Ph.1 RS172 seats for Ph.2 Expression

[SebaN]

Hi

I found seats from a 2000 Clio RS172 Ph.1 and I would like to install them to my 2003 Clio 1.4 16V Expression Ph.2. Are there any differences between the two of them? I read somewhere that the best bet is to use the Ph.2 seatbelt pre-tensioners with Ph.1 seats. Both of them has side airbags so are there differences between the connectors or can I just take the connector from the Ph.2 seat and solder it to the Ph.1 seat?

Thanks for the help!

[MWright]

Both ways are possible I'd transfer your pre-tensioners from your original seats to the RS seats then there will be no fuss.

I've done the same too and no problems whatsoever.

[SebaN]

Yesterday I changed the rear seat which was very easy to do. The hardest part was to remove the isofix-bar and the middle bolt from the backrest hinge. You have to carefully open them and spray some penetrating oil to the threads because the threads are fully exposed in underside of the car so they might be rusty.

Passenger seat was relatively easy to swap, I changed the seat belt pretensioner because the connectors are different in Ph.1 and Ph.2. I also had heated seats in Ph.2 seats but not in Ph.1 so I had to cut the wires from the same connector which has the seat belt pretensioner cables, not a big deal. The side airbag connectors are totally different so I had to cut the connector from my Ph.2 seat and solder it to the Ph.1 seat harness. Then I noticed that 3dr seat rails do not move back and forth as much as 5dr rails so I swap the rails (only five lugnuts) from my old seat and disconnected the cable which allows rear seat access in 3dr cars.

Driver's seat I couldn't swap just yet, because I need to make a hole in seat's frame for the seat position sensor which is in my Ph.2 seat but not in Ph.1 seat. I will take the seat to a friend of mine which has the proper tools to make the hole. Then I can install my 5dr seat rail also to the driver's seat.

So for me, they were not plug-and-play install but when I'm finished the extra work will be totally worth it.