Leather interior in a D9

HDiAndy · Post by **HDiAndy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:24 pm

Hi guys

I'm really wanting to upgrade to Executive leather or even SE half-leather from the dull black cloth i have now my problem seems to be the fact that i have a D9.....
I've searched this forum but haven't really seen anything to answer my questions.

Am i right in thinking that because there are side airbags in D9 to avoid the annoying light flashing i will need to replace with leathers from another 406 with side airbags which rules out the D8? (annoyingly there are usually a couple of good D8's on flea bay) or is it possible to be naughty and re-wire to fool the computer to think they're still there?

is ebay the best source for an interior? i have tried e-mailing various breakers but haven't had much communication back and one joker in Cardiff wanted £500!! which is waaayyy above my level (only paid £250 for my 306 half leathers by comparison)

also i've heard the old pub story that all the wiring is there for heated/electric seats etc, can anyone validate this to be true and are any additonal parts needed?

and finally..... has anyone ever put a cream interior into a silver car?

i've seen a 607 like this and didn't think it was toooo bad but can't visulise a 406 with it. i'm not too keen on the idea but wondered if there are any out there

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:11 pm

I'd go with eBay, I've seen leather interior prices a hell of a lot lower than £500!

One thing to watch out for if you're thinking of going with the cream/ivory/whatever seats is that the door cards and carpeting won't match...

Also with the seat electrics I think you'll be out of luck as there's a huge amount of wiring for them, including a separate ECU which lives under the seat...

ThePrisoner · Post by **ThePrisoner** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:31 pm

If you buy full leather interior from a late D9 executive, you will get matching leather door cards also. Just the problem then of matching it all to the carpet.

Pris.

Captain Jack · Post by **Captain Jack** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:30 am

You don't need the ECU under the seats for electrics to work. They are only there for memory positions and only for the drivers seat (you'll notice the passenger seat won't have this ECU). Just rewire it to the match the passenger seat and you're off.

Juzza · Post by **Juzza** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 11:04 am

The wiring is there for the heated part (in the D8) but as Captain said you'll have to re-wire it for the motors. It's straight forward enough other than having to solder an extra wire onto the switch...
Got a feeling the rear fold downs fit differently on a D8 to a D9 so you may have to modify if you go for an older interior...

HDiAndy · Post by **HDiAndy** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:39 pm

cheers guys

Benner · Post by **Benner** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:11 pm

I am looking to change the interior on my D8 to the leather executive 1. I believe the passenger seat and the rear seats are simple enough, but with this whole electrical memory part on the drivers seat, how easy is it to do? I'm assuming that some of the wiring will already be there (mine is only an LX) but how simple is this to connect?

I'm not worried about the heating part, I just want to be able to set the drivers seat up. To be honest if there was an interior that wasn't electric I would be quite pleased!

Has anyone here actually upgraded the interior like this on a D8?

Ben

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:34 pm

Both exec front seats are electric, so it's twice the fun! As for the wiring I see there's squat in the Haynes diagrams. If you can wait until the next dry weekend I'm going to try to map out what wire and connector is and does what under the seats cos I NEEEEEED heated seats so badly at the moment!

I'm already guessing one's going to be at least 3 pins for the seatbelt pre-tensioners (gnd, fire, fault), there's going to be at least 2 pins for the heated seats (gnd, +12v switched+fused, maybe ignition), and 3+ for seat movement (gnd, +12v permanant fused, and aux power cos the memory function acts differently then).

I'll keep you posted - possibly on a thread of its own

Benner · Post by **Benner** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:37 pm

Yeah let me know how u get on mjb, cos I really like my current car and just think a leather interior would be a good, relatively cheap, upgrade.

Someone out there must have done it?

Juzza · Post by **Juzza** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:42 pm

Yeah I've done it and so has Captain Jack..

You need to get a live feed into the cockpit first though...the wiring under the drivers seat isn't too bad to modify, you just need to connect the wires from the seat switches to the appropriate motors..you'll probably need to solder on an earth into the switch though, it can be tricky but it's do-able. Either that or go to a scrapper and see if there's a car with electric seats with no memory (Think the GTX had them) and rob the switch with its loom..

You can just attach a live and earth the each motor in turn to make the seat move - you'll need to do this when bolting the seat down as it needs to be back to get the front bolts in and forward to get the rear ones in. It sounds worse than it is - Providing you can follow where the wires go it's fairly straight forward.
There should be an earth in the current loom which you can use, or just bring another through or make your own.
You'll probably have the heated seat loom there anyway, I think they were included on all models. The loom for the heated seat switches will also be there under the centre console but you'll need to get switches for that too if you want tit to work.

The passenger seat is straight forward - just give it a live and earth...

Hope this helps a bit!

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:36 am

Minus 2.9 degrees C *inside* the car this morning.

It's definitely happening this weekend, I don't care if I need to kneel in a hailstorm to do it, I'm bloody doing it! Not fun to sit on -2.9 degree leather. Not fun at all. Those damn heated seats WILL work!!!

Post by **Welly** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:06 am

mjb wrote:Not fun to sit on -2.9 degree leather. Not fun at all. Those damn heated seats WILL work!!!

You wanna be careful there fella, otherwise you could get a touch of the ''roger banisters''

Just to let you know, my heated seat was lovely this morning at -2 deg C

TBH I wish they worked a bit quicker, they take at least 7 minutes to start working, and I'm at work by then

Joking aside, I assume the heated element is some form of serpentine of wire on a mat under the seat finish, so unless the wire has broken it should work with a power supply attached. One thing I don't know though is how they self regulate? I know about self regulating cables which act as a semi conductor sensitive to temperature but not sure with car seats?

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:37 pm

I drove a Rover 75 once which didn't appear to have any regulation on the heated seats. 5 minutes and you'd be toasted alive!

Post by **Welly** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:58 pm

mjb wrote:I drove a Rover 75 once which didn't appear to have any regulation on the heated seats. 5 minutes and you'd be toasted alive!

...was the only thing 'hot' about the car!

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:14 pm

It was a horrible car to be in, and an utter wreck to drive as well - disgusting that a hire company would let out a car with a broken hydraulic system - no power steering or braking assistance! Needless to say it got returned the following day with words said like "death trap"..