E39 Electric seats problematic

[MaseehaGP]

Hi guys

Fortunate to have an E39 as one cars in garage but the two front seats are electronic and I'm not sure if its the motor or the actual seat but when I adjust the backrest the seat goes skew. As only side moves, I'm not certain if theirs motors on each side of back rest connected to the button or what but this is highly annoying.

Does anyone know anywhere in Johannesburg or in East Rand where I can get this repaired?

:bangdesk:

 

[Ralf*]

I might be wrong, but usually there is one electric motor driving a worm gear type of flexi-drive.

I would think that the flexi-drive has gone wrong..(stripped worm gear teeth/or snapped)

my guess is that you are in for some seat stripping down to find the fault, but probably not the electric motor, I wonder which is cheaper to repair though, my bet is the mechanism will be cheaper to repair/replace than the electric motor.

 

[Clownshoe]

This is a common issue with the E39 seats. What is happening is the cable inside the cable housing is no longer long enough to engage with the motor. The cable twists in the housing and transfers the motor rotation to the cogs. With age the cable shortens up/ housings lengthen. This may be due slight wear on the inside of the housing.The square peg on the cable doesn't engage the square hole in the motor shaft. The correct fix is to a)ID problem drive, remove seat, remove motor, remove the end cap, remove the cable from the housing, shorten the housing, re-install the endcap and put it back in the housing and connect to motor. This is real PT.

The short fix is find the problem cable housing. Find an easily accessible portion of the housing and cut out a 5-10mm section of the soft plastic housing (without removing the cable) and ducttape the housing back together. It is possible to do this with the seat in place if you are lucky and can ID and access the correct cable. (and the failed motion doesn't stop you accessing it!!

Goodluck. DIY job with usual tools. The seats weigh a tone and you will need an assistant and houdini like abilities to get the seat out the car. I think you do need a rather large torqs bit to remove the seat.

 

[MaseehaGP]

I might be wrong, but usually there is one electric motor driving a worm gear type of flexi-drive.

I would think that the flexi-drive has gone wrong..(stripped worm gear teeth/or snapped)

my guess is that you are in for some seat stripping down to find the fault, but probably not the electric motor, I wonder which is cheaper to repair though, my bet is the mechanism will be cheaper to repair/replace than the electric motor.

I think what you saying sounds correct Ralf but I want someone to do it for me. Do you know anyone that can fix this?

---

This is a common issue with the E39 seats. What is happening is the cable inside the cable housing is no longer long enough to engage with the motor. The cable twists in the housing and transfers the motor rotation to the cogs. With age the cable shortens up/ housings lengthen. This may be due slight wear on the inside of the housing.The square peg on the cable doesn't engage the square hole in the motor shaft. The correct fix is to a)ID problem drive, remove seat, remove motor, remove the end cap, remove the cable from the housing, shorten the housing, re-install the endcap and put it back in the housing and connect to motor. This is real PT.

The short fix is find the problem cable housing. Find an easily accessible portion of the housing and cut out a 5-10mm section of the soft plastic housing (without removing the cable) and ducttape the housing back together. It is possible to do this with the seat in place if you are lucky and can ID and access the correct cable. (and the failed motion doesn't stop you accessing it!!

Goodluck. DIY job with usual tools. The seats weigh a tone and you will need an assistant and houdini like abilities to get the seat out the car. I think you do need a rather large torqs bit to remove the seat.

Thanks Clownshoe, I doubt be able to do this myself forget Houdini being female I wont be able get seat out at all :roflol:

But I am going to screenshot what you said and recruit people to help me if I cant find anyone that fixes this sort of thing.

Don't perhaps know anyone?

:ty:

 

[Luis Malhou]

Clownshoe is spot on, this is a common problem with the electric seats and 99% of the time its the cable housing that has become to long and allows the inner cable to disengage from the motor. Same problem on my 850 seats and with some swearing and bloodied knuckles i got it sorted.

I am sure aone of the BMW sponsors here can lead you in the right direction.. guys any recomendations, otherwise a good upholstery place should be able to help.. and I say again A GOOD AUTO UPHOLSTERY SHOP, GL

 

[S1NGH 001]

This is a common issue with the E39 seats. What is happening is the cable inside the cable housing is no longer long enough to engage with the motor. The cable twists in the housing and transfers the motor rotation to the cogs. With age the cable shortens up/ housings lengthen. This may be due slight wear on the inside of the housing.The square peg on the cable doesn't engage the square hole in the motor shaft. The correct fix is to a)ID problem drive, remove seat, remove motor, remove the end cap, remove the cable from the housing, shorten the housing, re-install the endcap and put it back in the housing and connect to motor. This is real PT.

The short fix is find the problem cable housing. Find an easily accessible portion of the housing and cut out a 5-10mm section of the soft plastic housing (without removing the cable) and ducttape the housing back together. It is possible to do this with the seat in place if you are lucky and can ID and access the correct cable. (and the failed motion doesn't stop you accessing it!!

Goodluck. DIY job with usual tools. The seats weigh a tone and you will need an assistant and houdini like abilities to get the seat out the car. I think you do need a rather large torqs bit to remove the seat.

Couldn't have said it better :bravo:

 

[MaseehaGP]

Thanks guys I am going to try upholster here who is known for restoring interiors of classic cars hopefully I come right

:ty: