Note: This is a copy of my original post ported to this site. There is still a very strong E60 community wanting to upgrade and retrofit, so this seems relevant.
Project: Active Backrest Retrofit (5 Series)
Active Backrest is an option for the Comfort Seats where the backrest can be set with a Comfort, Normal, and Sport mode
It was only available with option 456 (Comfort Seat) and was not available with 455 (Active Seats - this is the one that massages your bottom)
I have only seen evidence of it exisiting in M5s but if anyone has actually seen it in anything else please let me know.
So what does it do?
Active Backrest monitors the DSC information and automatically adjusts the backrest on the outside of the turn to tighten up and support the driver/passenger during cornering.
The new buttons shown below. I will first do the install without installing the buttons to see that it can be made to work without the expense of the new buttons. I expect it can be controlled completely through the iDrive controller.
My seat on the bench. It is back in the car now, just took it out to inspect.
Some of the controller connections
The exisiting backrest motor that needs to be replaced
My test jig. What you see here is 2 motors for 1 seat - left side and right side. I plan to modify the jig to mount the other 2 motors to represnt both driver and passenger seats during testing
The plan:
1) Create the cable harnesses for the seat
2) Create or update the harness from the car
3) Connect Jig to car - code the car - test jig operation during a drive
4) Remove seats again. Remove existing motor from seat. Install 2 new motors per seat with new wire harness. Install seats
I will consider making additional harnesses in the process that I will make available to purchase if it looks like there is interest.
The parts for this retrofit cost about $900USD and I can provide the retrofit harness (assuming I get all this to work!).
I will wait before I am ready to declare the price of the retrofit harness until it is done. Each retrofit kit requires ~100 connections to be made depending on the availability of compatible plugs to mate with existing plugs. If I can't find a mate then I will have to remove existing plugs and replace them also.
Not sure how this retrofit $ compares to the original option price but if you like your existing seats this is better than swapping out the whole seat for M5 seats.
**more to follow when I can work on porting over the original pics and text
Project: Active Backrest Retrofit (5 Series)
Active Backrest is an option for the Comfort Seats where the backrest can be set with a Comfort, Normal, and Sport mode
It was only available with option 456 (Comfort Seat) and was not available with 455 (Active Seats - this is the one that massages your bottom)
I have only seen evidence of it exisiting in M5s but if anyone has actually seen it in anything else please let me know.
So what does it do?
Active Backrest monitors the DSC information and automatically adjusts the backrest on the outside of the turn to tighten up and support the driver/passenger during cornering.
The new buttons shown below. I will first do the install without installing the buttons to see that it can be made to work without the expense of the new buttons. I expect it can be controlled completely through the iDrive controller.
My seat on the bench. It is back in the car now, just took it out to inspect.
Some of the controller connections
The exisiting backrest motor that needs to be replaced
My test jig. What you see here is 2 motors for 1 seat - left side and right side. I plan to modify the jig to mount the other 2 motors to represnt both driver and passenger seats during testing
The plan:
1) Create the cable harnesses for the seat
2) Create or update the harness from the car
3) Connect Jig to car - code the car - test jig operation during a drive
4) Remove seats again. Remove existing motor from seat. Install 2 new motors per seat with new wire harness. Install seats
I will consider making additional harnesses in the process that I will make available to purchase if it looks like there is interest.
The parts for this retrofit cost about $900USD and I can provide the retrofit harness (assuming I get all this to work!).
I will wait before I am ready to declare the price of the retrofit harness until it is done. Each retrofit kit requires ~100 connections to be made depending on the availability of compatible plugs to mate with existing plugs. If I can't find a mate then I will have to remove existing plugs and replace them also.
Not sure how this retrofit $ compares to the original option price but if you like your existing seats this is better than swapping out the whole seat for M5 seats.
**more to follow when I can work on porting over the original pics and text
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