e36 Power Seat Gear Replacement DIY

[gotaction86]

First of all, great writeup. I just performed this and it worked greag. FYI for anyone who's about to do this or planning to do it:
The inner Torx screw for the second motor and the 2 long screws for the gear box are REALLY hard to get an angle on and enough clearance for a full screwdriver (or many other tool options). If you're also following this guide from Odometer Gears (which makes these gears): http://www.odometergears.com/documen...eplacement.pdf which is hosted on the Pelican Parts page for the gears (http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/cata...pg3.htm#item21), it says you will need a Torx allen wrench to reach these. I purchased a multi-allen tool, which was too fat to really fit in, so you might want to get a standard allen wrench. Also, if you have a coupe, I realized (after I bought the wrench of course) that if you pull the seat release (that is, the release to get access to the back seat), it actually pulls the ENTIRE gearbox out from between the rails the seat are mounted to. This helps A LOT.

[26kick]

Good update gotaction86, regarding those hard to get-at torx screws. I had to "fashion" something that barely worked so, anyone who is getting ready to attempt this, you have been warned. Obviously, with the correct tool, it is straight forward. Just don't go in there thinking a standard driver is going to do the trick.

Also, I must admit, while I was lifting/spinning the seat back around to bolt it back down, I managed to catch the seat rail on the door jam and scratch it a bit. Suffice it to say that the seat is "awkward" and heavy so do be careful, especially if you have nice paint in your jams.

I hope this helps.

[pdoroba]

I've been able to find the gears at junkyards. Most won't even charge you if you just remove the gear.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[MDICTED]

Great write up! I fixed my reclining gear in my drivers side since the seat has been in an uncomfortable postion since I bought it. Everything I needed was listed right above.

The only thing I didn't have was clamps to hold the rod in place while sliding the gear on.

After a few failed attempts to even get it started I got creative. 15 seconds in the microwave expanded the plastic to slide it on easily. And now it is not going anywhere.

Took 15 minutes to piece it all back together and now my seat is working properly.

Thanks again!

[CapeTonian]

Exactly what I was looking for. Great write up too.

I'll be attempting this tomorrow.

[Javier H]

lithium based grease....

but I heard that white grease might not last well long term since its too thin.

Also you write

six T-20 torx to remove the plate

but I think its 4 T20s and 2 T25s (for the two longer screws) to remove the plate according to another site

but I'll let you know!

Doing it this weekend wish me luck and thank you for all the details.

Javier

[Javier H]

Okay, first, I ended up using "all purpose" lithium grease...its "clear" not red or white. $4.99 lowes. Basically its looks that the same grease Odometergear has in their installation.

Second, I didn't disconnect the the battery. Just dont turn on the car. As long as things are connection you will be okay. I am NOT sure what activates the airbag from deploying. I am just saying you can get away from doing this. I had the peake resetting as a backup.

Third, the "caps" in the front hiding the bolts that hold the seat. I would cover the caps with tape and use a vise grip and pliers to slowly loosen them up. I used a knife and then a flat screw driver and scratched the rail slightly. I think moving pliers back and forth would be enough to loosen the caps. They are on pretty tight.

Fourth, when you put the gear into the seat, make sure the seat is NOT reclined! If the seat is reclined when you try to put it back, as you tilt the seat to reconnect the plugs, it wont tilt as much since the back seat will now hit the rear seat....and therefore you will have little room to connect everything. What I ended up was propping the seat to make the connections.

Fifth, have some carpet stain remover available. Yes its dirty back there.

Sixth, dont even think about working in your car with the seat inside. Take the extra 15 seconds to remove the seat from the car. You dont have to remove the seat belt. Its long enough to remove it from the car and work on it. The job might run 2 hours and you dont want to be doing this in your car. Working in your car for 45 minutes is one thing but being in their 2 hours is another story. Also, the extra room comes in handy. Totally worth the 15-30 second endeavor to remove the seat! If you dont disconnect the battery, try to shut the door to prevent the car from draining the battery.

Seventh on the passenger the seat, the black cover that is held up by the T30...the plastic fitting on the other side that grabs the rod will be bent. If you push it back it will snap.

