Seat Gears?

[masbury]

This is an experiment in interest. I am looking into having the infamous fore/aft seat gear that breaks all the time manufactured in either brass or aluminum. I sort of reached a pinnacle in frustration, when trying to locate just the broken gear, or even a replacement gearbox, I am hit with the "I'll sell you the whole seat track as a unit for $400-$750... Yeah, I was born in the morning, but it wasn't yesterday morning.

The things I am trying to find out are:
1. Is there any interest in manufacturing and replacing just the broken gear?
2. Is just building the one gear that breaks enough, or should they be a set?
3. If such a thing were available, what kind of value would E31 owners place on that? Since I can only gauge my own frustration, I would have to say anything less than $400 would be a bargain, but that's me.

I understand there was some outfit that (used) to make a plastic replacement, but have since discontinued them. As in any kind of manufacturing endeavor, the set-up is the killer on costs. You can make 1 for $1000 each or 1000 for $1 each, so again, back to question 1, 2 and 3.

I don't know how many of you guys are riding around in a (former) $100,000 supercar and not able to move the seat forward or backward, or in my case, my drivers side only has one gearbox, so I can adjust the seat (carefully), but not when I'm sitting in it, and my passenger seat is locked in one position, period.

So, there it is. Any and all feedback, suggestions, ideas, poo-poo's, negatives/positives and don't forget humor, will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Gary Knox]

How about 3D printing in aluminum? That shouldn't be too expensive for just one.

[91e34M5]

Take a look...they got what you need:
http://www.odometergears.com/product...s+E31+89-99/40

addendum...if you replace the gears, do both gears on both seats while you have them out.

[spikec]

Glad to see they're making them again. I want to replace mine before they break - how may gears do I need for each seat?

[Wuffer]

two

[spikec]

Thanks for the speedy answer Tom.

[dabenthusiast]

Hmm my passanger seat twists but wont move forward.
Will this gear fix that or do i do the hose extention mob for seat twist?

[tangcla]

Hmm my passanger seat twists but wont move forward.
Will this gear fix that or do i do the hose extention mob for seat twist?

Seat twist fix would be to shorten the cable sheath.

edit: What are the symptoms of needing this gear?

[jramsey]

two

Just two??? Grin..I just had to chime in..I'm under the dash again and pulling seats..miss ya...

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using Tapatalk

[cartoonz]

2 per seat

[Sniff38]

Take a look...they got what you need:
http://www.odometergears.com/product...s+E31+89-99/40

addendum...if you replace the gears, do both gears on both seats while you have them out.

So do these guys use some special space-age plastic that will prevent failure in the future? Seems pretty pricey for a single plastic gear, but since they are the only game in town, I guess they have us over a barrel. Now if they were made of metal . . . that would be a different story. There is so much that can be done with CNC machines nowadays that didn't exist 15 years ago.

I just saw they offer a lifetime warranty, so perhaps this is a moot point. Hopefully the company will be around in 25 years when the gears need to be replaced again.

[jramsey]

I actually had him build those gears about 10 yrs ago, and they are a 1 X 1 mold and take a lot of time. I think mine have held up, but Sammy's red car has not been out much. Looks like newer material than the originals. I had a pdf of the replacement process, but Roadfly is not doing searches for some reason.
I was giving Wuffer a hard time for we all were replacing gears the first year, felt like non stop..
And no Tom, I still have not painted the spoiler... grin

[Wuffer]

Jeez....

[Guts1200]

How can I tell if I need the cables or the gears or both? One of my seats does the twist but moves a bit, the other seems stuck. Won't go back but I can hear the motor working. Also have a really hard time getting it to recline forward for back seat access... have to mess with it a bit.

[jramsey]

blast from the past...2006
Ignore the flash "watch photo show" it no longer works..
still looking for the rail repair write up ...
http://www.flagshipcars.com/pnw2006/data/index.html

[jramsey]

I found a small archive of all of the photo's unedited, but it might be of help to those interested, including the saga of the gear procurement.. it is only 3.2meg unzipped. I put it in a dropbox account or can easily email it to anyone who wants it..

Jack

[Hyper]

I found a small archive...can easily email it...

I'm scheming to do the plastic-to-metal conversion on another, unrelated and should have a look at the seat gear archive so that any tooling I buy or build is general purpose enough.



One gear cutting method patterns off an existing target, for both dividing/indexing and following the helical spiral.
It would be convenient to have a working example, without taking my car apart.

[jramsey]

assy_alone.jpgassy_end_view.jpgbosch_assy.jpgboth_gears.jpgbroken_end_vies.jpg

[jramsey]

gear_on_worm_shaft.jpgsh_both_complete_assy.jpgsh_both_gears.jpgsh_broken_tooth.jpgsh_cable_insert.jpg

[jramsey]

showing_rear_cap.jpgw_cable_drive_gear.jpgrail_left_gear_assy_out.jpg

[jramsey]

sent..

[91e34M5]

How can I tell if I need the cables or the gears or both? One of my seats does the twist but moves a bit, the other seems stuck. Won't go back but I can hear the motor working. Also have a really hard time getting it to recline forward for back seat access... have to mess with it a bit.

If you have problems with up/down movement, then your problem is likely stretched outer cables on the motor under the front center of the seat.
If you have problems with forward/back movement, for example, one side of the seat tries to move forward and the other doesn't, then your most likely problem is a broken/cracked seat gear. It can also be caused by a frayed cable within the seat rail. You'll have to remove the seat, remove the rail from the seat, and replace the gear or the cable.

- - - Updated - - -

For those looking for seat repair info, there's lots of information within this thread:
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ight=seat+rail

[jramsey]

http://www.flagshipcars.com/seatrail...ata/index.html
The funny part is the above link has the old writeup on my own website. No wonder I couldn't find it...grin thanks for the post

[MElliottHolcman]

Greetings,

I have a 1991 850i and am trying to find the right gear for the fore/aft movement of the passenger side seat. It seems that Odometer gears no longer makes them. Do any of you know if there is a similar gear used in another BMW seat/motor/transmission? Or, does anyone know the dimensions of the gear itself (height, width, pitch, and inner hole circumference) ? I see that there are very similar looking gears available on eBay for 3-series cars and was wondering if they might use compatible gears.

Thanks, in advance for your time.
Elliott

[cartoonz]

Greetings,

I have a 1991 850i and am trying to find the right gear for the fore/aft movement of the passenger side seat. It seems that Odometer gears no longer makes them. Do any of you know if there is a similar gear used in another BMW seat/motor/transmission? Or, does anyone know the dimensions of the gear itself (height, width, pitch, and inner hole circumference) ? I see that there are very similar looking gears available on eBay for 3-series cars and was wondering if they might use compatible gears.

Thanks, in advance for your time.
Elliott

Did you actually CALL odometergears? The website has said that for years, but they DO make them.