Swapping seats into an 05

[magnusonsubie]

After swapping 08 Spec B seats into an 05 LGT wagon with Kalien32 we thought we would do a little write up as we did as few possible changes based on piecing together what others had done from various threads. We both hope that this is thorough enough to help others with similar seat swaps in the future. At the end of this there were no airbag lights and all functions of the seats continued to work as they are designed.

 

So we'll start with the drivers side as its the easiest. The only things you need to save from your 05 seats are the magnetic position sensor, we just drilled out the rivets on the 05 and plugged it in and coiled it up under the 08 seat once it was installed, the plug for the power into the seat, and you'll also need to retain your 05 seat belt buckle receiver. The memory function of the 08 Spec B seat still works as well.

 

Power plug

 

Magnetic Sensor

 

Seat belt buckle is pretty self explanatory. Just unplug the harness and move it over to the new seat.

 

Passenger side is a bit more complicated and we tried as much as we could to use as little of the 05 seat as possible, that didn't happen

 

So we started by attempting to plug in the 08 seat directly and see if there would be an airbag light, then we realized there aren't near enough plugs under the seat.

 

Bottoms of the seats. 08 on the left, 05 on the right. Lot less wiring under the 08.

 

Tops of the seats, really wish we could have used the 08 as it probably sits 2" lower and Kalien32 isn't short so if he's ever in his passenger seat he doesn't have as much room as his drivers side.

 

You'll also see the hinge and recline motors are still attached in that last picture, the brackets are different on the base side so you gotta swap those over as well.

 

Then you get to the wiring, for whatever reason when they were built in 05 the plug on the car side of the harness is the same as the plug on the seat side for the 08, so we snipped the connector on the 08 and the 05 seatbelt receiver and spliced the wires together, I guess you could swap the receivers over but we had tan receivers and we were swapping the interior to black in the process.

 

Then when you put the covers back on the 08 leather needs some trimming to fit properly and you need to use 05 plastic side pieces as the 08 ones won't fit onto the 05 seat base.

Edited February 12, 2018 by magnusonsubie

[madrig]

but the legacy seat from 05 to 09 look the same !

this is so much difference !! i m shock !

[xtea]

05 is the hard year. 06-09 much easier. No messing with seat belts.

[xt2005bonbon]

I actually wonder if it'd be possible to install the 2015+ wrx seat in our cars. Reason why I'd be interested to do that is they seem to provide additional legroom for the rear passengers.

 

OP, would you like to make another how-to thread ?

[WRX USA]

I actually wonder if it'd be possible to install the 2015+ wrx seat in our cars. Reason why I'd be interested to do that is they seem to provide additional legroom for the rear passengers.

 

OP, would you like to make another how-to thread ?

 

After extracting the occupant sensor out of my 09 seat and installing it in my JDM STi Recaro, I really think that part isn’t much of an issue. The bigger issue is the mounting brackets.

[xt2005bonbon]

Don't you think it would be sweet though? Ah but I don't think they have a tan option for the wrx right?

[hadvw]

So basically:

1) swapping over the driver's seat isn't too hard

2) don't bother with the passenger seat unless you have to

 

What's a used Spec B seat go for?

[magnusonsubie]

I actually wonder if it'd be possible to install the 2015+ wrx seat in our cars. Reason why I'd be interested to do that is they seem to provide additional legroom for the rear passengers.

 

OP, would you like to make another how-to thread [emoji38] ?

Into an 05 that would be an absolute pain to make work.

After extracting the occupant sensor out of my 09 seat and installing it in my JDM STi Recaro, I really think that part isn’t much of an issue. The bigger issue is the mounting brackets.

For any of the cars that use the bladder tye occupant sensor it would be an easy swap and totally worth it. For 05's though I don't think it would be possible.

[magnusonsubie]

So basically:

1) swapping over the driver's seat isn't too hard

2) don't bother with the passenger seat unless you have to

 

What's a used Spec B seat go for?

The passenger seat once we figured out what needed to be done wasn't hard either.

 

Used spec b seats tend to be around $1000 for fronts and rears with door cards.

[Enlight]

Is there any improvement in the '08 Spec B. seats over the '05? Edited April 17, 2020 by Enlight

[Enlight]

I wonder whether it's possible to swap out the airbag control module from an '06+ to '05 for the purposes of this swap (or Evo X talked about it another thread). The side curtain is interchangeable between the years. So are the impact sensors. The Subaru website says the dashboard airbag is not, but that may be due to other reasons besides the connector. I believe people have already performed dash swaps without issue. If it's only the front seats that have different connectors, the existing airbag harness can stay and the connectors just need to be swapped and re-pinned for the air bladder sensors. Edited April 21, 2020 by Enlight

[Enlight]

Sorry, I was probably unclear. What I'm trying to say is we might be able to swap 06+ seats (including the base) if we also swap out the air bag control module in the dash (below the radio). If the only difference in air bags between 05 and 06+ is the seat, all the other connectors should plug right into the 06+ air bag control module.

[SpecDubC]

I still haven't seen a clear solution on changing the rear folding seat locks out on the 08. I'd like to keep them keyed to my car but it seems like you would have to tear the seat halfway apart and restaple the back upholstery to get to the lock.

 

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