[superjay]

the motor turns a gear set that works with a worm and roller to move the seat. I'm guessing you need to look at the worm and roller

[Briancanadiano]

I have a very similar problem! No broken cable, instead the little cable popped out, (cuz my gf dropped a water bottle then forced the seat forward :@ ) and when I stuck it back in, the seat doesn't reverse and go forward the same anymore, now it makes a loud noise and makes a burning smell. I tried alighning the tracks since one was more forward then the other one, but still is really loud and smells burned every time I use it! Donno what to do, don't wanna go to dealer cuz there just gonna tell me to replace it, everything works good just maybe something is out of place, I really dont know. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks :'(

[3s-a-charm]

Originally Posted by Andrey@AutoCouture

Here's a picture of what I did

Looks like roadkill under there!

[GMWNashville]

had that happen a few times at work...whole seat frame needs to be replaced from what i recall as its the only way to get what your looking for

[onebadmofo]

Originally Posted by 3s-a-charm

Looks like roadkill under there!

Ha, that's the grease

[xplicitstylez]

hey man im having the same problem. my cable brpoke also. how did you manage to get the cable out?

[tjBMW328i]

Is anyone still on this thread, I have the same question as the last poster. Trying to get that dang thread out.

[///Chris]

This happened to me recently (another victim of wife leaving a bottle under the seat).

My cable looks to be completely in tact, just popped out of the motor. The seat unfortunately is all the way up, so not sure how I'm going to get it out. But hopefully I can just glue the cable back into the motor or something ?

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by ///Chris

This happened to me recently (another victim of wife leaving a bottle under the seat).

My cable looks to be completely in tact, just popped out of the motor. The seat unfortunately is all the way up, so not sure how I'm going to get it out. But hopefully I can just glue the cable back into the motor or something ?

It just fits in the end of the motor. What happened was it over-torqued and twisted out. It's flexible and you just need to pull the seat, loosen the motor and reinstall it.

[lucho1970]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

It just fits in the end of the motor. What happened was it over-torqued and twisted out. It's flexible and you just need to pull the seat, loosen the motor and reinstall it.

Is it really just that easy to pull the seat? I think mine broke also (Not the wife, one of the kids' lacrosse balls got caught under there). The dealership told me I needed a new seat, at around $2,000 plus labor. Car is under warranty, so they are checking but I have a feeling it won't be coverer. So I'll likely try it myself. The seat is all the way forward because it broke as someone was making room in the back seat for something. So it's tough for anyone to sit in the front seat now.

I'd like to tackle it this weekend. But I have been trying to figure out how I'm going to get the seat out. Just a couple of bolts I hope.

One thing that I may run into. If I cannot move the seat forward or backward, how do I get at the bolts to remove the seat?
Is there a way to manually move the seat if the cable is broken?

[redroker77]

FYI-
Its rather easy removing the seat without power. All you need to do is remove 2 bolts on the front side of the seat. You can then manually move the seat track.


So, I unfortunately fell into the trap of having a busted seat track cable. Someone left something under the seat and when it was moved forward it twisted and forced motor forward ultimately fraying the cable. Unlike everyone else I don't have the issue with the longer cable and rubber garment. However, my issue is with the shorter one (near center console). I know one individual replaced the cable with a squared (shaped with a Dremel) allen ranch. Because the dealership wants to sell me the entire seat track for $1100.00, I am either going to be contacting a speedometer shop and having a cable made or using the allen ranch method. So with all that being said, does anyone know the length of the smaller cable? My cable is frayed and it wouldn't be exact on the length. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

2007 335i Sedan
Sports seat

[BoogeyMan'sBMW]

Originally Posted by redroker77

FYI-
Its rather easy removing the seat without power. All you need to do is remove 2 bolts on the front side of the seat. You can then manually move the seat track.


