e36 power seat backrest gear

Power seat backrest not working on '98 M3. Motor runs but backrest does not move.

Other forums tell of broken nylon gear (either on motor shaft, or gearbox).

Is that a replaceable part?

Reply to
mcquarrie
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Let us (me) know when you find out, mine is doing the same thing.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

The gear is replaceable.

Go to

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and buy them from Jeff and while you're at it, i advise for you to buy both gears (recline and seat gear).

Pedro

Jeff Strickland wrote:

Reply to
Pedro

Thanks for the link - great website.

How much would a BMW dealership charge to fix this problem?

Reply to
mcquarrie

...also, what special car is required when handling the pyrotechnic seat belt tensioners? Just disconnecting the battery...

Reply to
mcquarrie

Reply to
Pedro

yes I enquired today - $400+ for the bottom seat frame. Yeah, right.

Reply to
mcquarrie

Gears arrived today. $80 seems like a lot for 2 tiny pieces of plastic

- but it's a lot less than $400. I will probably do the job this weekend.

Has anyone else bought these gears from odometergears.com? Have they worked OK?

Reply to
mcquarrie

you'll be suprise to find out how easy it is to install the new gear... it slides in the piece where the old one used to be and it only take a couple of minutes to do the job.

Reply to
Pedro

I agree the whole task was fairly easy but I think "a couple of minutes" is an understatement - unless you are speaking only about the act of removing the broken gear and installing the new one.

I did it last night and it took about 2.5 hours from start to finish.

some advice for others - the following tools helped me

1/4" hex-drive Torx bits T27, T25, T20 1/4" drive socket for 1/4" hex nut (to drive the Torx bits) 1/8" and 7/64" allen wrenches soft blow hammer needle nose pliers 8mm open ended wrench 16mm hex nut socket

when you get the gearbox open, look out for a small circular clip. It fits on the end of shaft after you install the new gear - mine had come loose and was buried in the grease.

When disconnecting the seat wiring, there are 2 identical black connectors which could be incorrectly swapped- note the correct positions. All the other connectors are unique.

Reply to
mcquarrie

The black connectors that are identical are interchangeable. They are for the seat heater elements, and it doesn't matter which one gets plugged into which.

FYI.

Brett Anderson KMS - Koala Motorsport

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Reply to
KMS - Brett Anderson

Thanks. I thought it strange that the geniuses at BMW would allow me to screw up. How could I have doubted them so?

Reply to
mcquarrie

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