Removing executive rear seat back...

[Deanm0000]

I've got executive rear seats and I bought the old fashioned bench seat. I'm trying to uninstall my existing exec seats but I don't know how to unlatch the seat backs.

The seat backs of the executive rear seats don't have the functionality to fold down but they still have a latch like the ones that do fold down but there is no release handle.

Here's a pic of the meeting of the hook from the seat along with the hook of the car.

Here's another picture a little lower than the hooks. I was hoping if I push down on that that it would release the mechanism but no such luck.

Does anyone have any idea how to unlock that latch to take the seat out?

 

[DerbyDave]

Try this site: Service Manual Repair Procedures

 

[domodan]

You selling the executive seats? What shape are they in?

 

[Deanm0000]

You selling the executive seats? What shape are they in?

When I get them out I'll post them. They're black and, I'd say, in pretty good shape.

 

[2101Guy]

is it an easy swap between non exec and exec seats?

 

[DerbyDave]

is it an easy swap between non exec and exec seats?

Some differences I can see because the "no center seat" are: lack of center rear heater, lack of center seat belt and seat weight sensor, no child seat connector. Lack of connection to some or all of the safety options programmed into your car may cause system errors. Your car is likely set up for different options to support your rear seats. I don't know how the system will handle if you try to turn on the center rear seat heater. Maybe it won't care, but these are some possible issues.

 

[Deanm0000]

Some differences I can see because the "no center seat" are: lack of center rear heater, lack of center seat belt and seat weight sensor, no child seat connector. Lack of connection to some or all of the safety options programmed into your car may cause system errors. Your car is likely set up for different options to support your rear seats. I don't know how the system will handle if you try to turn on the center rear seat heater. Maybe it won't care, but these are some possible issues.

I already unhooked the wire harness from the car to the seats and the car hasn't complained about missing the connections. The exec seats do have the "latch" child seat connectors for the right and left, but obviously not in the middle. One thing I've noticed is that my exec seat belt clips don't have a wire running out of them so I guess that means the car doesn't know if the back seat passengers are buckled up but I see in the bench seats I bought there is that wire so if you're going from bench style to exec the car will either always think someone is buckled up or never depending on how that switch works.... or (maybe) you could just swap in your old clips.

 

[domodan]

Ah, probably not worth messing with for me. Good luck!

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Some differences I can see because the "no center seat" are: lack of center rear heater, lack of center seat belt and seat weight sensor, no child seat connector. Lack of connection to some or all of the safety options programmed into your car may cause system errors. Your car is likely set up for different options to support your rear seats. I don't know how the system will handle if you try to turn on the center rear seat heater. Maybe it won't care, but these are some possible issues.

I already unhooked the wire harness from the car to the seats and the car hasn't complained about missing the connections. The exec seats do have the "latch" child seat connectors for the right and left, but obviously not in the middle. One thing I've noticed is that my exec seat belt clips don't have a wire running out of them so I guess that means the car doesn't know if the back seat passengers are buckled up but I see in the bench seats I bought there is that wire so if you're going from bench style to exec the car will either always think someone is buckled up or never depending on how that switch works.... or (maybe) you could just swap in your old clips.

Tesla didn't start installing rear passenger seat sensors until late 2016, long after they stopped selling the executive seats.

 

[krsgio]

Exec rear seats also have ability to heat the back and the bottom cushions independently from the screen as well so prob require some kinda configuration.

 

[Deanm0000]

Try this site: Service Manual Repair Procedures

This was a life saver. Other than the secret latch release, taking everything apart and getting the new seats in turned out to be pretty intuitive. You do need a T47 socket which you might not have and a big breaker bar (or preferably a powerful impact wrench) for 2 of the bolts as they were in much tighter than the rest. The outline of the procedure is...

1. Take off the bottom seat cushions.
2. Take out center console
3. Unattach wiring harnesses. Under the center console is a "hub" where a single wiring harness comes in from the car and then each of the heaters (bottom left, bottom right, back left, back right) have their own plug.
4. Unattach the HV wiring holders (you'll see what I mean, it sounds worse than it is)
5. Unscrew the bolts holding the metal frame in. There are, I think 6 11mm and 2 T47s. The 11mm come out with just a regular 3/8 impact wrench but the T47s need more encouragement to come out. Thankfully I have a 1/2 impact.
6. Unlatch the tops of the seat backs using the secret latch (like if you were lowering your non-exec seats) which will then allow you to take the seat back out.
7. Take the metal cage, which is already unbolted, out.
8. Put the new (used, in my case) metal cage in
9. Put the left side back piece in by first sliding the post thing that sticks out of the side of the seat into the hole in the metal cage that sticks up. Next bolt the bracket on the other side of the seat back to the car (This is slightly tricky as you have to fold the seat different ways to get the bolts in. The exec seats don't use these bolt holes so I had to go buy 4 bolts from HD. They're the same thread as all of the 11mm bolts which is m10x1.5)
10. Bolt the center seat belt bracket to the metal frame. Use a new bolt for this.
11. Put the right side seat back in by first lining up the hole on the inside so that the post thing from the left seat back goes in the hole and then bolt the bracket to the car.
12. Put the seat bottom in place
13. Put the bolsters in place


I have no idea if non-exec cars have an unused wiring harness for heating, I would assume they don't. The rear seat heating, as far as I can tell, is controlled through the app only. If there's a way to control the rear seat heating on the MCU then I don't know it. You could probably hack together a heating control that mounts inside the center console if you really wanted to which would kill 2 birds with one stone (don't need to worry about modifying the car's firmware to control the heating with software, and provide the control to the people in the back seat so you're not fumbling with your app while driving or giving app access to rear seat passengers)

 

[jelloslug]

I would be interested in the seats when you decide to sell them.

 

[Deanm0000]

I would be interested in the seats when you decide to sell them.

FS: Model S Black Executive Rear Seats