02 e39 M5 seat is all twisted up

RJScotti · 4th August 2009, 04:01

My son was fiddling with the many power adjustments on the front drivers seat of my 02 e39 M5 last night. Somehow it is now not level (left side is slightly higer than the right) and the backrest is twisted (the left side is about 4" inches further back than the right side. Strangly this makes it nearly impossible to drive the car.

I've tried going the full range thru each of the adjustements but it still is all wacky. It's now in the shop for them to have a look. Anyone on the board ever have this problem?

tristan · 4th August 2009, 04:38

Yes,
but it was just on recline and would straighten when the seat was up. I just had to pull the seat back off to fix. Not a big deal
Shouldn't cost too much if you took it in.

chowdah · 4th August 2009, 05:07

Search on "twisted seat" -- it's there.

E55AMG2 · 4th August 2009, 07:30

You can fix it yourself, it isnt impossible. Chowdah has it right, search for twisted seat...its about 1-2 hours worth of work

M5 Cab · 5th August 2009, 00:13

My wonderful BMW service center wanted $1100 to fix this issue. Have made due for a year. WHere can I find the easy repair?

dpbdc · 5th August 2009, 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by M5 Cab

My wonderful BMW service center wanted $1100 to fix this issue. Have made due for a year. WHere can I find the easy repair?

As noted just above your post, search for 'twisted seat'.

Or click here -----> Twisted Drivers Seat - anyone experienced this?

Post #27, specifically.

RJScotti · 19th August 2009, 20:44

I pulled the seat out to perform the cable shortening procedure and found that it is in fact the gearbox that is the problem. Seems the cable is spinning at the motor with no problem but the bevel gear at the other end of the cable is stripped or otherwise disengaged. Dealer says it's a $1000 for the seat frame and no doubt it too will eventually have the problem again.

So here's my thinking. Advice requested.
- Racing seat? Better for track days but goofy looking for those trips to the mall with the kids. Also this will disable all the airbag stuff.
- eBay seat? Hard to come by, expensive shipping and again. Same problem will likely return.
- Custom machined gearbox. For $1000 I could get a machine shop to make me a billet gearbox to repalce the other end of that cable.

Any suggestions from this group of ?

E55AMG2 · 19th August 2009, 21:13

You would actually be lengthening the cable, and shortening the sheathing.

RJScotti · 19th August 2009, 21:58

Right. Shorten the sheith. That wasnt the problem. Put it all back together and now it sort of works. HAngs up once in a while but doesnt twist nearly as much. Doesnt seem up to the level of engineering in the rest of the car... well maybe the cup holder is of similar design.

E55AMG2 · 19th August 2009, 22:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJScotti

Right. Shorten the sheith. That wasnt the problem. Put it all back together and now it sort of works. HAngs up once in a while but doesnt twist nearly as much. Doesnt seem up to the level of engineering in the rest of the car... well maybe the cup holder is of similar design.

There is a trick you can use to lengthen the cable itself, but it requires a careful hand to do so. PM me.