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As the topic states... for those interested in swapping GTI seats into a Rabbit, this may give people a bit of an idea as to what is necessary and what is not. A big thanks to Aaron for doing the swap and help during the process.
The vehicles at hand:
06 GTI - 07 Rabbit (non heated seats in both cars)
The actual bolt in procedure for both cars is identical, removing the front seats requires removing (4) 12pt bolts per seat and disconnecting the harness to remove. There are a few other DIY's floating around for this (and it's pretty straight forward), so I'm not going to try and re-create the wheel.
I think what some of the major questions are deal with the coding and the airbag connectors... well, we have some answers!
Are the airbag connectors the same between the GTI and Rabbit?
No, they are not. There is a very slight difference between the actual connector from the seat harness to the car harness. It's a very slight difference, but enough that it won't just snap together. The harness at the floor end of the seat harness will need cut and spliced together.
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Did you have to cut the harness to swap the connectors over?
Yes. There are other ways of doing this... trying to pin out the connector might be one solution, but in the long run it was easier to cut and splice the wires back together. The wiring configuration is very similar between the seats, but it's not identical.
On the 06 GTI seats, they ran the harness from the airbag and tied it into the main seat harness. I was working with (2) sets of wires, the airbag wiring itself (brown/blue/black) and the main harness (brown/green/white). These connect together and the (brown/green/white) is what ends up connecting to the main harness (floor).
Just a reference point for correct color sequence:
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On the 07 Rabbit seats, they decided to do away with the (brown/green/white) section of seat harness and the airbag runs directly into the main harness on the floor. The same colors as the GTI seats where it connects under the seat (brown/blue/black) but it does not have the (brown/green/white) as the GTI seats do.
So that's nice and all, now which wires do I splice together?
It's pretty simple actually. On the bottom of the GTI seat, you can see the pin configuration, (see above photos) so just use that as a "template". Cut the airbag connectors off at the floor side of the seat harness, solder them back on matching the appropriate colors and install the seats.
That's it? No coding to do?
No, VAG-COM is required. This may vary between cars, but my airbag light was on after the swap. The car was never started nor the key in the ignition during the swap however the airbag light was still on. The airbag light was on due to the Seat Occupied Recognition Control Module (J706). It's a simple process to reset, but just clearing the code will not make it go away.
Follow this link for the reset procedure:
http://wiki.ross-tech.com/inde...irbag
Basic Setting
Seat Occupied Recognition Control Module (J706)
If the Seat Occupied Recognition Control Module (J706) or the seat itself have been replaced, the basic setting has to be performed.
[Select]
[15 - Airbags]
[Security Access - 16]
Enter 20324, to enable the basic setting.
[Do it!]
[Basic Settings - 04]
Group 001
[Go!]
Activate the Basic Setting.
[ON/OFF/Next]
The reset has been performed.
[Done, Go Back]
[Close Controller, Go Back - 06]
And that was it... GTI seats installed in a Rabbit, no codes and no airbag lights.
I http://****************.com/smile/emlove.gif plaid.
![]()
Modified by JonnyKuhns at 6:34 PM 9-24-2007
Modified by JonnyKuhns at 6:36 PM 9-24-2007
The vehicles at hand:
06 GTI - 07 Rabbit (non heated seats in both cars)
The actual bolt in procedure for both cars is identical, removing the front seats requires removing (4) 12pt bolts per seat and disconnecting the harness to remove. There are a few other DIY's floating around for this (and it's pretty straight forward), so I'm not going to try and re-create the wheel.
I think what some of the major questions are deal with the coding and the airbag connectors... well, we have some answers!
Are the airbag connectors the same between the GTI and Rabbit?
No, they are not. There is a very slight difference between the actual connector from the seat harness to the car harness. It's a very slight difference, but enough that it won't just snap together. The harness at the floor end of the seat harness will need cut and spliced together.
Did you have to cut the harness to swap the connectors over?
Yes. There are other ways of doing this... trying to pin out the connector might be one solution, but in the long run it was easier to cut and splice the wires back together. The wiring configuration is very similar between the seats, but it's not identical.
On the 06 GTI seats, they ran the harness from the airbag and tied it into the main seat harness. I was working with (2) sets of wires, the airbag wiring itself (brown/blue/black) and the main harness (brown/green/white). These connect together and the (brown/green/white) is what ends up connecting to the main harness (floor).
Just a reference point for correct color sequence:
On the 07 Rabbit seats, they decided to do away with the (brown/green/white) section of seat harness and the airbag runs directly into the main harness on the floor. The same colors as the GTI seats where it connects under the seat (brown/blue/black) but it does not have the (brown/green/white) as the GTI seats do.
So that's nice and all, now which wires do I splice together?
It's pretty simple actually. On the bottom of the GTI seat, you can see the pin configuration, (see above photos) so just use that as a "template". Cut the airbag connectors off at the floor side of the seat harness, solder them back on matching the appropriate colors and install the seats.
That's it? No coding to do?
No, VAG-COM is required. This may vary between cars, but my airbag light was on after the swap. The car was never started nor the key in the ignition during the swap however the airbag light was still on. The airbag light was on due to the Seat Occupied Recognition Control Module (J706). It's a simple process to reset, but just clearing the code will not make it go away.
Follow this link for the reset procedure:
http://wiki.ross-tech.com/inde...irbag
Basic Setting
Seat Occupied Recognition Control Module (J706)
If the Seat Occupied Recognition Control Module (J706) or the seat itself have been replaced, the basic setting has to be performed.
[Select]
[15 - Airbags]
[Security Access - 16]
Enter 20324, to enable the basic setting.
[Do it!]
[Basic Settings - 04]
Group 001
[Go!]
Activate the Basic Setting.
[ON/OFF/Next]
The reset has been performed.
[Done, Go Back]
[Close Controller, Go Back - 06]
And that was it... GTI seats installed in a Rabbit, no codes and no airbag lights.
I http://****************.com/smile/emlove.gif plaid.
Modified by JonnyKuhns at 6:34 PM 9-24-2007
Modified by JonnyKuhns at 6:36 PM 9-24-2007
