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After the other 2 posts in this form on this..i tackled the job myself and wanted to share what i did and what it took to do this...hopefully this can answer any questions people have. Sorry..i didn't take pics..was in a rush and was trying to get this done. If you have bolster seat pains..this is for you!
GLI Seat Cushion Replacement DIY
Disconnect the battery before you do any seat removal for the airbags.
Tools I used:
13mm deep socket and ratchet for seat removal.
T-20 torx bit screwdriver – seat removal and seat trim removal
Small sharp knife
Philips Head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Needle nose and small regular pliers
New seat cushion
Remove seat from car….as stated In the other DIY’S…take out the 2 small caps on the seat trim, and remove the 2 T-20 Torx screws holding down the trim. Pull out and remove.
Use the 13mm deep socket and ratchet and take off the 2 nuts on the front of the seat track and then slide the seat back out of the tracks.
Slide seat back forward on top of the tracks and tip it backward to lean on the rear seat to get at the 2 plugs on the bottom of the seat. Unplug the 2 yellow seat plugs, and with a flat head screwdriver pry the release button on the white plastic bracket holding the seat plugs to the seat….takes some effort but it will slide off and then the seat is free to be taken out of the car.
On a clean work surface lay the seat down and start removing the seat trim. There are 2 torx screws holding on the seat lever…pop the caps off and remove the screws and then the lever. There is a Philips head screw on the front of the trim, take that off, and then there is a 2nd screw underneath that. Remove that as well. I then turned the seat over and removed the torx screw holding on the seat lever, (the one you pull up to move the seat forward and back.) Just made removing the trim easier. With the seat upside down you can see on the left side towards the back of the seat trim there is a plastic rod going into one of the trim shafts..you can pull the rod straight out and then squeeze the shaft tabs and it will come out..you can then take the entire left side trim off. (Left side when the seat is upside down and the front of the seat is closest to you) The right side trim I just moved out of the way and did not take off 100%. It will pop off most of the way but will be held on by the recliner knob. I left it on.
Now you can start working on the seat cover…the cover has a plastic piece that folds down into the seat channel over the edge of the seat bottom. I took small pliers and tugged on the seat cover and pulled it up and towards me and it immediately popped the plastic trim piece out of the channel. (the cover is strong enough to grab with pliers and not rip it..but be careful...) You can then slowly work the rest of the plastic lip out of the channel all the way around the seat..front and sides….you do not have to worry about the back part. Once the cover has been released from all 3 sides…you can turn the seat over, and roll the cover up and over the sides and the front of the old seat foam and start working on the plastic tabs that hold the cover to the metal wire rods imbedded in the seat foam.
Roll the seat cover up and over the foam on the edges so it is not on the front of the foam or the sides. The rest of the cover is held in by plastic clips sewn into the seat cover and snapped over metal wire rods in the cushion. Look at your new seat foam and you can see the wire rods in the channels in the foam. In another DIY the poster claimed he just ripped them out of the foam. I tried this and right away started tearing the cover from its plastic tab strip and stopped. (the rods have looped over ends to make it impossible to pull the rod out of the clips). This is where the time consuming part comes in. I took both a pliers and a screw driver and started popping off the tabs from the rods one by one. If you do it this way you can push the foam out of the way and pop them off. The back rod was hard. So I took a knife and started cutting the foam holding the rod into the seat (MAKE SURE NOT TO CUT THE COVER!) ..and took it out that way, and then popped the tabs off when it was out. The front and side tabs I did all with a pliers, and it came away nicely. Once those 4 sets of clips are undone, you can literally pull the foam bottom right out of the seat.
Slide your new seat foam onto the seat and work it into place. Then, reversing what you did, start pushing and popping the seat cover clips onto the metal rods in the new foam…you can see them and do them one by one and they will pop into place..they are easy to line up because the foam is cut out where they will go…takes some strong fingers but it works. Do the back rod 1st..and then start on the sides…when you get up to the front rod do that one, and then finish the side clips..they make a “pop” sound when the clips engage the rods. Once you have all the clips attached, you can roll the cover back down over the sides and the front of the foam.
Now here is the part I got wrong the 1st time I tried to get the seat cover back in. I just slid the plastic trim piece back into the channel and then tried to put the plastic trim back on..and it didn’t fit…the problem was that the seat cover plastic lip has to be rolled over and then tucked into the channel….pulls it all tight. Make sure you do this..roll the trim so it is covered by the seat cover and you can’t see the rough edges of the seat cover. This draws the whole cushion tight, once it is folded over it will slide into the metal seat channel and tuck in nice. Look at the seat cushion after you have done this to make sure it is all back in correctly, looks nice ,and is pulled tight. Move the foam around if you need to or pull on the seat cover to get it right..mine lined up almost perfect right away. It is then that you can start putting the seat outside trim back on. Don’t forget to line up all the tabs and slide the plastic rod back into the one mount. When it is all lined up the plastic seat trim will also tuck into the channel that the seat cover trim went into…it hides all the rough edges. Make sure to line the seat trim sides back up and re-install the lifting lever and everything else you may have taken off. You are done! The re-install the seat into the car and you are set.
Hope this helps the next person to try this..all told it took me about an hour and 15 minutes from seat removal to when I was done putting the seat back together. You can do it if you take your time and are careful..no more hurt leg!
Dan
GLI Seat Cushion Replacement DIY
Disconnect the battery before you do any seat removal for the airbags.
Tools I used:
13mm deep socket and ratchet for seat removal.
T-20 torx bit screwdriver – seat removal and seat trim removal
Small sharp knife
Philips Head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Needle nose and small regular pliers
New seat cushion
Remove seat from car….as stated In the other DIY’S…take out the 2 small caps on the seat trim, and remove the 2 T-20 Torx screws holding down the trim. Pull out and remove.
Use the 13mm deep socket and ratchet and take off the 2 nuts on the front of the seat track and then slide the seat back out of the tracks.
Slide seat back forward on top of the tracks and tip it backward to lean on the rear seat to get at the 2 plugs on the bottom of the seat. Unplug the 2 yellow seat plugs, and with a flat head screwdriver pry the release button on the white plastic bracket holding the seat plugs to the seat….takes some effort but it will slide off and then the seat is free to be taken out of the car.
On a clean work surface lay the seat down and start removing the seat trim. There are 2 torx screws holding on the seat lever…pop the caps off and remove the screws and then the lever. There is a Philips head screw on the front of the trim, take that off, and then there is a 2nd screw underneath that. Remove that as well. I then turned the seat over and removed the torx screw holding on the seat lever, (the one you pull up to move the seat forward and back.) Just made removing the trim easier. With the seat upside down you can see on the left side towards the back of the seat trim there is a plastic rod going into one of the trim shafts..you can pull the rod straight out and then squeeze the shaft tabs and it will come out..you can then take the entire left side trim off. (Left side when the seat is upside down and the front of the seat is closest to you) The right side trim I just moved out of the way and did not take off 100%. It will pop off most of the way but will be held on by the recliner knob. I left it on.
Now you can start working on the seat cover…the cover has a plastic piece that folds down into the seat channel over the edge of the seat bottom. I took small pliers and tugged on the seat cover and pulled it up and towards me and it immediately popped the plastic trim piece out of the channel. (the cover is strong enough to grab with pliers and not rip it..but be careful...) You can then slowly work the rest of the plastic lip out of the channel all the way around the seat..front and sides….you do not have to worry about the back part. Once the cover has been released from all 3 sides…you can turn the seat over, and roll the cover up and over the sides and the front of the old seat foam and start working on the plastic tabs that hold the cover to the metal wire rods imbedded in the seat foam.
Roll the seat cover up and over the foam on the edges so it is not on the front of the foam or the sides. The rest of the cover is held in by plastic clips sewn into the seat cover and snapped over metal wire rods in the cushion. Look at your new seat foam and you can see the wire rods in the channels in the foam. In another DIY the poster claimed he just ripped them out of the foam. I tried this and right away started tearing the cover from its plastic tab strip and stopped. (the rods have looped over ends to make it impossible to pull the rod out of the clips). This is where the time consuming part comes in. I took both a pliers and a screw driver and started popping off the tabs from the rods one by one. If you do it this way you can push the foam out of the way and pop them off. The back rod was hard. So I took a knife and started cutting the foam holding the rod into the seat (MAKE SURE NOT TO CUT THE COVER!) ..and took it out that way, and then popped the tabs off when it was out. The front and side tabs I did all with a pliers, and it came away nicely. Once those 4 sets of clips are undone, you can literally pull the foam bottom right out of the seat.
Slide your new seat foam onto the seat and work it into place. Then, reversing what you did, start pushing and popping the seat cover clips onto the metal rods in the new foam…you can see them and do them one by one and they will pop into place..they are easy to line up because the foam is cut out where they will go…takes some strong fingers but it works. Do the back rod 1st..and then start on the sides…when you get up to the front rod do that one, and then finish the side clips..they make a “pop” sound when the clips engage the rods. Once you have all the clips attached, you can roll the cover back down over the sides and the front of the foam.
Now here is the part I got wrong the 1st time I tried to get the seat cover back in. I just slid the plastic trim piece back into the channel and then tried to put the plastic trim back on..and it didn’t fit…the problem was that the seat cover plastic lip has to be rolled over and then tucked into the channel….pulls it all tight. Make sure you do this..roll the trim so it is covered by the seat cover and you can’t see the rough edges of the seat cover. This draws the whole cushion tight, once it is folded over it will slide into the metal seat channel and tuck in nice. Look at the seat cushion after you have done this to make sure it is all back in correctly, looks nice ,and is pulled tight. Move the foam around if you need to or pull on the seat cover to get it right..mine lined up almost perfect right away. It is then that you can start putting the seat outside trim back on. Don’t forget to line up all the tabs and slide the plastic rod back into the one mount. When it is all lined up the plastic seat trim will also tuck into the channel that the seat cover trim went into…it hides all the rough edges. Make sure to line the seat trim sides back up and re-install the lifting lever and everything else you may have taken off. You are done! The re-install the seat into the car and you are set.
Hope this helps the next person to try this..all told it took me about an hour and 15 minutes from seat removal to when I was done putting the seat back together. You can do it if you take your time and are careful..no more hurt leg!
Dan
