Hi Guys,

I recently picked up a 2016 ILX as a daily. Unfortunately during the test drive I didn't notice how uncomfortable the seats were. These seats kill my back. I am wondering what the options are for seat swaps or if there are any known seat modifications?

I have 2 concerns about swapping seats

1. I don't want an SRS/air bag light on
2. I'm not sure if there will be any other codes thrown if the memory seats are removed


With that said, I'm thinking over several options -

1. I'm not sure if the 2019 seats are any more comfortable, but they do come with factory lumber support and look slightly different. I'm thinking these might just drop right in (obviously bolt in, but I'm thinking the electronics would be a drop in as well) and work exactly the same as the factory 2016 seats. Thoughts?
2. I had a 9th gen SI a few years ago and was never uncomfortable. I'm sure those seats bolt right in but that would remove the memory seats for sure, and I'm not sure what all is involved in the SRS system/if that could be swapped over or not.


3. Modifying the existing seats. This is obviously the ideal solution but I've tried a few things with no avail. I'm not 100% sure what it is about the factory 2016 seats that are so uncomfortable for me, but part of it is the lumbar area of the seat protrudes so far out that its unnatural for my back. I tried taking out the bar that holds the lower part of the cushion inside of the seat and that helps quite a bit, but then there isn't enough lumbar support and it just makes my back hurt somewhere else. I then added a BMW lumbar support module, but for it to work properly, I had to put the bar back and went back to too much lumbar support. I almost need a way to mount the bar back far enough to keep the the lumber area neutral and allow for the lumbar support module to add support as needed, but I have no idea how to accomplish this as the mount would need to "spring" like the OEM mount does. If I could just find a longer bar that would hold the lumber back farther or a cushion that doesnt have the same amount of lumbar support that might work, but I have no idea how to tell which seats parts are different than the factory ILX seats.

I thought about picking up a 9th gen SI seat and taking both seats apart and figuring out what the main difference is. Maybe its the back cushion? Maybe its the seat back frame geometry? Or something else. But If I could modify the seat then that seems like the best way to avoid my main concerns of airbag / missing module codes.




TL;DR - any advice on seat swap/ modification info would be greatly appreciated

Thanks



Below are some pictures to show the "bar" that Im talking about and what I have tried with the BMW lumber support module.

 

I've had 9th gen si seats in both my 16' and 13' ILXs. No SRS lights, the seats I bought came with pigtails from the Si harness and the factory Si rails (bolted right up). They definitely felt much better than both the 13' dynamic seats and the 16' base seats.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the update.

I probably would have gone that route, but I ultimately decided to take the loss and get a car that didn't kill my back.