Front Headrest

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General

Many thanks goes to Alfred Langguth of Dallas, TX for providing photos and text for this procedure.  Alfred has an Oxford Green '95 530i.

This procedure covers repositioning of the front seat headrest flex shaft, which has a tendancy to engage the motor shaft too far - therefore slipping out of the drive mechanism input shaft.

Headrest Repair

What to do if the motor spins but the headrest won't move?  This is because the core of the flex shaft has slipped out of place. This is relatively easy to fix and should only take 10 to 15 minutes. As with all repairs, you will run the risk of breaking things. If you do not feel comfortable with this, don't attempt the repair.

Note: Be careful when pulling on the bottom of the seatback. The bottom clips can be ripped out of the seatback. If this happens, the clip can be epoxied back on.

  Remove seatback by pulling out on its bottom edge.

  The bottom clips will pop free.   If you push the seatback up a little, it will be easier to pop free.

  When the bottom is free, pull down on the seatback to free the top clips.

  NOTE: Be careful not the bend to leather points too much. This is sheet metal and will break off with repeated bending or bending too far.  Also be careful not to drop any of the parts. There are lots of little holes in the seat frame for screws to disappear into.

  This will expose the mechanism and motor. The easiest way to continue is to remove the motor.

  This is done by unclipping the leather from the seat side rail and exposing the two motor screws. Remove the two Phillips screws holding the motor to the seat frame.

  With the motor free, remove the motor mounting bracket by removing the screws (two 8mm hex head) on either side of the flex shaft. Note the orientation of the motor to the mounting bracket This will release the flex shaft.

  The flex shaft core is probably sticking out too far. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to grab the end of the shaft and push it in. You may need to turn it while pushing so that the other end will engage the drive mechanism.  You should be able to feel it engage.  Do not push it in so far that the end of the shaft disappears. Remember that this end needs to extend sufficiently to engage the motor.

Place shaft end back on the motor and reattach the mounting bracket to the motor. You can test the mechanism before you reattach the motor to the seat frame.

Once it works, remount the motor to the seat frame. (The felt pad on the motor goes against the seat frame.) Reattach the leather over the seat frame. Replace the seat back by engaging the top clips and snapping the bottom into place.

General comments

  Here is a picture of the back of the mechanism and the internals.

The mechanism is a worm drive.  You cannot move the headrest up or down without turning the flex shaft.

Don't try to remove the mechanism or to take it apart.  I am good with tools and my hands and nearly didn't get it back together again.

I heard someone recommending placing something in the motor receiver to prevent the flex shaft slipping up too far.  I can not recommend this as I have not done it and feel that the length and type of material is critical. Doing this repair every few years or running the risk of screwing something up is an easy decision for me.

"Editors" Note

In addition, I've heard of others cutting back the outer jacket of the flex cable near the top end fitting to effectively extend the useful length of the inner part.  I saved this text from either the BMW Digest or Bimmer.org some time ago, but the author is unknown.  I've edited it slightly for readability.