twisted seat surprise, see images
 

as indicated in my other post, I took out my driver seat to fix the twist seat

I must admit that I spent a long time "fixing" the cable ends of the motor that control seat height:cry: (wrong motor, the little one) at least I did not cause any damage

Later I started working on the other motor, there has to be that one!! (large one)

ok, I disengaged the cable from the motor and pulled the inner cable outwards and found what is shown in the picture, the cable pulls all the way out!!!!. I did not try all the way but I am sure it would come out of the sheath.

The short cable (shown in the picture for comparison) belongs to the height controller, for which I cannot pull the inner cable outwards


By jieg at 2009-10-17

is the problem on the other end of the cable?

By jieg, shot with KF750 at 2009-10-17

any one has experience working on the other extreme of the cable?
All DIY´s I read are related to the motor end of the cable

any help is needed and welcomed

thanks

IVan

Pulling out cable is normal, the cable is square on both ends you can even flip flop the cable it does matter. The other end goes to the gear box and the cable fix doesn't always work if your gears are stripped, because like most other bmw parts they are made of low quality plastic.

my son helped me a lot!
 

finally sorted out!:thumbup::thumbup:

Seems that not all cases can be sorted with the seat inside the car, in this case it was indispensable to take the seat out of the car.


By jieg at 2009-10-17
remove the cable, heat the metallic silver sheath to take it off, then cut some sheat as shown


By jieg, shot with KF750 at 2009-10-17

heat the metallic sheath again to reinsert it in the plastic sheathed cable, which sould have a longer metallic end now.

reassemble carefully, as is tricky to hold the assembly back as originally shown in the upper picture

On mine, I didn't unscrew anything. Once I confirmed which cable had the problem, I just used a cigarette lighter to heat the ferrule on the motor end of the cable, jerked the cable out, cut about 3/8 inch off the black sheath, heated the ferrule again and shoved it back in. Fixed, just that quick.

on my 2001 525i, i got sports seats, manual ones. im actually glad they manual. less problems...
on my previous ride i had a e30 325i, which i fitted front electric sports seats from a 1997 M3.
i eventually had one of the gears stripped, was finnicky to replace...eventually replaced it though.. when i sold the car though, the driver side seat gear also had a problem (the dredded e36 electric seat recline gear)

i had no idea e39 electric seats also gave issues... again..hehe im glad ive got sports seats of the manual variety (has up/down,tilt,recline,forward/back)

lighter weight so you have that performance advantage. BMW sneakily put that kind of stuff in the 525.. sleeper

With 1 person driving the car I could live with the manual seats but if you have other drivers then its a real pain.

i personally do not like all the electric options in the seat, I would prefer manual movements, especially on the back rest

can you help me on my case sir's.. i checked on the cables already and its still good.. the motor is working but all of the right side of the driver seat is not working.. it seems like my seat just had a stroke.. LOL.. can someone help me pls.. thanks!!

LOL,

Leave the seat in one place, stop adjusting it and you will never have this problem....hehe!
Anyway, good DIY!!!

Great thread
 

Im new to the forums and finally got enuf money to buy a used 2003 5 series 525i

Got problems with the seat... it works both move but is twisted

Head rest doesnt go up and down.

Leg support that goes out of the seat is stuck in the extended position i think its a switch problem it doesnt make a clicking sound when i try to retract it... like that of when you try to extend it.

Any help for a new enthusiast.

messing with the seat scares me dude, so many parts and wires...

For the record, if someone comes here for twisted-seat DIYs, I'll add this to the existing list of twisted-seat DIYs, each of which has helpful advice.

- How to understand BMW seat cables that fall out causing twisted seats (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) & watching out for the accidental airbag light (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) & warnings about the seat twist DIY (1) (2) (3)

This thread just came to my attention today - it has some really nice pictures of seat twist repairs:
> E39 (1997 - 2003) > Another seat twist thread