SO, I just bought the 2011 Accord.. and I HATE THE SEATS. Same issue, it is the active head system that "digs" into my lower back. and I am a young 30 yr old! I was about ready to trade this new car in, for a used TL (to absorb the loss) then I saw this write up. I am literally going out tomorrow am, and ripping this crap out.

The safety features from the Active system, is nothing I have had in my previous cars.. and frankly... dont care about it. What I care about is COMFORT! If I just remove the brackets, and disable the system.. will that work too?

 

Well, today I did it. After only owning my 2011 Accord for less then a week, I went and opened both of the front seat back, and removed the "active head restraint system" and along with it the cheap lumbar plate. I bought some cheap egg crate foam at Kmart, and cut a long section to fill in a little.. Then, replaced the TOP support bar only. This allowed some support to the seat back, but nothing that I felt interfered with the over all comfort. I was too lazy, to fabricate a new lower bar.. and tweak the system. My 2004 BMW I traded did not have active head restraints, nor do a lot of other cars.. so I really could care less about this. The power lumbar now does nothing.. and again who cares.

After driving around all afternoon.. the seat is perfect. MUCH MUCH MUCH better. I will keep the car, and now can say I am happy.

Do this mod, and you will be too!

- Travis

 

Thanks. Glad the write up helped you.

 

Just wanted to say thanks again for this write up and the pictures. It really helped me as well!

Thanks.

 

This was valuable info thank you. And for people with cloth seats, there are two zippers on either sides that can be unzipped instead of removing the entire seat back. I went with the removal of just the lower cable/bracket that the OP modified...huge difference, it feels like a normal seat now. I don't see any advantage to the "active head restraint system" anyway- LOL. I mean if you are that worried, you can wear a helmet and have it attached to the headrest. Like the OP said though, if you fab up a new bracket, you can get some extra foam backing in there. To me its fine now, and I don't want any more resistance to the lumbar.

 

Dude, u r the man. I removed the whole thing. I don't need that crap. The seats are 100% comfy now

 

I wonder if someone makes a replacement wire of the sort fabricated by Mikebike125? I'm concerned I can't make one as well as he did.

 

Thanks for the posts everyone. I also plan on removing the plates system from my 2008 accord seat but what about the headrests? The headrest pushes my neck forward and is also causing pain in my neck?

Man I miss my 2003 accord seats they were so comfortable. I've only had this 2008 for a week and my back and neck are in a lot of pain. Will the dealer remove this system for me?

Thanks mikebike.

 

You should work with stupid Honda's engines. Thank you for all your hard work. It helped a lot.

 

Thanks for the info. My 09 Coupe seats were different - no white clip pins holding the back panel on for starters. Also the black plastic lumber thingy is different and way more difficult to remove but the principle and end result are the same. No more back pain!

I was thinking about getting rid of the car just for the extremely uncomfortable seats and I have only owned it for a month. Now the seats are perfect.