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      01-16-2021, 11:49 PM   #1
4play
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Issues with Brey Krause Hardware

90% venting / 10% help thread

Picked up a Schroth 6-point harness, OMP WRC-R seat, BK sub mount bar, BK side-mounts for the BMW sliders, and the BK 6-point lap belt kit for this upcoming track season in the GTS.

First event is 1 week from yesterday, so now that all of my parts have finally come in, I got to work removing my stock driver seat, separating the slider, and putting together the BK setup. I had very high hopes after reading a lot of positive reviews of the hardware, both on here and elsewhere.

Let me start by saying that I would consider myself pretty handy mechanically. I've done full engine/transmission swaps, clutch changes, timing belts, all manner of brake pad/rotors changes, re-doing wiring harnesses, etc. Trying to put the WRC-R onto the OEM slider using the BK hardware was one of the most frustrating things I've done since working on an Audi 2.7TT. The instructions are vague and are written for those with power sliders (I have manual). A (not very) brief walkthrough of my experience:

Once I had pulled the OEM seat off the slider, I started by bolting on the 6-point harness lap belt kit. No real issues, was fairly straightforward except that some of the bolts and reinforcing plates didn't fit flush with the OEM slider (which is alarming considering this is for a 6 point harness used while tracking the car, but I digress).

Then, I bolted on the side-mount frames. I had to relocate the seat position sensor, even though it appears the frames were almost designed to clear the sensor. The provided photos for where the front spacers go is crap, but I think I set it up correctly. All good up to this point.

Next, I attempted to add the sub bar, and this is where the issues began. The sub bar is far too wide. Even adjusted to its narrowest setting, it is wider than the distance between the side-mount frames. This means that when you insert the sub bar between the side-mount frames, the OEM slider mechanism gets pushed out of it's mounting and effectively breaks (only 1 side at a time can reach because the overall assembly is now too wide). I tried moving the side-mount frames from the insides of the slider rails to the outside, but you really only gain ~5mm of clearance on either side by doing so. So, even with the side-frames on the outside of the slider rails, the sub bar is still too wide.

"Fuck it" I said, "I don't need slider adjustment anyway". Mounted up the seat with a couple of the provided spacers in the rear and hooked up the sub straps and lap belts.

Placed the seat in the car and absolutely nothing fits. The seat side-mount and rails have been forced into a strange angle by the too-wide sub bar, meaning only 2 of the 4 seat rail bolts can be affixed to the chassis at any given time. The 6-point lap belt kit pieces jut out into the transmission tunnel and into the outside of the cabin on the other side, making fitment impossible. The WRC-R is by no means a wide seat, but it contacts the door because of the ridiculous width and poor fitment of the BK hardware.

And, to top it all off, the seat has to be placed even higher than OEM because the sub bar mounting holes in the side-frames are ridiculously high and too far forward. The sub belts end up being about 0 degrees rather than the recommended -20 degrees, and my helmet (even removing the seat cushion) touches the roof.

Help Portion

Is my order of operations wrong here?

Can you flip the side mounts so they are aligned like the first example in profile (doesn't seem they are designed to be able to cant outwards, so I have them like the 2nd):

|............|.................|.........|
|............|.................|.........|
.\........../................./...........\
..|........|.......vs.......|.............|


Should I be bolting the slider base back in the car once I have the lap belt kit on it?

How did others get the too-wide sub bar to actually fit/work?

If you run the BK sub bar, how do you get it far enough back and down that the harness is safe and the seat isn't in the ceiling?

Last edited by 4play; 01-17-2021 at 12:02 AM..
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      01-17-2021, 10:10 AM   #2
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Sorry to hear man. I've been there.

I do not recall the exact reason(s) why, but the BK sub mount bar would not have worked with my setup. It was a clearance/spacing issue -- side to side and/or vertical. I returned it and used the VAC option, which removes the anti-sub from the side mount-floor mount fitment equation, which is challenging enough as it is.

BK direct to floor mounts were not perfect for F8X either https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...2&postcount=15

Seems every setup requires some rigging.

