VW T5 Camper Conversion Project Part 12: Seat Swap T5 Seats For RX8 Leather Seats

In this video I show how I swap the seats in my VW T5 van I am converting into a campervan. I remove the old VW T5 seats as they were used by a mechanic are are past their best and I purchased a set of Mazda RX8 heated leather seats to fit in their place. I show how I fit new mounting brackets for the RX8 seats, show how to remove and replace VW T5 seats, how to wire up the RX8 seat wiring via a relay and show the van once the seats are fitted, wired in and working. Once fitted, the Mazda RX8 seats transform the interior of the VW T5
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[@patrickhague433]

brother i have to tell you , this is video just made my day . this weekend i bought a power Mazda RX8 seat. and your wiring diagram to power it up worked perfect. i cant tell you describe how happy i am right now but if i get back home to England i owe you a nite of pints at the pub

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Glad to be of help, and you could always sign up to be a Patreon to show some support if you wanted to 👍

[@marcelfast1]

Hey... Thank so much for the info, i have the same seats and now they are working!!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Glad I could help

[@arthurdoman]

Great vid bud. I just picked up pair of seats from rx8 for my crafter van. Very helpfull buddy. Cheers

[@caemaridwn]

I bet them seats set you back a bit, really nice though. Great explanation about the way relay's work it will help a lot of people.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Thanks, the seats weren't too much, usually get some on eBay around £100ish give or take which is cheap in my eyes

[@tyronewoolley3917]

Really great video mate! 👍🏻 looking for some Rx8 seatings for mine.

[@125sm3]

Taking shape nicely . Happy New year 2019 !

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Yes its getting there slowly, cheers to you too

[@david1976aful]

Fantastic video. 👍

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Thanks

[@andycourt9834]

Thanks mate found it

[@bigmac7228]

Yes vw do love thier multi spline bolts lol.

[@adibabi]

What did you do with the studs left poking through the floor from the double bench?

[@panny1969]

Great vid got to get me some seats🤣

[@andycourt9834]

Hello mate looking good they look smart . don’t suppose you remember what the wires went were trying to fit in a kangoo van

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

I have another fitting video of these seats on my channel when fitting them in a T4 and that covers all the wiring required, view that video and it’ll help you out

[@PGShutters]

Great video, bought the same for drivers seat and had a test run today. Only issue I have is that it sits 100 mm lower than the original seat and bench seat that I will be leaving in and I had no way of wiring/testing today. I will have to get someone to wire i all up for me as I am no good at all that malarki. How much up/down movement is there in the RX8 seat? that way I will have a rough idea of what size brackets I need to fabricate to raise up and sit level with bench. Cheers

[@karlbell1036]

Great vid mate thank you ,do you think these seats would work on a swivel base

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Yes, I have a different video fitting the same seats to a T4 with swivel on passenger side, I'm also about to upload fitting Audi TT seats to my current T4

[@karlbell1036]

@@TheCampervanBuilder brilliant , I'll start watching the other videos and subscribe, just starting my own t5 conversion so you vids will be a massive help, thanks again brother 👍

[@jabbers62]

Another very instructive video. Thank you. I have just bought a mwb 2012 transit. Any suggestions as to what seats might be suitable....as in minimum of tinkering needed to get them to fit on the existing drivers base and the single passenger base I have just purchased.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

I've not looked at a transit yet so am unfamiliar with the bases but generally seats with flat straight rails are the easiest to work with, RX8, Audi TT, Mini, Saab etc

[@PGShutters]

Did you have to take the original seat belt buckles off T5 seats and fit them to the Mazda seats??

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

No they fit fine

[@DRUMBAUN]

You put on your wiring picture that red and black wires are for heat on passenger seat, not on mine, the side air bag went off.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

The airbag wires should have had a yellow connector on which should never be touched. There is power to the heat mechanism and then another yellow connector block which is airbags which should never be wired in an aftermarket fitting

[@DRUMBAUN]

@@TheCampervanBuilder no big deal, no one injured. Drivers side had yellow plug that I cut off but passenger seat was a white plug with red and black wires. The heated wiring was brown. One more thing, did you use one inline fuse and one relay for both seats. I was going to give each seat it's own supply and relay but wont if not necessary. Did you wire movement separately? Cheers.

[@LeonCt7sc]

do you need to change the papers for the car because you changed the passengers seat from 2 to 1?

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Yes it should be updated,, I usually wait until going for the camper registration and change the seat number then

[@familyguyfanboy2]

How does the insurance company feel about installing other vehicle seats ?

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

All mods should be listed insurance company so if notified, they should be fine with it

[@familyguyfanboy2]

@@TheCampervanBuilder does replacing the seats change the pricing of the insurance drastically?

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

@@familyguyfanboy2 it shouldn't make any if you go with the right company like greenlight or a-plan etc, when I had this van the insurance cost for myself was less than £300 per year with everything listed

[@darrenmaloney810]

Hi mate did you put a swivvel base into the t5? I just picked up a set of rx8 seats and god the drivers on no issues and wanted to put the passenger on a swivvel but the under side of the seat gets in the way of the swivvel base. Any thoughts or links to swivvels that will fit? Thanks in advance. Keep up the good work 👍 Darren

[@darrenmaloney810]

Apologies just seen your next video. The swivvel I have doesn't sit on the seat properly due to the under carriage of the seat. Hmm lol

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Bash it with a hammer

[@darrenmaloney810]

@@TheCampervanBuilder thanks mate. Did that yesterday. Realised it just needed tw*ting into position 🤣

[@mobileupload4374]

Why don’t you film your videos in the order of construction? Hard to keep up with what stage the van is at!

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

I do film in order, the order is even in the title and my T5 playlist also runs in order of jobs done

[@mobileupload4374]

Camper Conversion maybe I’m loosing the plot mate. Just ignore me lol hope you had a good few days with family

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

The seats were one of the first things removed which is why the van is bare in the beginning of the video, but it a lot further along by the time I get around to refitting the new seats