Find some SEL seats. BoomGTI83 did it.

 

Yeah, a few folks have done this (I have R seats in my Alltrack). Seats from the GTI, R and SEL are all pretty similar (GTI and R look to be slightly more bolstered). They're all night and day compares to the seats in the S/SE, which I found to be horrible after about 20 minutes. They're either plug and play, or you may need to re-pin a seat harness, depending on what you're swapping in. My seats didn't include air bags, so it was a bit more work swapping in the seat air bags.

Best mod I've done to the car, by far.

 

Where is the best place to look for R seats? Junkyards?

 

Yeah I found my SEL seats on car-parts.com, they R seats are always crazy priced, even from junkyards, since they generally know that the R is a more limited car. The SEL (which are almost identical to the R seats) seats can fly under the radar at junk yards and go for much less.

I know S4 seats will work as well, I saw someone do them and he had to swap the sliders over from the mk7 seats.

I would also go into it expecting to have to do some rewiring.

I’m not sure why some sportwagens, and GTI, and R’s have different plugs, but some seats have two plugs, some have 3, and it seems like there’s no rhyme or reasons.

My 17 S 4 motion seats had 2 plugs, a friend also had a 17s 4 motion with 3 plugs..regardless all of the wires are the same, so you just have to either repin the harness, or cut the plugs off of your own seats and splice them to the new seats. It is really pretty straightforward. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have when you get to that point!

Also, yes it’s worth it. It’s my favorite mod to date.

 

If you're just looking to bolster lateral support, is it possible to swap the lower seat cushion and cover without affecting any of the existing seat's mechanicals?

 

I have a bit to add to this thread now that I have been through a few rounds of seat swaps.

I started with a '16 sportwagen S 5speed. seats are terrible, shocking they would put such a cheap seat in a car of this era. its not a yugo

swapped the seats for SE leatherette. unfortunately all that I learned is that the seats are leatherette and heated but bolstering/cushion/design of the bolsters has the same issues as the far too cheap S seat. These swapped in with zero effort and were plug and play though and that is always a plus.

then got SEL seats to swap in as my initial gripe with the seats wasn't exactly solved. SEL seats are night and day improvement. they plug right in, I got full power/lumbar/etc and still all was a plug and play. and the seats are great. great for long trips, supportive, and comfortable. even was able to get the seat to sit in a slightly lower position to gain some headroom (I am 6'3")

 

I have a bit to add to this thread now that I have been through a few rounds of seat swaps.

I started with a '16 sportwagen S 5speed. seats are terrible, shocking they would put such a cheap seat in a car of this era. its not a yugo

swapped the seats for SE leatherette. unfortunately all that I learned is that the seats are leatherette and heated but bolstering/cushion/design of the bolsters has the same issues as the far too cheap S seat.

The fact that the S and SE seats don't fit you doesn't make them terrible, cheap or shocking. It just means they don't fit you. Many people find them just fine, even exceptionally comfortable.

 

The S seats in the GSW are pretty terrible. Can't wait to switch them out. Really want to get GTi seats but recent posts have made me curious about the GSW/AT SEL seats.... How is the bolstering on the SEL seats? Less bolstering than GTi / R I assume?

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Having owned a 2010 GTI - 2016 GSW SEL and current 2018 - GSW SEL - I can honestly say the 2010 Leather GTI seats were the best seats I have ever sat in. But they were very aggressively bolstered and that car was not my daily driver. The GSW SEL seats IMO are exceptional for a daily driver for a few reasons. In no particular order - it is the quality - durability - support - and most importantly the adjustability vs. the S and SE seats. Was a deal breaking reason we went with the SEL trim. The quality difference is significant IMO. If this is your daily driver = Unless you are a huge individual - the SEL seats would be my recommendation.

 

There's an imperfect set of R seats for $1,700 on eBay, Ouch!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MK7-VW-Gol...2015-2018/232869905197?fits=Model:Golf+R&hash=item363820c32d:g:duUAAOSwZjNbYLJb

 

That's nuts!
Saw a leather GTi set on eBay too. Less than the R seats @ $950 before shipping, but still nuts.

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6'4", 240lb, 32 years old. I would like to say i'm 'in shape' but realistically I am an ex-athlete who can still get it done when needed. Work travels making me a bit lethargic, i need to work on that.

I digress. My point being, especially for a dude on the 'bigger' side of the spectrum, i find the seats to be awesome. Supportive enough, and great for me on road trips. If I were to swap to something else it'd be primarily for aesthetics.

The cloth on the GSW s, with heated seats, is the icing on the cake. I love the combo. :2 cents:

 

On the other end of the spectrum, as a 5'10", 145 lb dude with a stereotypical "cyclists" build, I couldn't stand the stock S seats. I'm guessing I'm a few inches narrower than you in the shoulder/rib cage area, and I found myself sliding all over in corners if I was wearing a slippery jacket like a puffy or rain shell.

I swapped in some cloth GTI seats, and couldn't be happier. Cloth, heated, tightly bolstered, AND plaid. All the things I need in a seat.

I'm just happy there are enough options in the MK7 platform that most can find an acceptable seat to swap to.

 

Seat Swap to SEL

I'm interested in swapping 2019 Alltrack S front driver seat to the Alltrack SEL front driver seat for the seat tilt option. I didn't want to spend an extra $10,000 to buy a SEL with all the additional bells and whistles for just the seat tilt option.

However, when discussing with the dealer's service department, they said that the power for the SEL seat would not likely work in my S trim. They thought that the wiring difference between S and SEL seat was too different - but they didn't actually check.

Is it possible to retain the power of a SEL seat (that is, the 12 way power adjustable)?

 

I'm interested in swapping 2019 Alltrack S front driver seat to the Alltrack SEL front driver seat for the seat tilt option. I didn't want to spend an extra $10,000 to buy a SEL with all the additional bells and whistles for just the seat tilt option.

However, when discussing with the dealer's service department, they said that the power for the SEL seat would not likely work in my S trim. They thought that the wiring difference between S and SEL seat was too different - but they didn't actually check.

Is it possible to retain the power of a SEL seat (that is, the 12 way power adjustable)?

Your answer is found all throughout this thread! It is very much possible and the lesson you just learned is that people at the dealer rarely ever know what they're talking about!

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Appropriate price

So what is an appropriate price to pay for good condition GTI plaid or SEL leather seats?

 

So what is an appropriate price to pay for good condition GTI plaid or SEL leather seats?

From what I've seen, you'll do well to get the plaids seats for $600. Prob another $100 for leather.
If you are having them shipped figure another $200-300.

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Anyone know if there are differences between 2017 (Mk7) and 2018-19 (Mk7.5) SEL seats? I have a 2018 SE and would like some plug and play SEL seats.

Are the SEL front seats power everything or do they have some manual controls?

 

Anyone in Maryland here? Are these SEL seats two-tone, or is it just the lighting?!?

2017 Volkswagen Golf Seat Assembly, Front-Stock# 20E31

 

Two tone. I forget if there was a specific name for them but I've seen them occasionally... pretty rare though.

Thought about going to grab these but the part search only seems to show the front right being available.

 

Once you locate the seat you want, how do you find someone to install them?

 

Start calling local shops in your area and ask.