P85 Premium Seat Retrofit

[philip295]

Completed. Made a little guide since the documentation surrounding this project is super lackluster.

Also, the lumbar wiring shared in this thread is not correct. It is flipped 90° which will make the buttons impossible to install in new panel. This is the correct wiring:

Pink&white to green&yellow
White&brown to red&blue

Yellow to green
Pink&white to blue

Retrofitting Gen3/4 seats into 2012-2014 Tesla Model S

25 December, 2022 Tesla | Retrofit | Seats

www.vegarhenriksen.com

Looks good

 

[yangotang]

I'm just about done doing this retrofit - and had a question (don't know if anyone else has run into this):

For the lumbar support, the instructions reference a WH/PK on both the vertical and horizontal lumbar motors.

The newer seats (and based on probing the connections) have the WH/PK jumpered together before this this reaches the inline at the seat. Are you guys breaking the jumper (shown with a circled X) and then treating both WH/PKs as individual lines when running them to the old harness?

 

[Minek Neked]

They cut the wires just before the motors, which undo WH/PK joint connection.

 

[Minek Neked]

Just finished the Gen1 - Gen4 conversion with added difficulties by using a RHD Model X donor.
I did very little work in the backrest, rather cut off the white connector right under the seat, and made my connections there. Had a laser cutter at hand, so did a template and cut the side panels quite easily. It cleand up with some brushing just perfect.

 

[yangotang]

They cut the wires just before the motors, which undo WH/PK joint connection.

Thanks! Confirmed that it works. I ended up just diverting the cooling circuit, then using the inline to make it work.

Completed. Made a little guide since the documentation surrounding this project is super lackluster.

Also, the lumbar wiring shared in this thread is not correct. It is flipped 90° which will make the buttons impossible to install in new panel. This is the correct wiring:

Pink&white to green&yellow
White&brown to red&blue

Yellow to green
Pink&white to blue

On the driver's side seat with memory, I noticed two additional wires - a Red and White connector.

I tried to connect to the pair circled in black below, but that seems to not have worked. The seat moves about ~2s and then stops. I'm pretty sure this means it's incorrect.

Is the correct place to match up the wiring to the blue circuits identified?

 

[BBQ P100]

@yangotang The memory seat connection is unfortunately not detailed in the above guide. I did not connect it at all, and my backrest does not move, So, if yours does ( on a memory command) thats a good sign. Try setting the profile(s) from fresh and see if that works.
Regarding the lumbar, WH / PK situation, I ended up leaving the UP/DOWN motor disconnected and having headrest UP/DOWN control instead on the side. I Moved the lumbar UP/DOWN motor in the middle(is) position and left it there.

 

[yangotang]

@yangotang The memory seat connection is unfortunately not detailed in the above guide. I did not connect it at all, and my backrest does not move, So, if yours does ( on a memory command) thats a good sign. Try setting the profile(s) from fresh and see if that works.
Regarding the lumbar, WH / PK situation, I ended up leaving the UP/DOWN motor disconnected and having headrest UP/DOWN control instead on the side. I Moved the lumbar UP/DOWN motor in the middle(is) position and left it there.

I was able to figure it out.

For the recline memory on the driver's seat, the pins for the White and Red go to the connections circled in blue. Once i made those connections it worked without issue.

I decided to wire up a secondary toggle for handling my headrests, adding another switch as was done by another user here.

I used the BMW E30 series switch. The switch Details are wired as such:

Connector Mapping (I grabbed a Right Front Window Console Switch and Pigtail)

BMW Switch Pin 8 (VI/GY - Violet / Gray) : Connector P24 Pin 15 on Inline. BU (Blue) on Tesla Harness. Connect to Motor Up on the headrest motor.
BMW Switch Pin 1 (BK/GY - Black / Gray) : Connector P24 Pin 2 on Inline. BN/WH (Brown / White) on Tesla Harness. Connected to Motor Down on headrest Motor.
BMW Switch Pin 3 (GN / GY - Green / Gray): Provide +12V power. Tap on the Seat movement control Red wire for
BMW Switch Pins 4 & 5 (BR - Brown): Short together, then connect to Ground. Tap on the seat movement control Black wire.

