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I'm in the market for an RS4 next year - I have borrowed one from a friend of mine for a long weekend and I'm very happy with it. The only down side was how easily the seat bolsters had worn. I have noticed it on quite a few cars that I looked at advertised on pistonheads and autotrader. I'm guessing that it is because that part of the seat is so firm , that it will wear quicker. I have considered the the "other" type of seat, but it doesn't feel / look as nice. I'm probably going to keep the RS for quite a while (3 years maybe more), but I'm concerned how bad they will look then, considering how bad some of them look already with less than 2 years use? Any advice on what to do? I don't really want to be left with a car in 3 years time that looks like it has a shabby interior, but do I want the standard seat? Has anyone replaced the bolsters on the drivers seat - at what cost??
Cheers
Simon

Using "Recaro" in your title is confusing - both the bucket seats and the sports seats for the RS4 are made by Recaro.

There was at one time quite a few posts about side bolsters on the bucket seats getting damaged after relatively little use - but that seems to have stopped happening recently.

I have the sports seats so I don't have the problem - the buckets were just too damn uncomfortable for my bad back.

I have the non-bucket seats - no problems with wear thus far (around 10.5K miles on the clock).

When test-driving I found the bucket seats held me in better but I took the view that they were very definitely behind in the practicality stakes, especially when getting in/out of the car.

I've got the Recaros, or the non-buckets. 30k on the clock and again, no wear on the bolsters.
I'm not a slim man, and sort of fit in the buckets, but getting in and out was a real pain in the er, thigh.

I'll be shot down here, but the buckets were the reason I cancelled my RS4... They are always going to look scruffy - rock hard and you need a ladder to get over them without crushing the bolsters. With my weight they'd have aged the car far too quickly!

I remember debating this about 4 years ago and was outnumbered so I thought if I chose the sports seats I'd never sell it again. So I bought an RS6. Hardly the investment of the century, I know I know....

nothing wrong with my bolsters 85.5k,the trick is to feed them to keep them soft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The one that I drove had 25k on the clock and looked fairly rough. Sorry about the lack of info - they were the "bucket" type. Interesting about the feeding - what do they eat?

Lots of leather conditioner

Like most things, if you look after them, you can reduce the wear and tear.

I'm always careful about how I get in and out of the car to try and mitigate against accelerated wear with my buckets.

I would not trade them for anything though and neither would the wife.

Heated buckets...fantastic.

Totally agree -they were very comfy, I could spend all day in them, but they were a bit awkward when I got in and out - especially on the back of the thigh! Perhaps I'll have to learn the knack?

I agree with you there buckets are the way forward. If you look after them and treat them with the leather feed they are no probs. To quote the missus "its a hug in a chair."

chrissy wrote:I agree with you there buckets are the way forward.

I have to disagree - for me the buckets were a guaranteed way to the chiropractor or osteopath.

For me the Buckets was a must, I would not have bought a B7 RS4 with out them (however, I understand that some ppl will/want the "Recaros" due to one reason or another), As for general wear and tear, I am on 21k mileage, and i have no signs of wear and tear, I also use leather treater.

I use Meguiars Gold Class Rich leather cleaner and conditioner every 3 months (or in some cases more)I massage the leather cleaner into the leather and apply a double helping to the drivers bolsters, as above you really have to take care, also you have to watch what type trousers you wear aswell (Denim does alot of damage) also getting into and out of the car also cuases mroe damage, esp if you sit on the bolster and slide in!

Have to agree with the origonal post,i viewed a 14k avant at local stealer it had buckets fitted which is what i fancy but they were showing more wear than my 60+k B5,i can see finding a nice one with no wear being a problem

Have Sports Seats - just didn't like the buckets on the demo (from practical point of view not comfort).

Sports in black with silver piping look really classy.