Hey Kongz -
Thank you again for this post. I just pulled my seat out and brought it to a guy who's gonna weld it. I don't have a mig welder nor am I proficient with welding however I'm a total DIY guy...
As you mentioned above, the real concern is disconnecting everything and protecting while welding. It took me about 30 mins to take my seat out, disconnect everything, and load it into my girlfriends FX, and take it around the corner to the welding pro.
After looking closely at the design of the mount, we determined the main issue/weakness is the one side where the motor is - This takes the brunt of the stress as you raise/lower your seat. We determined the best re-enforcement is the back welds, both sides. The front welds are different and are not reliant on a bent bracket welded to the bar. So we just re-enforcing the rear welds.
If you search thru this forum you'll see I've been suffering for a LONG time with this problem. I even made a wooden stand for the back of my seat to rest on so I can see over the steering wheel (I'm only 5'7 so)
. Ponderous dude!
While most believe this is a safety issue (I do too) it's really not that bad because the welds in the front and the right rear are still in tacked. HOWEVER, the back of the seat does lift up about 4 to 6 inches thus creating a hazard condition if you get into a bad front end collision because the seat belt will lock up tight and the weight of the seat and your body will be forced against the seat belt. Stating the obvious sorry.
Kongz, regarding your question on brakes - There's a guy on ebay that everyone here gets their brakes from - drilled slotted zinc coated (rust resistant) rotors and good pads, all 4 wheels for under $200!!! I'm interested in a group discount for akebono but I'm going to try the ebay breaks because they have great reviews here, and you can't beat the price! Here's the link on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-MANY-MODEL ... 1007045564
Also you guys talkin bout the bourbon interior - I have it too, and think it's the nicest interior I've ever seen in any car (IMHO). I LOVE it. Bought my car because the exterior "Umbria Grey" (metallic brown) exterior and the Bourbon interior. I'm bummed cause I'm looking at new Ms but just don't like the colors for exterior and interior! When buying a new M, the LAST thing you do is settle - and if I can't get Blue or Umbria grey with bourbon interior, I dunno what I'm gonna do!
When my welder is done I'll post the results - I think he'll do a GREAT job, so if anyone in the NJ area has this problem and needs someone to weld, PM me and I'll connect you to Mic (pro welder).
AGAIN!!!! Thank you Kongz!
PEACE
axe