Original Recaro sport seats

[sgaddy]

I would like to get in touch with someone who has a set of the original Recaro sport seats that still have the original vinyl on them.

Thanks, Steve

sgaddy15@gmail.com

[esty]

what do you want to know

[sgaddy]

I would like to know if the vinyl (both bolsters and centers) are exactly the same material as the stock seats. Also I would like to get some close up photos of the seats and hinges.

Thanks.

[02tom]

I don't have what was left of the original vinyl, but it was different from the stock 2002 seats from what I could see. The seat center textured vinyl was nothing like the 2002 seats, but the bolsters could have passed for the black vinyl on the 2002 seats. All foam padding / no horse hair underneath.

I don't have a good shot of the hinges, but could take some tomorrow in the daylight, depending on the level of detail you're looking for?

[esty]

with the all vinyl recaro seats, i'd never be able to tell any difference in the vinyl used to cover them...the exceptions are some recaro seats had perforated centers and some had cloth center sections but the bolster vinyl in my opinion is the same stuff

[kris]

You can send a note off to Gerrit at NML depot in Germany. I have found him to have a vast knowledge of original seat materials.

http://www.nml-depot.de/nmldepot006.htm

[markmac]

I would like to get in touch with someone who has a set of the original Recaro sport seats that still have the original vinyl on them.

Thanks, Steve

sgaddy15@gmail.com

Get a hold of these guys, they have redone more Recaro "sportsitze" than probably anyone (other than recaro). No doubt one of the best shops in the country - they will have the answer to your question. Good luck.

http://www.autobahninteriors.com/

www.alpinabmw2002.com

[Julio]

Here is a pic of my OG Recaros.

Jb

[LarsAlpina]

I´m not sure, if Gerrit is into Recaros. As far as I´ve seen with visiting him he is more into the Scheel thing.

Factory delivered BMW Recaros always had the same vinyl and-or cloth as the stock 02 seats. But those are quite rare. There are more seats on the market as from aftermarket or Porsche type. With them vinyl was slightly different as the cloth was different in the center sections. Also locking system and mountings on seat bottom frame are different with most of the non-BMW Recaros.

Additionally BMW factory seats - as to what I have seen - strangely weren´t delivered with foldable backrests although this type was available from Recaro. You had to use foldable consoles as pictured above, which don´t let you push the seats forward completely because the headrests may collide with the roof depending on how the seat is adjusted.

Only one hinge per seat on the outside pointing to the door. Earlier seats had chromed hinges, later on they were black structure painted. They are not the same as on the stock seats. And keep attention: Screws for mouting the hinges are also not the same as on the stock seats - screw heads have different angle.

Excuse me for maybe using strange english phrases, I´m german.

Regards, Lars.

[Mike Self]

were they velour or corduroy? One of these days I want to do a pair of E21 Recaros to resemble the 2002 Recaros, but with cloth centers. What sort of cloth should I look for?

mike

[sgaddy]

Lars,

Thank you for the information. This is the first time I have heard that some of the original 2002 Recaros had two versions - with chrome hinges and with black hinges. I have only seen photos of chrome hinges. Do you happen to know what date they changed? Are the seats in your photo documented to come with a 2002 from the factory? What year was that car?

Thanks again, Steve

[jrkoupe]

were they velour or corduroy? One of these days I want to do a pair of E21 Recaros to resemble the 2002 Recaros, but with cloth centers. What sort of cloth should I look for?

mike

black cord will suffice.......not velour. I haVE A PIC OF HOW CORD looks....Ill link it.

this is iirc 100% cotton R.Lauren cord..very nice. The lighting is playing w/ the shading you see.... we used german vinyl...seat done by Dave...Aardvark. I sold recaros in the 70s...and we tried to mimic the sewing pattern/look of the era. Ive seen other seats w/ cord but if the ribbing is not the correct size/appearance it can look very wrong and ruin the period correct goals.

we may even have some extra.......

or Ive seen a nice faux cord/ribbed cloth work well.....from SMS or SMTS in The usa.

