Avoid eBay sport seats by zoomzoomzoom-ing

I'm hesitant to post this, because I don't like leaving bad reviews, but since I looked for reviews like this before I made my purchase and didn't find any, I want other potential buyers to know what they're getting into. You may see this on other BMW forums as well, not because I'm looking to spam anybody, but because I want to get the info out there.

About two months ago (Feb 9, 2012) I purchased a pair of e30 sport seats on eBay from member Steven Sperling ("zoomzoomzoom-ing") to replace the "comfort" seats in my 325iX. You've probably seen his listings if you've searched for e30 seats; they're the ones describing his seats as "re-manufactured to BMW specifications" and "beautiful". I've attached a screen grab of the completed listing so you can see his exact phrasing. I paid $700 with shipping, which is significantly more than a used pair off the forums, on the this assurance.

I received the seats on Feb 21, since he apparently builds the seats to order and I'd added in heating elements. When I received them, they were not packaged particularly well; they were simply encased in plastic trash bags and wedged in a big box. Upon taking them out it was immediately apparent that the right side of the driver's seat was tilted farther back than the left; the entire backrest was kilted sideways as though a heavy person had slammed into it repeatedly. I sent an email and photo to Steven, who insisted that it had been tested thoroughly and must have been damaged in shipping. Although they were packaged poorly, I don't see how that particular fault could have happened, but whatever. He filed a claim with FedEx, and I shipped the seat back to him on Feb 23rd for replacement.



The seat arrived back at his shop on March 1, and it took until March 12th for him to ship a replacement. I received the second seat March 16th and installed it the following day. Unfortunately, although the backrest on this seat was straight, it had a number of other faults. The most glaring of these was that there is a significant amount of play in the recline mechanism; the backrest shifts back and forth 2", which is immediately apparent to both my wife and myself when driving. In addition, the interior mechanism covers are rusty and covered in flaking white paint, the front thigh bolster is loose due to a broken clip, and the seat pistons – which the ad specifically states are replaced – were old and dirty.




Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=WclHiRP6zTw

I sent another email back to Steven on March 18th, politely explaining all this along with photo and HD video documentation. Due to a family emergency on his end he didn't respond to me until March 27th, when his entire response was "I trust my guys judgment in that they replaced the seat with one that is in good working order. The pistons were only replaced if there was a reason to do so. The seat was tested and was found to be fully functional before shipping. The seats are 20 + years old."

This post is already longer than I meant it to be, so I'll finish quickly. I sent one more polite email back telling him that I was disappointed in his response dismissing my concerns, which were both documented and politely presented. The defects I'd noted were functional, not minor cosmetics, and were in direct violation of his listing. After this he just brushed me off. Unfortunately 45 days had passed by this point, and neither eBay nor PayPal will even consider a buyer protection case after that deadline. My fault for not initiating one sooner, but I thought I could work this out with the seller.

TL;DR: The seats zoomzoomzoom-ing sells are not remanufactured as he claims. They are new covers over old frames that do not appear to be checked or refurbished. Two of the three seats I received had significant mechanical defects, and he is not willing to work with me to get a proper set of good-condition seats. I am happy to provide additional information if anyone's interested.

Listing screenshot; note description of "remanufactured" in Item Specifics:

That's a load of crap man sorry you got took I would be really hesitant giving someone BOTD when they displayed such a demeanor to deceive and pull a bait and switch.

Those are not worth $700 maybe $3-400 shipped in that state they still need rebuilt again!

Thanks man. The original seat in my car was busted as well (I don't have good luck with seats) and not safe to drive with, so I figured I'd pay a little extra for top-quality remanufactured ones and avoid having to mess around with rebuilding/recovering them myself. Live and learn.

This sucks!!!
Sorry to hear that this happened to you. eBay is sooo tricky this way. I have bought items that were absolutely horrible and the seller has refunded me and replaced the product no questions asked but then there are the sellers like this that are insistent that there is nothing wrong with their product and the problem lies with the buyers judgment. I would definitely keep bugging him for a full refund as the seats weren't up to the standard that he stated. I am sure that Paypal can do something if that is how you paid him.

Originally Posted by knickers323

This sucks!!!
Sorry to hear that this happened to you. eBay is sooo tricky this way. I have bought items that were absolutely horrible and the seller has refunded me and replaced the product no questions asked but then there are the sellers like this that are insistent that there is nothing wrong with their product and the problem lies with the buyers judgment. I would definitely keep bugging him for a full refund as the seats weren't up to the standard that he stated. I am sure that Paypal can do something if that is how you paid him.

