Seat twist fix was easy on one side, but hit a snag on the other

Hello,
I seached the forums and did the seat twist reapair on the passenger seat using the fuel lien method (unbolt the seat, rest on it's back, cut away 1/2inch of the cable sheath and splice back with fuel hose). This worked great but now I need to do the drivers seat as well but the seat will not go back far enough to expose the front bolts. Any ideas?

I think you had to make it go forward, unscrew/unhook something then slide it back or tilt it back and unscrew the other ones.
Did you read through the entire seat twist thread? The one with lots of pages

I found this trick on www.bmwtips.com that will actually allow me to get to the front bolts for the drivers seat. Yes! no I can continue on with my seat twist repair!!

To gain a few extra inches of drivers seat legroom, do the following:

1. move the drivers seat all the way forward
2. from the back seat, locate the clip attached to the right side drivers seat rail (see pic).
3. lift the clip up using a screw driver or pliers.

The clip is flexible metal and can be removed and replaced without harm.

Trying to do twist fix too but can't budge the seat bolts. Any tips?

use a ratchet handle and apply firm pressure slowly. As long as you have the right star socket it should budge.

before removing the motors or messing with the cables, remember to put the backrest in an even position (untwisted).

If you fix the problem with the seat twisted, once both sides move again, the will remain twisted

make sure you work on the right motor, otherwise you will mess with the cables of the seat (ass rest) and get it twisted once the job is supposedly finished

Both of my front seats had the twist problem. I fixed the driver side fairly quickly using the fuel hose procedure. It now works well. But I ran out of hose clips on the passenger side so I will need to finish that seat later.

Here are some of my observations. I don't see how it would be possible to do the work by just leaning the seat back and letting it rest on the back seat. For me to be able to get a good look at the underside, locate the correct cable to cut, and then be in a position to cut the cable and install the fuel hose and tighten the hose clips, I had to also unclip the seat belt tensioner and then position the seat on its side with the underside facing outside the open front door. I found that I had to tighten the hose clips very tightly or else the cable would slip.

Also, be careful when re-installing the seat belt tensioner. One of mine fell down the open bolt hole in the floor board. I could not get it out so I'll have to buy another one.

On the driver's seat there is a plastic housing that covers each of the front bolts. They are secured by an Allen head screw (not sure what size). I used an L wrench to remove them. Once the plastic housing is removed the Torx-50 bolts are then exposed. The one on the right (interior) side was very hard to replace because the quarters are so cramped.

I used all of the advice on this forum and fixed my seat twist. For that I thank all of you for your great advice.

But after getting everything back together, the airbag light stays on. I didn't see anything in my search were that was a problem. Can anyone give me an idea on how to remedy this problem?

Also, does anyone have a picture of how the clip under the seat for the seat belt tensioner is supposed to be hooked up. I think I got it correct, but when taking the seat out it fell off so I don't know how it looked before.

Thanks again everyone!

You triggered the airbag light by turning on the key while you had the plug pulled for the seat. To reset, I think you are going to take it to a dealer or an indie who has the equipment to reset it. I don't think a battery disconnect is going to solve this one.

I did the Seat twist fix on my 2002 530i recently. I cut the cable housing where it plugs into the electic motors. Worked well and my seats are fixed.

Two things I wish I had read before this fix.

1. Do not turn on the key once you unplug the seat. I now have the dreaded airbag light and no tool to reset it.
2. The front seat belts are very easy to disconnect from the seat. The bolts are in the rear of the seat, just slide the seat forward and unbolt them. Very easy if you know where they are located.
Since I failed to read this I was dumb enough to take apart the door pilar trying to disconnect the belt from the top. Too much work and hard to install correctly. Just take out the rear bolts from the floor board.

Not to be lazy..ok I'm being lazy. Could some please post the seat twist DIY here...i'd like one with pics...rookie at your service... I want to get this done this weekend...big date coming, Don't want her to be leaning in the 02 540i

Sent from my MB200 using BimmerApp

Originally Posted by hylyfe

Not to be lazy..ok I'm being lazy. Could some please post the seat twist DIY here...i'd like one with pics...rookie at your service... I want to get this done this weekend...big date coming, Don't want her to be leaning in the 02 540i

Sent from my MB200 using BimmerApp

Click on "search" then type "seat twist". If you are too lazy to do that, you are too lazy to fix your car.

Originally Posted by hylyfe

I'm being lazy. Could some please post the seat twist DIY here

Go to the bestlinks thread. Control-F and type "seat twist". Hit F3 to find all the recommended seat-twist threads.

Clicking rocking and shifting of the front seats and seat twist DIY (replacing fuse 107) & seat twist repair threads (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

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