 

[xorkid]

Just finished the Gen1 - Gen4 conversion with added difficulties by using a RHD Model X donor.
I did very little work in the backrest, rather cut off the white connector right under the seat, and made my connections there. Had a laser cutter at hand, so did a template and cut the side panels quite easily. It cleand up with some brushing just perfect.
View attachment 890584
View attachment 890585View attachment 890586

Nice work! could you please share the laser cutting template? I am considering this swap and will find someone with a laser cutter, having the file will help me and others

 

[xorkid]

For the recline memory on the driver's seat, the pins for the White and Red go to the connections circled in blue. Once i made those connections it worked without issue.

hi thanks for this - but I cannot see anything circled in blue. what am I missing?

 

[BBQ P100]

hi thanks for this - but I cannot see anything circled in blue. what am I missing?

He meant the blue circles in the wiring diagram in #125, I think.

Anyhow, since I went in a different route by cutting just the white connector off of the new seat, it was BK/WH and GN/BL for me for the sensors. Managed to peak at the recliner motor connection under the bottom right side of the seat.
This needed to be connected to RED and WHITE on the old connector visible in #127. The order does not matter, its just a variable resistor. Memory works perfect, such a nice setup overall! I wish I had not missed this, as removing and installing the seats is a bear of a job, even at 6'4 ...

 

[BBQ P100]

Nice work! could you please share the laser cutting template? I am considering this swap and will find someone with a laser cutter, having the file will help me and others

Its also me (different PCs, different accounts, sry). I scaled these to 72mm width to fit, (70 might have been better) in my LaserPecker 2.
Here you go:

 

[xorkid]

Its also me (different PCs, different accounts, sry). I scaled these to 72mm width to fit, (70 might have been better) in my LaserPecker 2.
Here you go:

Thanks for that do you have vector versions of these at all? the plastic shop accept SVG, EPS, DXF, STL, CDR etc

 

[xorkid]

He meant the blue circles in the wiring diagram in #125, I think.

Anyhow, since I went in a different route by cutting just the white connector off of the new seat, it was BK/WH and GN/BL for me for the sensors. Managed to peak at the recliner motor connection under the bottom right side of the seat.
This needed to be connected to RED and WHITE on the old connector visible in #127. The order does not matter, its just a variable resistor. Memory works perfect, such a nice setup overall! I wish I had not missed this, as removing and installing the seats is a bear of a job, even at 6'4 ...

This is super helpful, too thanks! I do want the memory to work as well

So I am clear the wiring for the backrest recliner motor requires 4 pins to be connected or just two? the wiring setup is a little confusing with the information spread out all over the thread.

My car is May 2016 build, face-lift, RHD. The old seat frames/covers are like the GEN1 seats but connectors are more like the GEN4. The wiring and seat modules of the old seats are completely different from GEN4 as I am missing the plugs for the CAN bus. The donor seats I have got are GEN4 with the moving headrests. So seems the simplest option is to transfer the modules and wiring per this thread, if I can work out the wiring and sensors

 

[BBQ P100]

Thanks for that do you have vector versions of these at all? the plastic shop accept SVG, EPS, DXF, STL, CDR etc

I wish I had one. Barely managed to extract and clean up this contour. There must be a one click option to create a vector format from this, but I'm utterly lost at image editing, as it turns out ...

 

[BBQ P100]

This is super helpful, too thanks! I do want the memory to work as well

So I am clear the wiring for the backrest recliner motor requires 4 pins to be connected or just two? the wiring setup is a little confusing with the information spread out all over the thread.

My car is May 2016 build, face-lift, RHD. The old seat frames/covers are like the GEN1 seats but connectors are more like the GEN4. The wiring and seat modules of the old seats are completely different from GEN4 as I am missing the plugs for the CAN bus. The donor seats I have got are GEN4 with the moving headrests. So seems the simplest option is to transfer the modules and wiring per this thread, if I can work out the wiring and sensors

It only seems daunting at first, once you start, it becomes more manageable. Start with your current passenger seat, remove the controls, harness and disconnect and label what all connectors from the bottom. Remove memory and heater modules also You need not to have the backrest dismantle at all, cutting the cable entering it (#125 Pic1) should be enough before moving over to the donor seat.

Pro tip, you can move the motors with a 12V power supply for testing, no need to reassemble seat into the car. For me without the memory module on the passenger side, I only had to power the two pins on the main connector(RED and BLACK), and once transferred I could move the donor motors with the than only danglig control panel. This did not work on the side with memory module, so don't get alarmed.

I'll try to grab a few pics from under the seat....

 

[BBQ P100]

So I am clear the wiring for the backrest recliner motor requires 4 pins to be connected or just two? the wiring setup is a little confusing with the information spread out all over the thread.

Two pins for power ant two pins for the memory(position) function within the same connector. YELLOW - GRAY/ORANGE == power, BLACK/WHITE - GREEN/BROWN == sense, these colors are based on the GEN4 harness.
If you have an ohm meter at hand, motors are 4 - 6Ohms, and sensors are in the 200KOhm range. If you have NO connection its not a right pair for either.

 

[xorkid]

I wish I had one. Barely managed to extract and clean up this contour. There must be a one click option to create a vector format from this, but I'm utterly lost at image editing, as it turns out ...

no worries, I tried to convert your PNGs using an online service, not tested these yet though..

 

[xorkid]

It only seems daunting at first, once you start, it becomes more manageable. Start with your current passenger seat, remove the controls, harness and disconnect and label what all connectors from the bottom. Remove memory and heater modules also You need not to have the backrest dismantle at all, cutting the cable entering it (#125 Pic1) should be enough before moving over to the donor seat.

Pro tip, you can move the motors with a 12V power supply for testing, no need to reassemble seat into the car. For me without the memory module on the passenger side, I only had to power the two pins on the main connector(RED and BLACK), and once transferred I could move the donor motors with the than only danglig control panel. This did not work on the side with memory module, so don't get alarmed.

I'll try to grab a few pics from under the seat....

Thanks that is all very usedful advice!

I was thinking the same, once I get started with the transfer it should all fall into place..

Two pins for power ant two pins for the memory(position) function within the same connector. YELLOW - GRAY/ORANGE == power, BLACK/WHITE - GREEN/BROWN == sense, these colors are based on the GEN4 harness.
If you have an ohm meter at hand, motors are 4 - 6Ohms, and sensors are in the 200KOhm range. If you have NO connection its not a right pair for either.

Very useful! I can see these wires on the GEN4 seat wiring diagram from service.tesla.com good to have them labeled though

I will still need to work out how the GEN1 harness connects to the GEN4 wires you have labeled but with a multi-meter that should be easy now.

 

[VegarHenriksen]

I was able to figure it out.

For the recline memory on the driver's seat, the pins for the White and Red go to the connections circled in blue. Once i made those connections it worked without issue.

View attachment 892507

I need to update my guide to reflect this, but I need it to be 100% clear. What does the white and red wire connect to?
This is the harness from the old seat:
'

 

[Minek Neked]

I need to update my guide to reflect this, but I need it to be 100% clear. What does the white and red wire connect to?
This is the harness from the old seat:
'

Your picture does not show to me, but old harness should be pic1 form #127.

PURPLE and PINK -> recliner power wires, to GR / OR and YELLOW as per your guide
WHITE and RED (smaller wires) -> BL / WH and GR / BR(? or BL hard to tell), but the two other wires visible in your picture of the new recliner motor connector.