If you want to bounce to a combination of components that will work, or to the extent my setup might give some helpful ideas: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...26&postcount=9

One thing to keep in mind as you work through -- seat tight to tunnel is really key. Off center to the left will be uncomfortable, seat digs into shoulder. Described here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=28

If you're close to hitting the driver door with the seat, then any fitment accomplished in that neighborhood will be undrivable.

Better picture of what proper seat alignment looks like: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/at...1&d=1582505383

If you can see now that your combination of components won't allow that lateral movement inward to the tunnel (like the Sparco side mounts or BK direct to floor mounts do), then I wouldn't spend another moment trying to make it work.
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      01-18-2021, 10:26 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FormulaMMM View Post
Sorry to hear man. I've been there.

I do not recall the exact reason(s) why, but the BK sub mount bar would not have worked with my setup. It was a clearance/spacing issue -- side to side and/or vertical. I returned it and used the VAC option, which removes the anti-sub from the side mount-floor mount fitment equation, which is challenging enough as it is.

BK direct to floor mounts were not perfect for F8X either https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...2&postcount=15

Seems every setup requires some rigging.

If you want to bounce to a combination of components that will work, or to the extent my setup might give some helpful ideas: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...26&postcount=9

One thing to keep in mind as you work through -- seat tight to tunnel is really key. Off center to the left will be uncomfortable, seat digs into shoulder. Described here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=28

If you're close to hitting the driver door with the seat, then any fitment accomplished in that neighborhood will be undrivable.

Better picture of what proper seat alignment looks like: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/at...1&d=1582505383

If you can see now that your combination of components won't allow that lateral movement inward to the tunnel (like the Sparco side mounts or BK direct to floor mounts do), then I wouldn't spend another moment trying to make it work.
Thanks for the words of encouragement/advice.

I got the seat in the car by flipping the side-mounts inside out. I tried to use spacers on the outside of the seat to align it as close to the tunnel as possible, but it's still a good bit off. The door is about 1-2mm from touching the outside edge of the seat.

It's not as perfect as I would have hoped, but it is definitely functional enough to run. Mainly, I wanted OEM sliders with 6 points and HANS for safety, so from that perspective, it's good enough for now.

Last edited by 4play; 01-22-2021 at 09:13 AM..
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      01-20-2021, 04:23 PM   #4
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I'm sorry your experience is sucky so far.

I thought BK had two different widths of the sub bar, because that's what I'm using on the F80 and the E90.

Obioban knows a lot about these installs, hopefully he can help
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      01-22-2021, 09:14 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow View Post
I'm sorry your experience is sucky so far.

I thought BK had two different widths of the sub bar, because that's what I'm using on the F80 and the E90.

Obioban knows a lot about these installs, hopefully he can help
I ended up getting it to work, but it's still not ideal. The lap belt mounts interfere with the ability to get the seat snug to the transmission tunnel, and the angles for the sub bar and lap belts are suboptimal (but that may be a function of my particular OMP seat).

What you really need is a spare set of sliders so that all you have to do for a seat swap is remove the 4 slider bolts and swap the seats out.
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      01-22-2021, 09:29 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4play View Post
I ended up getting it to work, but it's still not ideal. The lap belt mounts interfere with the ability to get the seat snug to the transmission tunnel, and the angles for the sub bar and lap belts are suboptimal (but that may be a function of my particular OMP seat).

What you really need is a spare set of sliders so that all you have to do for a seat swap is remove the 4 slider bolts and swap the seats out.
That's how I've set up the seats in both cars: spare sliders. Apparently the i3 ones work
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      02-04-2021, 02:44 PM   #7
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My first try installing the mounts was a fail for me too, because they send me the wrong mounts. I ordered the ones for the smaller seat and got the bigger ones, so before mounting any spacer make sure you have the right parts. Customer support was awesome btw.

After getting the new ( correct ) mounts, I found out there was no way to install the sub strap because of the seat adjuster ( manual seats ) so I never installed that, instead I used eye bolts and mounted them to the floor.

I also had a problem with the seating position being to high and what I found is that if you use the F30 seat rails you can mount the seat lower. The coupe rails ( F22 in my case ) seem to need more space because of the reclining mechanism, so I recommend trying the F30 or F20 ( they are the same ).

Another option is to use the electric seat adjusters and you will be able to go even lower.

