DIY: Cure For Rattling Passenger Seat!

[BavarianE31]

Ever get annoyed that your ultra-lux German sedan rattles at you whenever you run over the smallest bumps when there's no passenger in the seat right next to you? I do. Maybe this doesn't apply to all of the seats of the E39/E38 platform, but I noticed that there's some play in the seat tilt mechanism. When there's no passenger, the seatback rattles front and back a little when you encounter bumpy roads and creates an annoying rattle. This problem is compounded two-fold if you have sport contours (or comfort seats) like I do, since the independent upper articulating back also can rattle as well. One can easily figure out if this is a problem by applying pressure to the passenger seat back support as you go over rougher roads to see if the noises stop or if you're not moving, you can just grab the seatback/passenger headrest and wiggle it back and forth to recreate the rattle (this didn't take much force at all for my seats).

Anyways, I got really, really annoyed that I bought some bungee cords to stop the issue. By applying constant tension, I hoped to eliminate this "seat motor play" and it works! Simple effective fix that takes 10 minutes if you know what you're doing. I removed the seatback (takes 5 minutes) and attached the bungee ends to the supportive areas of the seat to apply constant tension. No more rattles! Just don't overdo the tension too much so the motor has to work too hard I guess. The bungee's probably add only 5 pounds of tension if that (this is nothing to the motor as it is capable of adjusting the seat with a person laying 100+ lbs on it). You can see that I added a mini black bungee for the articulating back and a larger blue one of the main back support that travels and attaches to a point under the seat. 2 bungees (one on each side). You obviously don't have to do the driver seat because someone will always be there! The constant tension makes it more difficult for bumps on the road surface to move the seats so no more rattles!

And of course you cannot see the cords once the covers are in place unless you peer underneath the seat. Perfect.

IMG_20180220_233129178.jpgIMG_20180220_233134616.jpgIMG_20180220_233141028.jpgIMG_20180220_233155366.jpg

[computiNATEor]

Great! Now how about my split-folding rear seat rattling?

[BavarianE31]

Maybe you can use the old velcro trick on the latches? I don't have rear fold downs so I'm not 100% how if those latches are similar to the door latches. Otherwise maybe add the furry velcro to the sides to "narrow" the passageway to tighten things up.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...aky-doors.html

[vinyldude]

Great! Now how about my split-folding rear seat rattling?

I maybe got lucky, but I managed to fix the rattle out of my rear seat by lubricating the locking mechanism.

[waters17]

Great! Now how about my split-folding rear seat rattling?

You can adjust the u-bolt latches that are mounted to the rear deck. I had an issue where my fold down seats wouldn't latch properly. They would sometimes fly open if I hit the brakes too hard. I adjusted the latch and now they're nice and tight. Sounds like your issue is the opposite of mine.

[computiNATEor]

You can adjust the u-bolt latches that are mounted to the rear deck. I had an issue where my fold down seats wouldn't latch properly. They would sometimes fly open if I hit the brakes too hard. I adjusted the latch and now they're nice and tight. Sounds like your issue is the opposite of mine.

I was mostly being sarcastic, but thanks for the replies! I’ve adjusted the U bolts just a fraction of an inch rear wards, and that seems to have solved it.