NBP08TtotheL

As the title says, does anyone know if this would work or be difficult? The ventilated seats would be a nice relief down in South Florida.

vill0169

iTrader: (4)

Probably wouldn't be anything easy to get those seats fully functional in your TL. You mean ventilated as in a pump AC air into them?

You'd have to consider the mounting location, the 3/4/5 wire harnesses that go to the seats, the airbags, air ducting, etc.....


Save your pennies for the 2012 TL lol

NBP08TtotheL

Yes, pump AC into them would be great! I'd rather save them for a newish MDX.
I did not really think about the ducting, if that is what they use for that. Im sorta new to the adult vehicle 'luxury' department...previously had a probe, intrepid RT, and civic.

cschneider

I may be wrong but I don't think the ventilated seats use AC. Most ventilated seats use small fans inside to draw moisture away from the body. I think you'd end up with an extremely expensive project. If you really want ventilated seats there is at least one company that offers a retrofit kit. http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/seatvenheats.html

csmeance

Many systems use cooled air but not A/C directly. For example the MDX, RL and newer acura models draw air out the seat to pull air behind you and out the seat to cool you down along with the seat.

BUT other systems like BMW's push air at you from under the seat, and under the seats are usually vents to help cool the rear of the car!

If you want cooled seats you may be able to retrofit the RL's system into the TL. It's a bit of work since you'll have to cut up the foam and probably have to redo the leather.

In all honesty, it's a great feature but not worth all the hassle to retrofit it.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

SWEEEEEEET I have been dreaming that some company would make a ventilated seat kit. Im not sure how good it would work but I absolutely LOVE ventilated seats they are the best feature ever. Feels soo comfortable during the summer.

To the OP I too have though of if it would be possible to put newer TL seats into a 3rd gen as besides the ventilated feature of the new 2012, I actually like the seat better. The main problems is it would be difficult to find out if the mounting locations are similar. Then even if they are the chances of getting all the electronics to work with an older generation could be VERY difficult.

Im going to look into that ventilated seat kit right now thats the first retrofit kit I have seen. Does anyone know of any other kits?

Thanks,
James

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

I found another company that makes just a seat ventilation kit instead of both heated and ventilated together. The kit is only $99.99 and includes all the stuff you need. Only thing thats tough to figure out is how compatible our 3rd gen TL seat would be with these aftermarket kits. The lady on the phone said perforated leather is key which our TL's has, but she also stated that even leather perforated seats might have a cover behind it that would need to be removed for best flow. She also said that the OEM heating element would not allow airflow either so she recommended using the one with their kit which allows air flow. This sounds great and all but I dont want to eliminate my OEM seat warmers for this. Best case would be to keep using the OEM seat warmers and install just the ventilated seat kit and hope it works good without having to canibalize my seat. Here is the link for the other kit I found.

http://www.championseatheaters.com/content/about.html

Fatfrii

you can prolly redirect the AC air that goes to the rear seats that are on the floor into the 2012 TL seats...that home depot DIY the tricky part would be mounting the seat rails succsefully without having and wobbling issues and then like mentioned above, the electrical work....

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Well I went ahead and ordered the $99 kit from champion seat heater in Minneapolis. It was only $99 bucks shipped so I figure why the hell no. This kit is just the ventilated option without heat as I want to use my OEM warmers. This kit comes with a less intrusive switch as well. Hopefully I can get the kit to work as I love ventilated seats. We will find out when I get the seat pulled out taken apart. I will be sure to post pictures and impressions.

James

snake134

iTrader: (1)

awesome, i know i would love to have ventilated seats. the first time i sat in an escalade on a hot summer day with cooled seats, this was my reaction:

meowevil

iTrader: (1)

It looks good please keep us update =)

Kodiak373

Subscribed. Looking forward to the results

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Wow....here's the newest, latest mod for a 3G TL.....

Best of luck James!

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Well just to give everyone an update about the ventilated seat kit I purchased. Its not gonna happen :-( I bought the kit and received it and overall its nice and is a great idea however the problem is our seats. I removed the seat from my 07 Type S and started taking stuff apart. After digging deeper and deeper there is just no way that these fans and spacer fabric are going to fit. The main problem is how the seat covers attach. The seat covers dont just attach around the edges, it attaches all around and in the center leaving no way to mount fans in the cushions and the other big problem is the spacer fabric cannot possibly be installed correctly. Also, for the seat back portion it would be very difficult to mount the fans because of the lower bolster mechanism. All this was before I even got to the other issue of the OEM seat warmers being in the way. So I sent the kit back. It was worth a shot anyway!

The only other way I see it possible to do this is somehow retrofitting entire seats or seat cushions and covers from a 2012+ TL with the ventilated seats. After looking at part diagrams it appears that the entire seat might actually bolt into a 3rd gen. If the holes dont line up it could be possible that just the seat cushions and covers can be added to the existing frame of the 3rd gen seats. Then comes the wiring issues who knows how that would all work. Then cost is going to be very expensive just to acquire the parts. In the end most will probably agree its just not worth it.

James

jimsta

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for taking the time and money to attempt this my friend. It definitely would have been one of the best mods if this was decently priced and possible.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Yea no doubt, thanks for trying and giving us a heads up.

Even if the seats can bolt down, would they be too wide for our car anyways? I thought when I sat in a 4G the seats felt much wider, especially the bolsters.

lil12002

This is sorta off topic but would Type-S seats fit in a 2005 TL? I ask because they have more support on turns then regular 05 seats.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Yes they should bolt right in however I don't know if all the electrical stuff is interchangeable.