So, I unfortunately fell into the trap of having a busted seat track cable. Someone left something under the seat and when it was moved forward it twisted and forced motor forward ultimately fraying the cable. Unlike everyone else I don't have the issue with the longer cable and rubber garment. However, my issue is with the shorter one (near center console). I know one individual replaced the cable with a squared (shaped with a Dremel) allen ranch. Because the dealership wants to sell me the entire seat track for $1100.00, I am either going to be contacting a speedometer shop and having a cable made or using the allen ranch method. So with all that being said, does anyone know the length of the smaller cable? My cable is frayed and it wouldn't be exact on the length. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

2007 335i Sedan
Sports seat

Similar to the poster before you, what if the seat was stuck in a position all the way towards the front of the car? Would it be possible to manually remove the seat track by removing the rear screws?

[happygene]

Hi All. First post for me...I benefited greatly from this thread so will share my experience and engineering observations...

I had the passenger seat stuck in the forward position. The short cable/shaft was distorted into an S shape and the motor had dislodged the front (side nearest the short shaft). The motor is held in a stamped steel cradle (around the end that holds the long shaft) by a small bit of folded over steel from the cradle. After raising the seat as high as I could, I bent back this little tab and was able to lift the motor out of the way. I then could remove the short shaft.

After straightening the short shaft out I could see it was ~3 inches long and it's ends were about .122 inch square (ish), or just under 1/8" square. Off to Hobby Lobby and found some 1/8" brass model stock. I cut off 3" and test fit...would not quite fit back in the rail worm gear or motor. Used the dremmel to reduce it somewhat and soften the corners to be more rounded like the original shaft. I worked at it until it fit well into the motor and well into the rail worm.

At this point I could not see/reach/contort well enough to reinstall motor so first removed the rear seat rail bolts. Then I used the new short shaft and the motor to inch the seat back to access the front bolts...took about 15 minutes. Then I just flipped the seat backwards to access the motor and shaft.

Before starting motor/shaft reassembly I aligned the rails by their proximity to the front bolt holes using the new short shaft and my fingers. Then I slid the short shaft into the motor and slid the motor and short shaft into the rail worm gear (the two dimpled features on the motor on the short shaft side have to be positioned in the stamped metal cradle to react the motor torque). Then I slid the long shaft end of the motor back into the cradle and bent the little retaining bit back in place to hold the motor in place. Then I just flip the seat back in place, snug in the front bolts, use the now functional adjuster to move the seat forward to access and install the rear bolts, then backed seat up again to tighten front bolts. With the trip to Hobby Lobby and futzing around it took about 2 hours.

I hope something here is useful to the next victim. What a stupid shaft design.

[e92sidhu]

hey pm me your box was full

[Motorius]

I rarely post but wanted to say thanks for this info. I'm in the same situation and found this very helpful. I'm not handy enough to implement this solution for myself but at least I can now describe the problem better to a mechanic and know that the problem can be resolved without having to buy the entire assembly.

Can anyone recommend a mechanic in Northern NJ or NYC that can help with my seat? I don't want to deal with the dealership.

Alternatively, is there somewhere that I can buy the cable that the motor turns?

[Motorius]

Follow-up question: if you use the Allen key method, how do you remove the cable from the spool-side (see arrow in attached pic)? Do you just yank it out and replace with the Allen key?

[Adieu]

Junkyard time!

[Motorius]

Originally Posted by Adieu

Junkyard time!

I have the parts now. The left and right tracks are at different positions so I need to align them before connecting the shafts. I tried lining them up so that the top rail ends where the bottom rail ends on both the right and left sides but at one point, it made the motor spin until the cable snapped.

Can someone post a pic of their passenger seat rails so that I can see how far along the seat should be on the right shaft in relation to the left shaft?

