seat motor broke with seat covering rear bolts

[Safwan]

one of the seat motors or the gear broke in my M3. The only way it moves is up or down and tilting it. It does not recline nor does it slide forward or backward. The seat is covering the 2 bolts to remove the seat on the back side.

Is there anyway i can move it forward manually? what can i do?

[jmo69]

You can turn the mechanism by hand, I did it on mine but the seat was out of the car and I could see what I was doing. The shafts run out to the sides and can be turned manually it's a PITA but can be done. Turn 12 or 14
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/z/l/6.png

[epmedia]

You can turn the mechanism by hand, I did it on mine but the seat was out of the car and I could see what I was doing. The shafts run out to the sides and can be turned manually it's a PITA but can be done. Turn 12 or 14...
That's pretty slick, the only accessible motor while the seat's in-place :cool

[flyfishvt]

Slight correction. Turn 12 AND 14. or it will only move one side of the seat and it will bind up and get crooked.

I have motors cheap if you want them.

[shogun]

Is there no slot for a screwdriver for emergency? On my E32 they have made this, here the instructions
http://imageshack.us/f/176/frontseatremoving.jpg/
4 mm screwdriver to be used in the hole of the potentiometer or motor

[flyfishvt]

Even if there was a slot...you would never get it in there with the seat sitting as low as it does. You have the door sill blocking one side and the tranny tunnel blocking the other.

The motor is in the center of the seat with drive rods that come out of each side. I'll look at my motros but I don't beleve there is any emergency measures available.

[Safwan]

im not even sure if i need the motor or just the gear....what do you think from my explanation of how the seats move?

[jmo69]

Slight correction. Turn 12 AND 14. or it will only move one side of the seat and it will bind up and get crooked.

I have motors cheap if you want them.

IIRC they turned together. When mine quit it took a few taps with a hammer to re-start the motor.

[Safwan]

^and where exactly did u tap it?

[sixx00RR]

I had this same problem and tried turning 12 and 14 but that didn't seem to work too great, instead I removed bolt #11 from both sides and pulled out the bracket (#10) and was able to move the seat forward/back to remove the 2 bolts holding the seat down

[Safwan]

for any one wondering which motor does what from front to back
-the first one closest to front tilts the seat. #4 in diagram
-the second one from the front moves the seat horizontally #13 in diagram
-the third motor moves the seat up and down
-and the last one is the recliner

i found that i need one horizontal motor and the recliner gear.

at first the recliner didnt work at all. the motor didnt even spin. i disconnected the motor and reattached the power cables. the motor spun but only after a tap with a hammer. i reattached the motor and it did recline back normal but would jerk and move slower when i brought the back of the seat back up. i an not entirely sure if the gear will fix this but im going to try

where can these diagrams be found?
and does any one have a horizontal motor and or a gear for sale