[LarsAlpina]

Steve,

sorry for late answer first.

I don´t think the hinges were depending on the year of make. Look at this sales ad from as early as 1966 (still without headrests):

Seats already have black hinges as shown in all the Recaro sales ads I have, wether they are 1966, 1968, 1969 or 1971. I would assume that the design of the hinges was depending on the purpose of the seats.

There were types meant to be sold at aftermarket car accessories shops or your local Recaro dealer (at first there were no special Recaro dealers, their sales organization was established later). Those had a Recaro kind of design with their own Recaro types of cloth and vinyl.

Then there were types meant to be sold as factory accessories directly by e.g. Porsche or BMW. Those had the cloth and/or vinyl that was typical for the marque´s interior design of that days. And as BMW had all black, black-grey or blue (and some other colors, but those I´ve never seen on Recaros / does not 100% mean that Recaros weren´t delivered in that colors though) the BMW-delivered Recaros had that colors (and original BMW cloth/vinyl) also. Stock 02 seats up to 1971 had chromed hinges so I would assume that Recaro delivered chromed hinges with their seats made specially for BMW, too.

And the photo posted above is not mine. Here´s a photo of BMW Recaros with chromed hinges I have upholstered and recovered:

Best regards, Lars.

[LarsAlpina]

Mike,

with what I understand you´re planning to do you shouldn´t take the cord jrkoupe is recommending.

With the Recaro Idealsitz 73/77/81 N/LS (the type of Recaros used in BMW E21 but also many other cars like Ford or Opel) you have two options to recover them "really correct".

1. The original Recaro style

Examples of the basic style of the cover materials used by Recaro themselves over the years.

1973 Recaro brochure

1978 Recaro in original cloth from my storage

1983 Recaro brochure

2. The factory BMW style

Original E21 BMW Recaros were always covered with the periodically correct cloth and/or vinyl as used on the stock E21 seats also. I´ve been told that in the early years you could only have ordered Recaros in black color together with complete black interior - I´m not 100% sure on that. Later on you could have ordered all interior colors as available for stock E21 seats. For german market there were three changes in E21 cloth design: 1975 to 1977, 1978 to 1980 and 1981 to end of production.

1978 E21 accessories brochure

1978 E21 colors and interior brochure

1982 E21 accessories brochure

1982 E21 colors and interior brochure

E21 cover materials are not a proper solution for newly recovering E21 Recaros to be mounted in an 02 IMHO. Recaro cover materials could be a solution but as you have written you want to resemble the early factory BMW Recaro Idealsitz S, so to my opinion you should take cover materials that were used on these seats.

The early Recaro Idealsitz S can also be divided into two types: The "Recaro Recaros" and the "factory Recaros" like made for e.g. BMW and Porsche.

1969 Recaro brochure showing typical Recaro cloth

But the factory BMW Recaro Idealsitz S didn´t have that cloth. They had the periodically correct cloth and vinyl used on the stock 02 seats also (as above with the E21 Recaros).

Basically there were four changes in interior design for 02 in its production period: Very early cars 66 and 67 which I don´t have brochures of.

From 68 to 71

From 71 to 73

From 73 to end of production

This picture is taken from a late 1973 BMW accessories brochure:

If you look close you can identify the black cloth on the Recaro on the left as perfectly the one shown for 02 in the interior colors brochure from 1973 to end.

So to my opinion you should take the BMW cloth and vinyl used on stock seats (and on the backseat in your car) according to the year of make of your car to recover your E21 Recaros to resemble early BMW Recaro Idealsitz S.

Looks like this:

König seats (looking quite similar to the E21 Recaros) with late black original BMW cloth

E21 Recaros covered with original cloth from BMW 02 Luxus Edition (special edition produced for Euro market from late 74 to summer 75)

Best regards, Lars.

[Guest Anonymous]

Lars, great post, one of the best I have seen in a long time. I have to figure out how to save it so I can refer back to it at some point. I had no idea that there were so many leather, vinyl, cloth options for these seats.

www.alpinabmw2002.com