BMW E46 bucket seat guide

BMW E46 Bucket Seat Guide

The BMW E46 (1997-2006) story...

The BMW E46 has become a car we almost work with daily. The incredible popularity of the E30, E36 and E46 mean you’ll see these on almost any track day you book on to. 

Once you start using your BMW E46 for fast road and track use, you’ll soon realize just how much you need new bucket seats to provide more support. 

On cornering, you may find your self holding onto the steering wheel tighter than usual, tensing your thighs and legs against the central console and/or door card. You’ll probably find your weight shifting in the seat and having to re-position your self after the corner. 

None of this is correct. Your seat should provide the right level of support so that you can grip the steering wheel only for steering, your legs should be supported and your weight shouldn’t shift around. The recommendations we provide are to ensure that you feel comfortable and supported allowing you to focus on the job at hand. 

We’ve worked closely with our customers to create our BMW E46 guide.
The resulting recommendations are based on previous customer car installations.

BMW E46 Considerations:

When providing these recommendations we’ve considered key points to provide the best options for you. With the BMW E46 the main and most critical consideration is fixed VS sliding installations. 

Your No.1 Sliding Bucket Seat Choice

The single best-selling bucket seat and subframe fixing package on the market is the Sparco Grid Q with the PCI Racing BMW E46 sliding frame kit.

The PCI Racing brackets provide a direct fit solution into your BMW E46 without any modifications. They come with the seat sliders and side mounts as part of the package allowing you to quickly and easily team them up with the Sparco Grid Q bucket seat.

The Grid Q bucket seat is surprisingly spacious inside allowing drivers of a 36″ waist to sit comfortably while being provided the additional support required from a bucket seat suitable for track day use. If you want a smaller seat then we’d recommend the Sparco Rev QRT Or OMP Champ-R which is more suitable for a 32-34″ waist. If you want to go slightly bigger the Sparco Evo L and XL are good for 36-40″ waist and still fit the PCI Racing mounts perfectly. 

You will sit roughly the same height as the original seat setup when using this combination. If you want to sit lower in the vehicle then we would recommend moving to the fixed position kit in our next recommendation.

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    Finance available

    Sparco Grid Q FIA Motorsport bucket seat

    £405.00Incl VAT£337.50Excl VAT
  • Finance available

    PCI Racing BMW E46 3-Series (1999-2006) Sliding Sub Frame

    From £275.00 Excl VAT £330.00 Incl VAT

Use Discount Code BMW-5 To Receive 5% off your Entire Order And Free Delivery

Your No.1 Fixed Bucket Seat Choice

The most impressive set of BMW Specific side mount floor mounts on the market are from QMS. These steel side mounts fit the original floor plan of the vehicle and provide a fixed position setup. 

The QMS Mounts have a range of bolt points to ensure you can get the exact angle and position that you require. They also help offset the seat to provide a more central position to the steering wheel.

Which seats do they fit? Almost any side mounted Motorsport seat from the Sparco Sprint and Cobra Monaco Pro, through to the OMP WRC-R and Mirco RS7. So this really then comes down to driver size.  

So what size seat do you need? Contact us for more detailed information. Provide your height and waist size and we’ll be able to give you a great choice of seats that will work with these mounts and your BMW.

  • QMS FIA Steel Side Mount Brackets Original Quality Pair BMW E36/E46

    From £43.90 Excl VAT £52.68 Incl VAT
  • Finance available

    OMP WRC-R Fibreglass FIA Motorsport Seat

    £525.60Incl VAT£438.00Excl VAT
Recommended brackets: (Bucket seats)
We recommend either using the Planted Technology bracket with side mounts or the PCI racing full bracket system to successfully install the side mounted bucket seats we suggest in our guide.  

Option 1: Bucket seat – Side mounts – Fitting frame – Vehicle 
Option 2: Bucket seat – PCI full replacement kit – Vehicle

  • Finance available

    PCI Racing BMW E46 3-Series (1999-2006) Sliding Sub Frame

    From £275.00 Excl VAT £330.00 Incl VAT
  • Planted Technology Mazda 3 (1st Generation) Seat Bracket

    From £185.50 Excl VAT £222.60 Incl VAT
  • Sparco FIA Steel Side Mount Brackets

    £84.00Incl VAT£70.00Excl VAT
Recommended brackets: (Reclining seats)
We recommend these base mount brackets to successfully install the reclining sport seats we suggest in our guide.  

Option 1: Reclining seat – Sliding runner – Fitting frame – Vehicle 
**NOTES 1** Cobra frames for Cobra reclining seats only
**NOTES 2** Sparco frames for Sparco/OMP/Corbeau reclining seats

  • Planted Technology BMW 3 Series Sedan [E46] Seat Bracket

    From £185.50 Excl VAT £222.60 Incl VAT
  • Cobra Seats – BMW 3 Series (E46) Direct Fit Subframes

    From £193.05 Excl VAT £231.66 Incl VAT
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    Sparco Seats – BMW 3-Series E46 Direct Fit Sub-frames

    From £76.05 Excl VAT £91.26 Incl VAT
Recommended bucket seats:
We recommend these 8 bucket seats based on previous BMW E46 customer cars.
Tried and tested, we know the narrower shoulder supports fit the cockpit constraints.
We’ve picked 4 different styles of seats depending on the level of protection you need.
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    Amazing value

    Sparco Sprint FIA Motorsport Bucket Seat

    From £194.50 Excl VAT £233.40 Incl VAT
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    Finance available

    Recaro Pole Position FIA Motorsport Bucket Seat

    From £790.00 Excl VAT £948.00 Incl VAT
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    Finance available

    Cobra Monaco Pro FIA Motorsport Bucket Seat

    From £235.00 Excl VAT £282.00 Incl VAT
  • Finance available

    Corbeau Pro Series X System 3 FIA Bucket Seat

    From £580.00 Excl VAT £696.00 Incl VAT
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    Top 10 product
    Finance available

    Cobra Suzuka T GT FIA Motorsport Bucket Seat

    From £603.50 Excl VAT £724.20 Incl VAT
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    Finance available

    OMP Champ-R Fibreglass FIA Motorsport Seat

    £368.40Incl VAT£307.00Excl VAT
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    250+ colours
    Finance available

    Mirco GT 3D Fabric FIA Motorsport Seat

    From £324.00 Excl VAT £388.80 Incl VAT
  • Finance available

    Sparco QRT-R Fibreglass FIA Bucket Seat

    £652.80Incl VAT£544.00Excl VAT
Recommended reclining seats:
We recommend these reclining sport seats based on previous BMW E46 customer cars.
Tried and tested, we know they fit the floor mounting kits perfectly for a direct installation.
We’ve picked different styles of seats based on 8 different budgets and styles.
  • Finance available

    Sparco R100 Vinyl Reclining Sport Seat

    From £280.70 Excl VAT £336.84 Incl VAT
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    Finance available

    Cobra Daytona Reclining Sport Seat

    From £499.17 Excl VAT £599.00 Incl VAT
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    Finance available

    Cobra Misano Anniversary Reclining Sport Seat

    From £1,374.17 Excl VAT £1,649.00 Incl VAT
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    Finance available

    Auto Style Type BS5 Reclining Seat

    £354.00 £318.60Incl VAT£295.00 £265.50Excl VAT
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    Finance available

    Sparco R333 Reclining Sport Seat

    From £374.56 Excl VAT £449.47 Incl VAT
  • Finance available

    Corbeau Sportline RRS Elite Reclining Sport Seat

    From £600.00 Excl VAT £720.00 Incl VAT
  • Auto Style Type RK Reclining Seat

    From £245.00 Excl VAT £294.00 Incl VAT
  • Finance available

    Corbeau SVR Reclining Sport Seat

    From £460.00 Excl VAT £552.00 Incl VAT
Recommended roll cages:
We recommend these roll cages based on previous BMW E46 customer cars.
Each roll cage is specifically designed for your BMW from each manufacturer.
We only work with trusted brands including Safety Devices and Custom cages.
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Custom Cages BMW E46 Compact Clubman 6 Point Roll Cage

    £1,087.15Incl VAT£905.96Excl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Custom Cages BMW E46 Compact CDS Roll Cage

    £1,735.15Incl VAT£1,445.96Excl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Custom Cages BMW E46 Compact T45 Roll Cage

    £2,238.91Incl VAT£1,865.76Excl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Custom Cages BMW E46 UK 2 Door Roll Cage

    £2,462.80Incl VAT£2,052.33Excl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Custom Cages BMW E46 UK 2 Door Clubman 6 Point Roll Cage

    £1,087.15Incl VAT£905.96Excl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Custom Cages BMW E46 UK 4 Door Clubman 6 Point Roll Cage

    £1,087.15Incl VAT£905.96Excl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Custom Cages BMW E46 UK 4 Door Roll Cage

    £2,462.80Incl VAT£2,052.33Excl VAT
  • Finance available

    Sparco BMW E46 MK3 Multipoint Weld In Roll Cage

    £1,206.18Incl VAT£1,005.15Excl VAT
  • Finance available

    Sparco BMW E46 M3 Coupe 6 Point Bolt In Roll Cage with Door Bars

    £807.56Incl VAT£672.97Excl VAT
  • Finance available

    Sparco BMW E46 M3 Coupe Multipoint Bolt In Roll Cage

    £1,191.43Incl VAT£992.86Excl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Caged Laser BMW E46 Coupe Bolt-In Roll Cage

    From £687.50 Excl VAT £825.00 Incl VAT
  • UK Manufactured
    Finance available

    Caged Laser BMW E46 Coupe Rear Bolt-In Roll Cage

    From £453.75 Excl VAT £544.50 Incl VAT
Recommended harness belts:
Once you’ve picked the right bucket seats or reclining sport seats. You’ve got your roll cage set up and ready to go. It’s time to get the right harness belts. We’ve listed the 8 most popular harnesses on the market today. We’ve listed a few road and race harnesses along with some FIA harnesses depending on your requirements.
  • Amazing value

    TRS Clubman Bolt In 3 Point Harness Belt

    From £80.00 Excl VAT £96.00 Incl VAT
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    Amazing value

    TRS Clubman Clip In 4 Point Harness Belt

    From £85.00 Excl VAT £102.00 Incl VAT
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    Amazing value

    TRS Magnum 4 Point FIA Harness Belt

    From £205.00 Excl VAT £246.00 Incl VAT
  • Amazing value

    TRS Magnum 6 Point Superlite FIA Harness Belt

    From £245.00 Excl VAT £294.00 Incl VAT
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    Takata Drift II Snap-On Harness

    From £171.00 Excl VAT £205.20 Incl VAT
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    Finance available

    Takata Drift III Snap-On Harness

    From £260.00 Excl VAT £312.00 Incl VAT
  • Delays expected
    Finance available

    Schroth Profi 3×2 FIA 6 Point Harness Belt

    From £345.00 Excl VAT £414.00 Incl VAT
  • Delays expected
    Finance available

    Schroth Profi 3×3 FIA 6 Point Harness Belt

    £390.00Incl VAT£325.00Excl VAT
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Our hands on experience, is what allows us to bring you our recommendations.

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Welcome from Garreth at GSM Performance

A big thanks from myself, Garreth, for visiting my e-store. My family-run, motorsport equipment showroom is based in the heart of the UK and we specialise in motorsport safety equipment for every motorsport fanatic. From track-day fans to the hardcore rally drivers.

We appreciate each and every customer that entrusts us to provide them with their new racing parts!