Modifications
Interior
Recaro Pole Position seats
Weight saving was one of the primary objectives of the Alpina Roadster S project. The best option to remove weight from the interior without sacrificing the interior finish is to replace the heavy power seats with light weight racing shells. Recaro Pole Position seats have been a popular upgrade in the M3 scene and feature an excellent build quality and highly attractive styling. Similarly shaped seats have been used in trackday specials like the M3 CSL, M3 GTS and 911 GT3 RS.
The Pole Position seats have removed roughly 35 kg of weight from the car. Not only did they reduce weight, the Pole Positions are also more comfortable and offer a dramatic improvement in lateral support and road feel compared to the BMW sports seats. I have been easily able to drive distances of over 800 kilometers on a single day without physical discomfort. The stock seats caused some issues on long trips due to the restricted knee room that forced my knees in a straining position. Because the Pole Positions allow a lower seating position I actually have more knee room.
The Recaro seats were mounted to the floor using Recaro mounting brackets and CNC machined floor mount adapters from VAC Motorsports. To match the glossy black finish of the Recaro shells, the mounting brackets and mount adapters were powder coated in black. The seats were ordered in the standard cloth finish and were retrimmed in black leather with stitching in Alpina colours blue and green. We also retrofitted seat heater pads behind the seat cushions. The heater pads are connected to the seat heater controls in the center console.
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