200 Cup fitting 197 Recaros

[SarGara]

Hi all, first post here and i come seeking advice :zap:

Basically i own a 200 Cup which i didnt spec Recaros in (because i hated the yellow trim) which means my car came with the standard seats and an annoying feature "anti-submarining airbags". Because of this the 197 Recaros i have sourced are not a straight swap, and cause the engine management light to appear on my dash.

Has anyone done something similar to this yet, fitting 197 recaros to a 200? Will i just be able to take my car to a Renault dealer and they can disable this "anti-submarining" feature or am i going to have to go down the pikey route of bodging resistors into the connector?

Any help is appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Foxspeed]

as far as i know capital seating can supply resistors to plug in to turn the lights off :thumbup1:

 

[SarGara]

Thanks Fox. The problem i have is i do not want to bodge with resistors if at all possible. I would like to retain the seatbelt pretensioner warning (if unplugged) and the side airbags as these are both a straight swap and SHOULD work. Not to mention i cant plug in a resistor for one thing without making the plug unable to connect to the socket, i would then have to go down the route of chopping individual wires out of the plug to bridge with resistors... messy!

The problem is the 3rd feature anti-submarining airbags which means im getting the management light regardless of the other 2 working.

 

[RalphyBMW]

Si - Foxspeed^ has done the exact same conversion on his 197, the wiring, etc. should be the same, and I think the Capital Seating resistors just plug in, while retaining connection to the side airbag and pretensioner.

 

[SarGara]

Well to avoid bodging it i had booked into a Renault dealer. However i just had a phonecall back from the Renault dealer:

Aparently they have spoken to Renault Customer Service Technical Department who have said its not possible to fit Recaros to a 200 unless spec'd at the factory as the car will have been produced with a different loom, ECU etc as part of the "protection pack" (which includes the main difference, anti-submarining airbags).

So is this a 200 specific problem as im sure there are 197 owners who swap out their standard seats for Recaros?

 

[Demic]

Yes I got told this when I wanted to change the spec of my Clio and add the Recaros as it had gone out of flexibility. I was quoted a price of approx £7000!!!!!! (seats, airbags, loom etc) to swap them at the dealer.

 

[SarGara]

Thanks Demic, as much as thats not the answer i wanted to hear at least its the same so i know im not being lied to by the dealer.

Shame i had my heart set on those Recaros but at least the seller is understanding and im not out of pocket. I just didnt want to bodge something on essentially a brand new car so im not going to bother.

 

[ryan197]

rubbish i fitted recaros to by standard FF197, fitted the seats myself which brought the airbag light on, took it to renault wolverhampton told them i fitted the seats from a F1, they said ecu may need reconfideration, booked it in got it back no warning lights. but this may depend on whether its a cup or not as the recaros in a cup may be different.

 

[SarGara]

Yes but Ryan you have a 197, we both have 200s which makes me wonder if that is the problem.

Ive seen people swapping over 197 recaros on 197s, but i havent seen anyone fit 197 recaros to a 200 yet.

 

[R32pete]

If its just the loom an auto electrician should be able to work it out easily enough but where ECU's are involved its a different matter. From what ive been told on a Recaro fitted 200 there is no loom for the ant sub airbag. a resistor isnt really a bodge if it allows the side airbag to still go off.

 

[Foxspeed]

If its just the loom an auto electrician should be able to work it out easily enough but where ECU's are involved its a different matter. From what ive been told on a Recaro fitted 200 there is no loom for the ant sub airbag. a resistor isnt really a bodge if it allows the side airbag to still go off.

exactly - the ecu is only looking for a return voltage so it knows all is ok - wont stop the other airbags going bang :thumbup1:

 

[SarGara]

haha you make this sound very simple, i wish it was!

I cannot just stick a resistor on the end of the plug because then it wont fit into the socket. So that means i need to try to figure out which wires are responsible for this anti-sub out of the 5 or 6 present in the plug. I assume i would then have to cut these wires out of the plug and bridge them with a resistor to allow the plug to still connect into the socket for the other functions to continue working.