Thanks, Nicole. Unfortunately Paypal has the exact same 45 day dispute deadline as eBay. I filed a complaint anyway, but they told me they won't pursue it.

That sucks I also bought mine off of zoomzoomzoom-ing and I had a different experience.
I love mine he even added the heating elements for an extra $50.
I see that he's adding that option right in the listing now.
I also had him add the armrest for the back which is a nice touch on the iS.

Everyone that sits in the car cannot believe the quality for the price.

Intersting, I was looking at that guys seats for my baby the other day.

Hmm if I have any issue I'll contact pay pal they dont play when it comes to money thats for sure.

Originally Posted by OliverM3

That sucks I also bought mine off of zoomzoomzoom-ing and I had a different experience.
I love mine he even added the heating elements for an extra $50.
I see that he's adding that option right in the listing now.
I also had him add the armrest for the back which is a nice touch on the iS.

Everyone that sits in the car cannot believe the quality for the price.

Hey man, glad they worked out for you. Reviews like yours and his eBay feedback were why I felt comfortable spending such a big chunk of change. I just wish he'd stand behind his products when they're not up to such a high standard - it obviously depends on the quality of the seat he's using as a base, since he doesn't actually do any mechanical remanufacturing.

Originally Posted by drtwofish

Hey man, glad they worked out for you. Reviews like yours and his eBay feedback were why I felt comfortable spending such a big chunk of change. I just wish he'd stand behind his products when they're not up to such a high standard - it obviously depends on the quality of the seat he's using as a base, since he doesn't actually do any mechanical remanufacturing.

I don't blame you I would be pissed myself I hope that he makes good with you and he changes the quality that he's putting out because in all honesty for the seats that I received I would have paid more. But I got what I expected. We all know that these cars are old so if someone can return a seat to like new condition it's worth the money but not what you're showing in your pictures.
Everyone makes mistakes but he really needs to step up and make it right because there's definitely a market for these seats.
I don't know if 600lb men buy these cars but most of the seats I see at so messed up it's like an elephant is driving the e30's. I have never seen seats that break as bad as our cars. My original seat leaned so much when I drove I think I was facing the passenger more than the windshield.

Originally Posted by OliverM3

I don't blame you I would be pissed myself I hope that he makes good with you and he changes the quality that he's putting out because in all honesty for the seats that I received I would have paid more. But I got what I expected. We all know that these cars are old so if someone can return a seat to like new condition it's worth the money but not what you're showing in your pictures.
Everyone makes mistakes but he really needs to step up and make it right because there's definitely a market for these seats.
I don't know if 600lb men buy these cars but most of the seats I see at so messed up it's like an elephant is driving the e30's. I have never seen seats that break as bad as our cars. My original seat leaned so much when I drove I think I was facing the passenger more than the windshield.

I agree!
I hope that the seller makes the sale right!
I also know exactly what you mean about the seats!
Im just about 5 feet tall and I weigh between the 45-50 kgs mark. And my seats are STILL stuffed up! Embarrassing for a girl my size to feel like I'm too big for the seats! Hahaha

Just a small update: I emailed Steven on Monday with links to the threads I've posted and the YouTube video and again asked politely for a refund, and he never bothered to reply. Not only won't he stand behind his products, but now he's just ignoring me. I guess I'm out of luck unless I decide to go the legal route, which I'm not excited about doing. Stay away from this dude unless you want to risk being left high and dry with a defective product.

I messages him about a bumper and he got back to me in 5 minutes. I don't have any interest in buying one just curious. I say just contact paypal/ebay. They are pretty good with that stuff. Good luck.

Ps. You cant fix the seat?

Originally Posted by Tkaczuk

I messages him about a bumper and he got back to me in 5 minutes. I don't have any interest in buying one just curious. I say just contact paypal/ebay. They are pretty good with that stuff. Good luck.

Ps. You cant fix the seat?

Yeah, he was very good about responding quickly before he got tired my pointing out his continuing defective products. Nicely. I tried contacting both ebay and paypal, but they both have firm 45-day limits after which they won't even open a case. My bad for trying to work it out on my own.

I will probably try to gut my old comfort seats to fix these, but that is annoying since I was hoping to sell/hang on to them.