| | I have a 1998 Boxster, which had pretty worn seats. When I wanted to replace these seats, I found several nice looking seat pairs for later 997 Porsche models. I decided to buy a pair of seats from a 2007 Porsche 997. Unfortunately, these seats have a completely different electrical connection compared to my original Boxster seats. Not only are there different plugs, but the complete seat is powered via e CPU with memory function. The CPU is using a CAN bus signal , which my old Boxster of course does not provide. After looking at several websites, searching for wiring diagrams, I decided to re-wire the seat control switches myself, bypassing the memory CPU. The following images include photos and a description of the re-wiring job. The seats are installed in my car now, and all seat motors work well. The lumbar adjustment is still not re-wired, perhaps I'll do this next winter. |
Figure 1 | Locate plugs that carry the wires from each seat motor. The heavy wires are power, the thin wires are signals (not needed here). Cut off the plugs, and strip 5mm insulation from each end. Trace the wires from each of the motors (look at the plug at each motor) and label the wire ends. Test each wire pair using a 12V source, the corresponding motor should move. |
Figure 2 | Locate and remove the seat control panel from the side of the seat. Remove existing plugs and cables. Remove cover of the switch board. |
Figure 3 | I did not take any photos before I started the wiring job, thats why the photos show only the completed job. There are four switches on the board. Each switch has 5 contacts as shown in the diagram. |
Figure 4 | Here are the switches shown again with their designated connections (+, -, Mot). |
Figure 5 | Preparation of the circuit board. |
Figure 6 | Preparation of the circuit board (continued). |
Figure 7 | First step: Connection of all positive(+) pins (shown in red). |
Figure 8 | Second step: Connection of all negative (-) pins (shown in blue). |
Figure 9 | Third step: Connection of all power supply (-) and (+). |
Figure 10 | Fourth step: Connection of all Motor cables (pairs of orange and orange/red). |
Figure 11 | Now reinstall the seat control panel, connect the +12V and -12V supply to the battery, and connect the motor cable pairs to the corresponding wires coming from each seat motor. Test the polarity of each motor cable pair by temporary connecting the cables and moving the switches, if the seat moves in the wrong direction, simply switch the polarity. As the winter ended, I lost my patience and did not repeat the same work for the lumbar adjustment. Perhaps I'll do that next winter. For now, the lumbar is set to a comfortable position and I am not moving it. |
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