As I'm currently shopping for a 00-05 Bonnie SE or SLE, I keep coming up with little questions that I haven't been able to find the answer for. I'm sure some of you can help me easily. Thanks in advance!

-Do they all (se,sle,ssei) have the same suspension? As in air shocks, air leveling?

-Did side airbags become standard on certain packages in a certain year, or were they optional all years?

-What years were heated seats become an option, or did they become standard with the leather seats of a certain year?

-If I buy a car without heated seats, and later buy some seats with the heating elements in them, will they plug right in? Is the wiring already there under the carpet? I do realize a dash switch would have to be added as well, is the wiring already there for that as well?

-It looks like the design of the leather seats in the SLE's (also SSEI's and GXP) changed in 03 or 04? Went to more of a smoother look without as much stitching? What year and what packages?

-I've read on here that smaller than 17" wheels will not fit over the brakes on a SSEI. I am not looking at SSEI, but I see the SLE's have 17" wheels as well while the SE's have 16" wheels. Do the SLE have the same brakes as the SE or the SSEI? The reason I ask is I already have some 16" Buick Lesabre wheels with new tires on them I would want to run in the winter.

Yes to Air Leveling on all, but there were two rates of springs/struts, FE1 and FE2. Most SLE/SSEi's got FE2.

Not sure, I believe they were more common on the upper level cars with leather.

All years had heated seats as an option. I've even seen a number of SLE's with cloth and heated seats.

No, there is no wiring, and I've only seen 2 cars with it added, both done by the same person. No one else has tried, and that person isn't around to outline what all needs to be done.

03 the seats changed, all packages, except it seems the cloth seats kept the lower design and just changed the headrest.

SSEi's will clear a 16" wheel. GXP's cannot be fitted with smaller than a 17" wheel, and some 17's don't fit over their brakes. SLE's and SSEi's had the same brakes, but your LeSabre wheels should be fine.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

All 00+ bonnevilles came stock with rear air shocks. SE's have lighter spring rates than SLE's and SSEi's. SSEi's have a larger sway bar than SLE's and SE's.

All 00+ bonnevilles came stock with 4 air bags.

Heated seats were an option in all levels of bonnevilles with leather seats.(There was even an SE with cloth heated seats on here, at least it had the heated seat switches.). Heated seats are not a plug and play option, they can be added if you are electrically inclined.

The seats were redesigned in 03. I personally find the 00-02 seats more comfortable.

SE's also have smaller brakes, SLE's and SSei's have larger brakes.

Darn you Ed!

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Seth

Bonita 78,000 miles traded on a CTS4

I used to think the same...

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Cars.com said they were standard, clearly they are not though ha.

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Seth

Bonita 78,000 miles traded on a CTS4

Thanks for the replies!

My SLE does not have the Side Impact bags... strange thats its loaded but only has 2 air bags...

It must have started to be an option in 03, never seen a 00-02 without them.

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Sounds about right, GM cost-cutting kicked into high-gear about then, just like HUD becoming an option...

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

I believe the SE's do not have magnasteer and the FE1 suspension does not have a rear sway bar.
Back when the 2000's first came out, I test drove one of each flavor back to back.
There was a noticeable difference in handling between SE and the other two - not really bad, but just not as firm.

Well considering the SSEi's handle like a pig, the SE is worse.

IIRC SLE's with FE1 still had a rear sway bar, but I'm not 100% on that.

Not sure if SLE's have Magnasteer either, but I don't believe so.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

I thought the SSEI's were the only ones with Magnasteer?

And GXP's

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Seth

Bonita 78,000 miles traded on a CTS4

My bad - looked it up and no magnasteer on SE and SLE (at least for '00).

I bet it has to do with which cars went to rental fleets. I know with Impalas, it was requested by *some* rental agencies to not put the curtain airbags in, as both a cost-cutting measure and as a way to keep from having to total a car out on a slight t-bone. GM complied, but the headliners that said "airbag" on them was still used. So when it came time to sell the car off, people think the car has the curtain airbags

So I can definately see no seat airbags on rental and fleet vehicles.

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2005 GXP - White Gold Pearl, no mods...yet.
2000 SSEi - Resurrection in progress. Built L67 w/L32 fuel rail, ported heads, and cam. Camaro front brake system, GXP cluster, and much more in planning.

Except a SLE wouldn't have been ordered for rental fleets. They would have just gotten SE's.

I'm also 99% sure Don's wasn't a rental. I'm sure it was just a cost-cutting measure, as they weren't required by law...

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock