain was approaching.

Ok the tools you need are.

T20 Torx.

13mm socket.

small x head screwdriver.

Long nose pliers ( optional)

My seats don't have airbags so there was no need to disconnect the battery, but if yours have airbags disconnect the battery or you will get the airbag light on when you reconnect.

You do need to remove the seat to do this job.

The front of the seat is secured with 2 x 13mm nuts which are underneath the front of the seat. Push the seat all the way back & remove both nuts. Then pull the seat forward.

Now get in to the back of the car & there are 2 small screws that hold the plastic runner covers on which are concealed with caps. Unscrew both, lift the covers, push forward & off.

From the front tilt the seat back while its still in the runners. You can now access & remove the seat belt warning connector. The cable that comes out from under the carpet is cable tied to the bottom of the seat frame so carefully cut the tie. I didn't want to keep the irritating seat belt warning so I pushed the cable back under the carpet.

You can now push the seat back & out of the runners & remove out of the car.

Now to release the plastic trim cover that goes around the lower part of the seat. Undo the x head screw middle front of seat trim pull the trim away & you will find another countersunk screw undo & remove. you don't have to remove the trim you just need to get it out of the way so you can pull the cover out of the recess that the trim conceals.

Now take off the the seat height adjuster arm which is secured by 2 T20 torx screws under concealing caps.

Now it's time to get the cover off.

You'll see that the the cover goes into a recess on the frame, just put your fingers into the recess & you will feel the plastic strip that the cover attaches to. Pull the the strip out all the way around the front & sides, & peel the cover off from the front. You will now see that the cover is attached to to the foam with metal bars with hooks on, these need to be unhooked & the cover will now pull back enough to pull the foam base out. Try to note how the hooks are placed, which i didn't & it took a couple head scratching minutes to work out how to get them back on properly when refitting. I used long nose pliers for this.

This is a bit fiddly but easy enough once you've done 1.

This is the cause of the problem.

Now it's time to fit the new base. I reclined the seat back all the way down. Push the base in as far back as it will go, there is a small recess on the underside at the back of the base that sits over the back of the frame. (The front of the base will be raised at the front, a little but don't worry about that as it will pull down when you replace the cover).

Right this is the worst bit.

Re-attach the hooks working from the back forward. This had me swearing as I hadn't really taken much notice of how they were placed when I unhooked them off the old base :S

Now you have to stretch the cover back on. The plastic edge strip needs to be kept folded under the edge of the cover & then forced back into the frame recess. I started from the back of one side working all the way round to the front & then down the other side. I found that lying the seat on it's side & then using my palms to push the cover & my fingers to guide the strip back in was the most successful way. Huge sigh of relief when the last bit clipped in. It's a really tight fit & my hands ached bad after :(

It's now just a case of refitting the plastic trim, & refitting the seat back into the car.

Took about an hour to do plus a couple of tea breaks.

What is immediately apparent after refitting is how much firmer & higher it is. The foam must lose it's rigidity after a while.

Edited 5 August, 201015 yr by pauldazzle

Good guide m8

Good guide. I'm amazed mine don't need doing yet at 131k miles!

Could someone sticky this in the Guides section?

Good guide. I'm amazed mine don't need doing yet at 131k miles!

Could someone sticky this in the Guides section?

I'll sort it later:)

Good guide. I'm amazed mine don't need doing yet at 131k miles!

Could someone sticky this in the Guides section?

Too many skinny people driving the car!

Or a lot of long trips not, getting in and out of the car etc.

Edited 6 August, 201015 yr by ezeekiel

I think with me it's probably the former!

lovely job pauldazzle, and thanks for the part number

excellent writeup....thanks and I'll be doing this in the next couple of weeks

I really recommend that people don't put this job off as the foam backing of the leather cover starts to wear through, & repair or replacement to the cover will be way more expensive than replacing the base.

I can see the metal through my ripped leather.

He ain't lying guys :no: