Headrests

[1602bmw]

Hmm...I bought some headrests a while back and had them re-covered to match the seats which were being re-upholstered at the same time. Only problem was I (stupidly) didn't check the strut diameter first; they are 12mm rather than the 10mm I need for my earlier type seats. 

 

Any idea's on how I could make them fit (sensible ones please 😀 ), given how hard it is to find headrests (particularly here in the UK)? I thought about drilling the holes in the seats, but given the seats are full of horse hair I predict a fire!

[Mike Self]

You may have to remove the upholstery from your 12mm brackets and find a set of trashed 10mm brackets to swap your upholstery onto. 

 

Presuming you have a RHD 2002, the changeover from 10mm to 12mm brackets occurred at 1659275, so you could also look for a couple of derelict seat backs seats from a car with a VIN higher than that (2521591 for a 2002A, 2751447 2002tii) and swap your upholstery onto those backs.  

 

Drilling the seat back isn't recommended as the socket is a thin wall tube and won't take being drilled for an additional 2mm.

 

mike

[1602bmw]

Hi Mike, 

 

I think I will try the first option - just need to find some now 😄

[Conserv]

On 5/16/2023 at 5:40 AM, 1602bmw said:

Hi Mike, 

 

I think I will try the first option - just need to find some now 😄

I’m not certain what precisely you’ll be swapping, but remember that the January 1973-and-later headrests, besides moving from 10 mm. to 12 mm. support posts, also moved from a tubular headrest shape to an eared headrest. The covers are not perfectly interchangeable.

 

Below, the first photo shows the earlier tubular style and the second photo shows the later eared style.

 

Regards,

 

Steve