Seat back not functioning properly

[espho]

Hi all -
I'm reaching out here because my 75 year old grandmother has an immaculate condition 2003 530i Msport and her drivers seat seat back is not functioning properly. To be clear, I have not seen the functionality or lack of functionality in person, however she describes this as so…

"when I go to move the seat back up and down only the one side will move."

She took it to the dealership and the dealership said that it could be an $800 cable or as much as $7000 to replace the entire seat. Both of us are not in favor of replacing the seat at all because the interior is rather immaculate as well.

I'm curious to know if anybody has experienced this in their E39 before and if so what could be the problem? Secondly, is it possible to remove the leather skin from the seat back and find a metal frame that's functioning properly and re-skin that functioning frame with the original leather interior?

My grandmother is rather old but still functions amazingly… Much like her BMW! I would love nothing more than for her to have this be an easy fix so she can continue to live her life footloose and fancy free!!

Any help would be absolutely amazing. I will try to get her to take a video of the ill performing driver seat and post it here. In the meantime your thoughts are appreciated!

—Bob

[Mister_Oli]

Originally Posted by espho

Hi all -
I'm reaching out here because my 75 year old grandmother has an immaculate condition 2003 530i Msport and her drivers seat seat back is not functioning properly. To be clear, I have not seen the functionality or lack of functionality in person, however she describes this as so…

"when I go to move the seat back up and down only the one side will move."

She took it to the dealership and the dealership said that it could be an $800 cable or as much as $7000 to replace the entire seat. Both of us are not in favor of replacing the seat at all because the interior is rather immaculate as well.

I'm curious to know if anybody has experienced this in their E39 before and if so what could be the problem? Secondly, is it possible to remove the leather skin from the seat back and find a metal frame that's functioning properly and re-skin that functioning frame with the original leather interior?

My grandmother is rather old but still functions amazingly… Much like her BMW! I would love nothing more than for her to have this be an easy fix so she can continue to live her life footloose and fancy free!!

Any help would be absolutely amazing. I will try to get her to take a video of the ill performing driver seat and post it here. In the meantime your thoughts are appreciated!

—Bob

This issues is fairly common on the E39 and is called "seat twist". There are plenty of instructions online on how to fix it, like this one http://speed.academy/bmw-e39-twisted...heap-free-fix/

[espho]

Originally Posted by Mister_Oli

This issues is fairly common on the E39 and is called "seat twist". There are plenty of instructions online on how to fix it, like this one http://speed.academy/bmw-e39-twisted...heap-free-fix/

Thank you !

[328skidpad]

I just fixed mine last week basically you have to cut the cable housing , sounds easy but getting to the motor bolts is a hassle to dislodge the cable to cut hit. otherwise I cut is 1.5 cm's and it works perfect. good luck

[espho]

Yes! Thank you sir! I ended up fixing myself!