Eighth, if you are using a bench vise, you'll need it to open at least 3 inches but it should really open about 4 or 5 inches. I brought a cheap vise from lowes ($21) but by the time I fitted the gear and used the socket to push in the gear in further, the bench vise was too small to fit everything correctly. I ended up going to my neighbor's house and using his 5 inch bench vise.

Ninth, consider refreshing the connection with deoxit. This is available at radio shack. The connection will likely need sprucing. Failure to do so MIGHT set off the airbag light. After 4 months of driving it did so on my car. More than likely you can get away with it but you might as well do as much preventive stuff as you can. Trust me, you dont want to take the seat out again and scratch the lower B -pillar as I did. Buying some zipties might be adviseable. I notice some from the factor were already broken. You dont want these connections moving. They might be snapped in together but anything will dislodge them. I'm not trying to pan nick anyone, just trying to make sure you cover as much as possible the first time around.

Finally, consider duct taping the lower B pillar. Not the B pillar itself but the plastic that travels all the way to the carpet. As you squeeze the seat back in, the rear rails might rub against it and scratch it.

I did 3 seats yesterday. I used a tooth brush to clear the gear a bit and clear away the "C" clamp. First one took 2 hours. Second and third was about 1 and a half hours.

You'll need an angle socket for sure. Also one of the T25s from the metal silver plate needs to be removed. Go to youtube. There are excellent videos there on the subject.

Mechanics seem to want $250 to $350 to do this job. It's a pretty straightforward process. Feels like it takes about an hour but really last about 2.

[rwmm415]

Hey Folks,

I have a E36 seat gear replacement problem that's different from the one you've been discussing here. I'm looking for the pink drive gear in the seat track gear box (part of the horizontal seat adjustment). There are two such gears (and gear boxes), one on each seat track. I have contacted OdometerGears.com to confirm that they don't have this part in their catalog.

I could not find any discussion of this particular gear failure anywhere on the forum. Am I the only one to have encountered this? Sure seems unlikely. Anyone know where I might source the part?

I'm new to the forum -- please bear with me. I will post some pix of the gear shortly once I figure out how.

Thanks,
Robert in San Jose

- - - Updated - - -

OK, here are a couple of views of the pink gear as promised. Hope they come thru OK. The first is a view of the gear box (the one from the right seat rail) with its cover off. The second is a view of the gear removed from the box. The plastic gear is splined on to the metal one.

[louveres]

Hey Folks,

I have a E36 seat gear replacement problem that's different from the one you've been discussing here. I'm looking for the pink drive gear in the seat track gear box (part of the horizontal seat adjustment). There are two such gears (and gear boxes), one on each seat track. I have contacted OdometerGears.com to confirm that they don't have this part in their catalog.

I could not find any discussion of this particular gear failure anywhere on the forum. Am I the only one to have encountered this? Sure seems unlikely. Anyone know where I might source the part?

I'm new to the forum -- please bear with me. I will post some pix of the gear shortly once I figure out how.

Thanks,
Robert in San Jose

- - - Updated - - -

OK, here are a couple of views of the pink gear as promised. Hope they come thru OK. The first is a view of the gear box (the one from the right seat rail) with its cover off. The second is a view of the gear removed from the box. The plastic gear is splined on to the metal one.

I would start by looking on Ebay. While this is different from the gears they're talking about in this thread, it is pretty close to the subject. I just bought the white gear for the reclining part of the seat, on Ebay. You could also check junk yards around you. I found a lot of E36's at junk yards around Chicago. You can find some great deals on all kinds of parts there.
Good luck!

[Javier H]

pick-a-part salvage yards. Yeah, remove from the physical seat the whole assembly you need. I cant imagine them charging you more than $5- $10.

Some folks on this board part out the seat...you might want to post something in the classifieds.

Dont remove the gear itself,,,its probably brittle and will likely snap...just replace the entire part. I have seen seats sell for $20 that need serious leather repair. Look in craigslist.

What make and model? I might be going to pick-a-part next week and wouldnt mind helping you out.

[WolfmanJTW]

As luck would have it, my driver seat is in full back position and I can't move forward to uncover the rear bolts. I removed the gear boxes for forward and rearward movement. I cannot budge the seat forward. There is corrosion on sections of the seat rails but I'm not sure if that is what is preventing movement. Should removing the gearboxes allow the seat to move forward and backward by just pushing on it? Or is there some sort of locking mechanism in the gear rail on both sides of the seat? Also, the passenger seat is in the full forward position with the same problem. The forward/backward motor does work on both seats.

[craigbmw325]

I need to replace exact same part, but I'm having a little trouble finding them online to buy. Anyone got a link?

[louveres]

I bought it on ebay from this guy: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E36-Recl...17f978&vxp=mtr

[K20RI211]

Hey guys.

So the PO of my car sold it with a power seat base so I could repair it myself (he never got around to it). What I'm wondering is, is it easier just to swap motors entirely or to pull open the replacement motor, grab the gear (it's the same one that broke in the OP's situation) and replace just the gear?

Thanks for your feedback.

Jeff

[VHM]

Mate, did you solve the problem? my seat has the same problem
Thanks

I'm having a bit of an issue with the pink gear (seat bottom height adjustments); I fixed the white gear recently, but then my seat stopped being able to go down to the minimum height... when I checked the gears, the pink gear was still intact - the gears are just stuck for some reason! wtf! i don't see any foreign bodies clogging up the mechanism--- do you guys think I should replace the pink gear anyway, even though it isn't broken???

[K20RI211]

Hey guys.

So the PO of my car sold it with a power seat base so I could repair it myself (he never got around to it). What I'm wondering is, is it easier just to swap motors entirely or to pull open the replacement motor, grab the gear (it's the same one that broke in the OP's situation) and replace just the gear?

Thanks for your feedback.

Jeff

Any thoughts?

[Tippey764]

Just to add to this DIY

The driver and passenger side gears are different, they have reverse helical cuts from each other

The pink height gear and white recline gears are identical

What i did for my passenger seat was swap all 3 gears, I swapped the input worm gear, the plastic gear and the large gear in the middle. I only had a driver side gear and it was the reverse of what i needed. I took apart my spare seat and swapped all 3 gears to the reverse style and from there it all fit and worked properly. It was a pain in the ass but now my seats recline.

[Honolulu]

Great DIY and timely that I found it, since my "little white gear" is Tango Uniform.

Comments: I got all the torx screws out with screwdriver style drivers, no problem. I put them back that way too, pro tem, pending sourcing the gear itself.

As of now, odometergears.com sells the gear for $40 and FCP is two bucks higher. Depending on your shipping this may work out either way. I'm in Honolulu, no hope for me.

[Riick]

HELP !
My green gear cracked, and I finally replaced it late yesterday.

HOWEVER.... in-between, after the motors had been disconnected, and gear out, I hit the seat back release.
Seat back flops forward or back, wherever it wants, OK, fine, gears retaining seatback out, why not?
BUT.... Now that I've put everything back together, seat back stays "Released" - Seat back will not *lock* in any position.

What did I do wrong, or better yet, how can I correct this before I hook-up the wiring and bolt the seat down?

EDIT -- Nevermind,

[pwillikers]

Excellent DIY. Thanks.

[aoc007]

i replaced the seat back recline gears with metal ones and the seat works but is low on drive, any other ideas?

[BMWJNKY]

FYI there are different colored gears depending on the production date of your vehicle so make sure you order the right one and not just the white one in the first post.

[Chapel]

my kid just broke my passenger front seat recline...

here's another question: the tilt control is broken (like the arm that actuates it)
how do I fix that?

- - - Updated - - -

how exactly do you tell without removing the gear in the first place?

[blizzard424]

Do you hear the motor turning when you try to adjust the recline? The plastic recline gear is a common failure point.

[eternal24k]

Does it matter if the seat is not in the same position as when the gear was removed? I did mine last night, but did a lot of moving around while it was apart, i put it back together and noticed the seat was further back than when I took it apart, will that affect the range of motion when i hook it back up?