However, while the backrest element is still available, the base one is not. This, I suspect, is down to demand because the seat-base one is more likely to get damaged. The only option was to take a punt on a replacement for another model of Saab and hope that it fitted. I winged it on a 9-5 part and crossed my fingers.
The modern equivalent of the Haynes manual is YouTube. The only trouble is that whereas the famed manuals were produced by people who actually knew what they were doing, this isn’t always the case on YouTube. For another recent titivation job – replacing the gearlever gaiter, which was torn and tatty – I consulted the experts on tubeworld.
One helpful poster demonstrated in his video how to remove the gearknob, which he achieved using an angle grinder. The job was successful but he almost destroyed the car’s interior. In the end I found my own method.
There is a half-decent video on how to remove the seat from the car and then remove the upholstery but the bloke in the video didn’t shut his young child in another room while making the film and the squawking youngster drove me mad, so again I did my own thing.
It turns out the heating element from a 9-5 is not similar to one from a 9-3 convertible, but with careful surgery with scissors, I got it to fit. Bloody complicated (and heavy), modern car seats. Wires all over the place for seatbelt pre-tensioner, airbag, bum sensor (for the seatbelt warning).