How exactly do i establish which wires do what? They arent even the same colour on the Recaro and on my loom to mix/match :confused1:

 

[Foxspeed]

haha you make this sound very simple, i wish it was!

I cannot just stick a resistor on the end of the plug because then it wont fit into the socket. So that means i need to try to figure out which wires are responsible for this anti-sub out of the 5 or 6 present in the plug. I assume i would then have to cut these wires out of the plug and bridge them with a resistor to allow the plug to still connect into the socket for the other functions to continue working.

How exactly do i establish which wires do what? They arent even the same colour on the Recaro and on my loom to mix/match :confused1:

doesnt the workshop manual that was on here have a wiring diagram ?

failing that you will have to go back to the beginning - ie look at the wiring on the seats and work out which wires/colours come from what airbag and there position in the multi-plug on the standard seats - then compare this to the recaro wiring/plugs - this should then throw up which is missing

my seats have resistors and these are built in to the multi plugs - didnt cut any wires at all :thumbup1:

 

[SarGara]

Your seats have resistors built into the plug? wha? So doesnt that would mean you have had to cut ALL of the wires off the OEM plug and attach them to an after market plug with resistors in it?

I suppose the end result is neat but it sounds more intrusive lol. Is the fabled plug thats sold by Capital Seating for about £60?

 

[Foxspeed]

Your seats have resistors built into the plug? wha? So doesnt that would mean you have had to cut ALL of the wires off the OEM plug and attach them to an after market plug with resistors in it?

I suppose the end result is neat but it sounds more intrusive lol. Is the fabled plug thats sold by Capital Seating for about £60?

the seats have the resistors fitted so the cars loom multi-plugs push straight in - think about it - its the seats that dont have the second air bags fitted

 

[Foxspeed]

 

[SarGara]

Cheers Foxy. Ive given Fred@BTM a call today so im going to pay him a visit (when hes free) and see if he can work his magic. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Foxspeed]

no probs :thumbup1:

also have a read here !

http://67.225.136.222/~clio/forum/showthread.php?t=6741

 

[SarGara]

8 months later, a different pair of Recaros i have FINALLY managed to succesfully fit 197 Recaros to my 200 Cup in replace of standard seats so i thought i would add some closure to this for anyone struggling with the same. It took about 2hrs to figure out how to do this but once done the 2nd seat was sorted within 10mins.

Note: No wires need cutting, no ECU needs flashing etc.

Required:
- Needly nosed Plyers.
- Electrical screwdriver (small, flathead).
- Torx set peice (4 bolts secure the seat at either end of the runners).
- 2x Fitting kit *Ebay*

Guide:
Pop the plastic panel off the base of the standard seat which is located on the door side of both seats. Behind this panel unfasten the seat plug from the cars plug and snip the retaining catch if applicable and push the car loom back under the seat. Feel under the front of the seat and unclip the loom from the various securing points (1 on the rail, 1 under the seat) using the plyers.

Remove the seat and fit the Recaro but do not secure, tilt it backwards and lean it on the rear bench to allow more access under the seat to the loom. Connect the Recaro plug to the car loom and regardless of which side is being done you will have 2 extra wires on the car loom side of the plug.

Take the highlighted part from the attached picture from the Ebay kit and remove from the plug it comes attached to (break the purple casing and ease the 2 prongs at the base of the plug out of the top using the electrical screwdriver as leverage. Once removed push this into the corresponding holes on the Recaro side of the plug so the 2 extra wires from the Cars plug now meet with this newly inserted resistor. Doing this closes the circuit that the Recaros dont have and removes the warning light from your dashboard!

:thumbup:

 

[jase]

The seats that Si has are my old seats and I fitted the resistors.
They were from capital seating and were a very simple job to fit them and very neat all it heat shrink tubes.
Just strip down to the bits you actually need as they come with blocks that you don't need. The pins then just plug straight into the connectors under the seats.