I also had problems with the reinforcement plate for the lateral belts, it was to wide. Got it to fit eventually.
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      02-04-2021, 02:49 PM   #8
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I have manual sliders and the BK sub strap on my F80 and E90. It works.
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      02-04-2021, 03:47 PM   #9
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You can't mount the seats as low as possible with the side-mount brackets if you want the sub bar to fit. The rear bolt in the brackets for my WRC-R is about halfway up, and the front bolt in the brackets is 2nd from the top hole.

I run with no seat padding and the seat is plenty low. Cushion comes next week, so we will see how the fitment is with the cushions installed, but didn't have any major issues at my first track day.

Really, the only downside now is that it takes a bit of fiddling each time I get in the car to get the 3-point belt through the right side hole and into the buckle. That and the left shoulder wing of the WRC-R slightly rubs my door card if the seat isn't moved forward. So when I get out of the car, I move the seat forward. Not a huge deal though.

Ideal fitment is probably mounting the seat as high up as it will go in the side-mount brackets. That way the left shoulder wing would clear the door card, 3-point belt would work mores smoothly, and there would be a little more sub bar clearance. But that might be too high for HANS/helmet or make the seat weirdly raked.
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      02-04-2021, 05:31 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4play View Post
You can't mount the seats as low as possible with the side-mount brackets if you want the sub bar to fit. The rear bolt in the brackets for my WRC-R is about halfway up, and the front bolt in the brackets is 2nd from the top hole.
Agreed. In the rear my Sparco are 4/5 and up front 3/5
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      02-04-2021, 09:08 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4play View Post
You can't mount the seats as low as possible with the side-mount brackets if you want the sub bar to fit.
Thirded, luckily I'm not tall so no issues with helmet clearance with the roof.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 4play View Post
That and the left shoulder wing of the WRC-R slightly rubs my door card if the seat isn't moved forward. So when I get out of the car, I move the seat forward. Not a huge deal though.
Same problem here with my Momo Daytona Evo. Minor inconvenience mostly noticed when I drive the car into the trailer. Stupid fancy car with its fancy door cards. Wish it was a racecar so I could just bash the tunnel in a bit or gut the doors.
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      02-07-2021, 05:49 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ngl View Post
My first try installing the mounts was a fail for me too, because they send me the wrong mounts. I ordered the ones for the smaller seat and got the bigger ones, so before mounting any spacer make sure you have the right parts. Customer support was awesome btw.

After getting the new ( correct ) mounts, I found out there was no way to install the sub strap because of the seat adjuster ( manual seats ) so I never installed that, instead I used eye bolts and mounted them to the floor.

I also had a problem with the seating position being to high and what I found is that if you use the F30 seat rails you can mount the seat lower. The coupe rails ( F22 in my case ) seem to need more space because of the reclining mechanism, so I recommend trying the F30 or F20 ( they are the same ).

Another option is to use the electric seat adjusters and you will be able to go even lower.

I also had problems with the reinforcement plate for the lateral belts, it was to wide. Got it to fit eventually.
Slightly OT, but did you need to modify the plastic trim piece to fit on the seat rails with the BK seat hardware other than the small notch on the end to fit the clip in bracket (in your last pic)? It looks very clean and OEM with your buckets. I purchased similar BK hardware for my aftermarket seat project (Cobra Nogaro's). I purchased a used set of OEM F30 electric sliders, but threw away the trim pieces (along with the other parts I could not use) assuming they would not fit - which I may regret now ...
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Last edited by jmciver; 02-07-2021 at 06:40 AM..
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      02-10-2021, 01:55 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jmciver View Post
Slightly OT, but did you need to modify the plastic trim piece to fit on the seat rails with the BK seat hardware other than the small notch on the end to fit the clip in bracket (in your last pic)? It looks very clean and OEM with your buckets. I purchased similar BK hardware for my aftermarket seat project (Cobra Nogaro's). I purchased a used set of OEM F30 electric sliders, but threw away the trim pieces (along with the other parts I could not use) assuming they would not fit - which I may regret now ...
I had to trim the inside a little. It is strong enough to allow me to gently lift the seat from it if I wanted to ( I tried just to make sure it doesn't fall off, and they didn't in 2 years since I have them in the car ).
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