[amaginas]

Hi Everyone, and thanks for this thread. It inspired me to look into our broken seat which has been twisting for close to 10 years because of a broken cable! A lot of what has been said was good information, and helpful. I wanted to add to it and provide some details that will make this fix super simple for anyone else.
The cost to fix properly through BMW, or even their recommendation, is minimum 1500 for the new track. The reason they do that is because it's easier to replace the whole track rather than a component and spend so much time on labor getting the track correctly positioned. You can't really get the individual motors online either, and they add steps to replacing piece-meal even if you did. You can see in this photo where the wire in missing going into the hole directly across from the side of the motor.



The idea for the Allen key replacement was brilliant, and what I found at Home Depot was even better, the perfect fit! See the posted pictures of the Husky long thin screwdriver. The size of the shaft matches exactly the size of the molded wire one original to the track. The reason BMW does it this way, is so the wire can unravel or break and essentially give on purpose, so the seat track can be replaced easily.





Please note, the fix is labor intensive and you will take time! I measured how long the replacement shaft was, and then cut it to about 3.5-3.75 inches long. You just have to use a small tool that goes into the motor, then add that to how much it takes to reach the track.





In order to insert the new shaft into both side, you'll have to loosen the motor from the bracket so it gives, just enough to orient the new shaft into the position in the motor and then the track. Since I couldn't motor the seat back and forth for removing the screws easily, I used an Allen Key, or the base of the screw driver you cut can work as well, to rotate the seat forward to back manually. Then, to match the other side of the track which is still connected to the motor, you just push the seat from either side with enough force and it will move slowly. Please note I following other post recommendations that disconnect the battery before disconnecting and reconnecting, etc.



Now, after you've take the seat out, cut and inserted the new shaft to meet motor to track, you can try to align. Also, note that I did not trim the edges of the shaft sides to match the old molded wire shape. That pointed shape just gives it a little better fitment and not needed.







For realignment, I did my best to measure the track lengths from the other seat and compare to passenger seat, to try and get track to line up on each side. You will have to do this with the new shaft temporarily out of the track, so the sides can be aligned! Then, reinsert the new shaft when confident.



I thought I was confident and measured a dozen times before reinstalling, but the gap between side of seat and center console didn't look like the driver's side. They won't be exactly the same, as the driver's side shape differs and it slightly larger. However, the gaps are within 1/8 of each other I guess, and large enough on passenger side to shover a short stack of papers in between. You'll also notice if your alignment is off by moving back and forward to the end positions.

I had to install and reinstall probably 4 times until I was happy with the way the track lined up and how it moved forward and back. I got close to what I thought was right distance between left side of seat and the center console. It's a small gap, a little smaller than the driver's side. I hope my pictures helped, and please let me know if I can clarify anything on them. Good luck to you all and save with this $10 fix!

This is my first post, and I'm glad to be part of sharing information like this!

Angelo

[Mc 007]

Hi
I have sometimes a problem with my electric seats in my E92,they don’t like to move,if i switch off the car motor the seats works perfecctly

[diy-newb]

Originally Posted by redroker77

FYI-
Its rather easy removing the seat without power. All you need to do is remove 2 bolts on the front side of the seat. You can then manually move the seat track.


So, I unfortunately fell into the trap of having a busted seat track cable. Someone left something under the seat and when it was moved forward it twisted and forced motor forward ultimately fraying the cable. Unlike everyone else I don't have the issue with the longer cable and rubber garment. However, my issue is with the shorter one (near center console). I know one individual replaced the cable with a squared (shaped with a Dremel) allen ranch. Because the dealership wants to sell me the entire seat track for $1100.00, I am either going to be contacting a speedometer shop and having a cable made or using the allen ranch method. So with all that being said, does anyone know the length of the smaller cable? My cable is frayed and it wouldn't be exact on the length. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

2007 335i Sedan
Sports seat

If my seat is stuck all the way back, How do I manually move the seat after removing the front bolts?

[izewat]

I am aware of being rather late to this thread! Has anybody got the part numbers or know where to get them? Or would a phone call to the dealer be easy? Only problem is I don’t want to get sold a motor when it’s working completely fine and it’s only one side of the seat that doesn’t move, so the seat twists. Thanks