Newbie with an A6 Seat Comfort Problem.

[Arkle]

Good morning.

 

I'm Paul and I'm new to the Audi world, although my son does have a 2004 S4 Estate, which is a lovely car.

I have bought an A6 3.0TDI Le Mans S-Line Estate and on the whole, I like it - What an engine !

 

However, The seats are uncomfortable.

Long story short, I had a big spine injury in 2012 and if I sit in or on the wrong sort of thing I suffer, a lot!

I test drove and sat in a 2007 SE and a 2009 SE and the seats seemed fine.

I assumed the seats would be the same on the S-Line but they are causing me grief and I desperately need to find an alternative.

 

So, I have a couple of questions, please.

Are the Seats in the non-S-Line models more comfortable?

Can I buy seats from an A8 (I'm assuming they would be more comfortable, but have yet to try them) and fit them to my A6?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Paul.

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum Paul, you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch :) 

 Sorry to hear of your spinal injury. The s line seats are a sportier design as apposed to the second seats. The s line seats have more side support and leg support. I think your easiest option would be to get leather electric se seats which will bolt straight in. If you've found these more comfortable then it would make sense as im not 100% sure that a8 seats fit. 

Cheers

Steve

[Arkle]

Many thanks for the reply, Steve.

Hope I'm not posting in the wrong section with my questions.

I will try to have a sit in an SE. Do any other A6 models use the same seats as the SE?

 

Also, I'm not familiar with the model termination codes of C6 etc. I need to familiarise myself with those codes.

[Steve Q]

20 hours ago, Arkle said:

Many thanks for the reply, Steve.

Hope I'm not posting in the wrong section with my questions.

I will try to have a sit in an SE. Do any other A6 models use the same seats as the SE?

 

Also, I'm not familiar with the model termination codes of C6 etc. I need to familiarise myself with those codes.

The 3 types of seats: 

Se normal style seats 

S line - more side and leg support

S/RS - recaro seats 

Your model is a c6 which was in production from 2005-2011

C7 is from 2012 onwards

My model which is older than yours is a c5 made between 1997-2005.

The c4 a6 was made before 1997. 

Hope that's helped :)

Cheers

Steve

[niedzial1983]

Se and sline have diffrent seats

I have 2006 a6 3.0tdi sline lemans with sline seats. Love them . I have sat in se and yes they are more soft but sline are half bucket seats and they wrap around you nicley , yes they are harder to seat on. Also driver seat has electric lumbar support. 

So its all about personal preference ... 

If you are not far away you can try mine :) 

Also you need to think about ride hight and suspention. Se has standard soft and sline is lovered by 30mm and much harder.

[Arkle]

14 hours ago, Steve Q said:

The 3 types of seats: 

Se normal style seats 

S line - more side and leg support

S/RS - recaro seats 

Your model is a c6 which was in production from 2005-2011

C7 is from 2012 onwards

My model which is older than yours is a c5 made between 1997-2005.

The c4 a6 was made before 1997. 

Hope that's helped :)

Cheers

Steve

Yes, that's very helpful, thank you.

I have read somewhere that the AUDI A8 D3 seats will fit my C6. I hope that's correct, because after sitting in one yesterday, I'm picking up two of those later today!

I know that no all the functions of the A8 seats will work on my A6 without some effort from someone with auto-electrical knowledge, but as long as I get the same basic functions I have now, I'll be very happy.

If anyone here present knows of any reason why I shouldn't travel to buy the A8 seats, please let me know as soon as possible!

[Arkle]

5 hours ago, niedzial1983 said:

Se and sline have diffrent seats

I have 2006 a6 3.0tdi sline lemans with sline seats. Love them . I have sat in se and yes they are more soft but sline are half bucket seats and they wrap around you nicley , yes they are harder to seat on. Also driver seat has electric lumbar support. 

So its all about personal preference ... 

If you are not far away you can try mine :) 

Also you need to think about ride hight and suspention. Se has standard soft and sline is lovered by 30mm and much harder.

Thanks, Piotr.

Yes, the S-Line seats are firmer and that's where things have gone wrong.

I sat in two SE models that I found to be comfortable, but then went and bought an S-Line Le Mans. My fault.

Thank you for the kind offer, by the way. :)

[niedzial1983]

You could replace just dr8ver seat from se if it will help 

[Arkle]

Thanks, Piotr.

I'm pretty sure the SE seats would fit and be more or less a straight swap out, but having seen the A8 seats and sat in them, I'm very keen to have those.

 

Does anyone know the spacing of the seat runners/tracks on he A8 D3 seats. please?

[Arkle]

I collected the seats yesterday. They are lovely!

 

However, although they will fit physically, the electrickery is the problem.

It may well be do-able, but I think I'll give up because a lot of time could be spent with no end result, unless of course someone know of this being achieved satisfactorily?

 

Great shame, because the seats are just gorgeous.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[niedzial1983]

Are the seats from a8 all electric ?

[Arkle]

Hi Piotr,

Thanks for the reply.

 

Yes, all electric from  D3.

I have noticed that D2 generation seats are electric also, but with only the same switches/functions as my A6 C6, so probably less complexed wiring-wise.

The D2 seats may well be an option, although they one's I've seen are listed as Recaro, which implies sportiness/firmness which is what I do not want.

For me, the most important factor in a seat is a spongier, softer base.

 

I have an auto-electrician booked to see if the D3 seats can be made to work. Fingers crossed!

[niedzial1983]

It should be an easy job for a good car electician to connect the d3 seats . 

 

[Arkle]

Hopefully it can be done. There are lots of wires to fathom out and I have a nagging doubt that the electrician might think it's too much trouble.

I'll report back on how things progress, but if anyone feels they have any information that might be valuable, please let me know.

Cheers

 

Paul.

 

[niedzial1983]

Good luck :) 

[Arkle]

No show from the auto-electrician yet, although he did say he was busy.

Does anyone know if the seats from the D3 A8 are (apart from side airbags) in any way connected to the ECU of that car?

I'm reliably informed that as long as there's no ECU link the electrics can be successfully adapted to my A6 C6.