Hi,

I've got a 2001 Elegance with the notorious bamboo beige interior. Although I quite like the 'lightness' of it, I do not like how quickly it gets dirty and how difficult it is to keep clean! In particular, the armrest is now almost black and when I have had the car valeted before it takes only a very short space of time to revert to black again...

What are my options? I'd ideally like leather seats, but I guess an Octavia leather interior may be hard to come by. I heard somewhere that Golf seats would fit, so perhaps this might be a useful avenue?

Also, the seats have side airbags - is this an issue when considering replacing them?

I'd be grateful for any advice.

James

no problems replacing them at all and yes golf seats do fit as i have a set of golf gti seats in mine . what colour are your doors cards?

i have a full set of unmarked dark grey clotch seats from an octavia elegance that i want to get rid of cheap, they have side airbags btw

The dark grey stays clean for a good time.

Failing that seat surgeons for a leather conversion on your existing seats, arm rest and door cards?

No issues with replacing the airbagged seat. Just disconnect the wiring harness and remove the seat.

Bengie's seats would be a direct swap and the easiest way of changing.

3dr or 5dr Golf front and rear seats will fit straight in.

i have a 3dr interior in my 5door estate, the only thing is the front seats move forwards but that has no downsides and only helps if you want to put something large in the back

A set like these would be a straight sawp:

eBay.co.uk: VW GOLF MK4 / SEAT CUPRA BLACK LEATHER INTERIOR (item 250049882701 end time 17-Nov-06 20:00:00 GMT)

or

eBay.co.uk: VW Volkswagen Golf GTI MK4 Recaro Seats 5 Door (item 250048982266 end time 19-Nov-06 19:24:52 GMT)

or

eBay.co.uk: mk4 golf tdi seats (item 320048958011 end time 20-Nov-06 18:34:32 GMT)

or

eBay.co.uk: VW GOLF MK4 3 DOOR BLACK CLOTH INTERIOR SEATS (item 250048731927 end time 21-Nov-06 22:25:20 GMT)

or

eBay.co.uk: seat LEON CUPRA 2002 CLOTH INTERIOR (item 4629382731 end time 03-Dec-06 21:29:06 GMT)

you get the idea

Beige leather golf Mk4 seats can usually be picked up for less than black leather. If you look hard enough you should be able to find beige leather recaros from a Golf which are very nice. Arm rest lid from a Golf is also a striaght swap.

but my seats would be yours for barely into 3 figures

Audi S3's sometimes have beige leather & they fit as well

See if the interior to this is still available, its an Octy L&K & the inside looks beige, seats & armrest will be leather & it looks like a well looked after car prior to its demise, Im guessing beige leather interiors are also a lot cheaper than Black. If you go for them make sure you get the lecky seat switches out of the dash & the wiring, would be a shame not to have a warm butt on cold mornings

Used Parts and Spares :: Hills Motor...

Nice set of wheels as well & the L&K comes with 5 alloys

Hi,

See if the interior to this is still available, its an Octy L&K & the inside looks beige, seats & armrest will be leather & it looks like a well looked after car prior to its demise, Im guessing beige leather interiors are also a l

ot cheaper than Black. If you go for them make sure you get the lecky seat

Thanks to all for your help, and especially to Stuart_J for the above. I've been in touch with them and looks like it could be a possible. They did tell me that the seats were part leather, part suede however - is this right? If so might be a show-stopper as I reckon suede will be about as hard to keep clean as the cloth that I already have...

Practically, how difficult will it be to fit them? I've not done much mechanically but I do have a decent socket set and a torque wrench. Do you have to get under the car at all? Again I have some stands but haven't done much work under the car.

Failing this set, is there anywhere particular to look for golf seats etc or is it simply a question of circulating the breakers from time to time.

Thanks again to all for your help, would be grateful for further advice

James

Some cars had part leather, part suede but Ive never seen one so cant comment, I believe its the centre thats suede to stop the sticky leather you get in the summer, I would guess & its only a guess that suede is easier to clean than cloth, if your close enough go & have alook , the cars done a few miles so you should be able to judge by its condition how easy it is to clean. Plus is most people upgrading will out of choice go for full leather so you should be able to drive the wrecker down on the price

The advantage with this colour is it will possibly blend better with your existing carpets etc, being an Octy the door cards etc will also fit straight on as will any other bits of trim you want.

Fitting isnt too difficult & you certainly dont need to get under the car, it will be a straight swap, only thing you will find is the wiring on the front seats is slightly different as they are heated so will have a few extra wires, you wont need to use these if you dont want the heated seats but its worth posting this as a specific question to many of the techies on here. Its also a bit of work to get the heated bit working in a car thats not had heated seats & you will need an auto electricial to do that

You have to take care not to activate the airbag warning light as the seats have side airbags, if you do dont worry too much it can be reset by a dealer.

On mine when we swapped the seats we left the ignition off for about 1/2 hour before we started & didnt switch it back on until the seate were fitted & the wiring plugged in (plugs directly under the seat)

Also with the centre rear seat the seat belt wont unwind until the seats fitted as it has some sort of safety device thats only activated once the seats in the upright position.

I switched mine with a mate who runs a body shop & it took less than 2 hours, if youve never done it before allow a Saturday & with any luck you will be in the pub by Lunchtime

as for looking for others just trawl the net for breakers, go on E-bay (careful as a lot of its crap) & try forums that are Golf/ Audi A3 specific