Electric Rear Headrests

[Cambridge]

My car doesn't have rear headrests. I happened to ride in my car's rear seat for part of a road trip, and I can understand why rear headrests are nice.

I've looked at the instructions for installing the manual ones, but I thought electric ones would be nice to match the electric ones in the front. So, I'm think about pulling a set of electric ones out of an E32.

I've never seen a set of electric ones in a 540i. Does anyone know what the up/down controls look like and where they would be installed? Is the electric harness already set up for electric rear headrests?

Has anyone done this before? I can reverse-engineer this, but if someone's already done this I'd certainly appreciate the input!

[uscharalph]

My car doesn't have rear headrests. I happened to ride in my car's rear seat for part of a road trip, and I can understand why rear headrests are nice.

I've looked at the instructions for installing the manual ones, but I thought electric ones would be nice to match the electric ones in the front. So, I'm think about pulling a set of electric ones out of an E32.

I've never seen a set of electric ones in a 540i. Does anyone know what the up/down controls look like and where they would be installed? Is the electric harness already set up for electric rear headrests?

Has anyone done this before? I can reverse-engineer this, but if someone's already done this I'd certainly appreciate the input!
I doubt the wiring is already there.

[Cambridge]

Too bad. It would have saved me some work. I was hoping the wiring was there since the ETK shows the electrics as an option on the 540i.

[uscharalph]

Too bad. It would have saved me some work. I was hoping the wiring was there since the ETK shows the electrics as an option on the 540i.
I could be wrong. It's happened before.

[Kalevera]

The electrics are modular, so the only issue is removing the harness from the parts car, and then adapting it to add E34 controls. I've never seen the electric ones installed on an E34; I assume that the buttons live in the blanks next to where the rear seat heater buttons would go, versus on the side of the seat. There are a bunch of renditions of that plate, so start calling FAB and other european junk yards if you're seriously thinking about this. Personally, I think it's a little overkill. Doing rear heated seats might be a more worthwhile investment for rear passenger comfort -- they can adjust their own head rests ;)

best, whit

[Scott H]

in the E32 7er is located at the outside front curve of the bench....along with other electric rear seat conrols. Not sure you can get it there on the E34

[Paul in NZ]

the etk shows a cable set for heated rear seats and or elec headrests,couldnt really see where the switches went.Cant post a pic cos I cant access my gallery

[Cambridge]

The electrics are modular, so the only issue is removing the harness from the parts car, and then adapting it to add E34 controls. I've never seen the electric ones installed on an E34; I assume that the buttons live in the blanks next to where the rear seat heater buttons would go, versus on the side of the seat. There are a bunch of renditions of that plate, so start calling FAB and other european junk yards if you're seriously thinking about this. Personally, I think it's a little overkill. Doing rear heated seats might be a more worthwhile investment for rear passenger comfort -- they can adjust their own head rests ;)

best, whit

Hmmmm... there's something else the car doesn't have - rear seat heaters. I forgot all about that. Maybe after the headrests :)
Where would the rear seat heater buttons go (I don't have them on my car)?

[Kalevera]

Hmmmm... there's something else the car doesn't have - rear seat heaters. I forgot all about that. Maybe after the headrests :)
Where would the rear seat heater buttons go (I don't have them on my car)?


No, you don't have them on your car because no US spec model came with them. It's a selective european thing, if that. In the rear of the center console is a black plastic plate, below the center vent Sometimes it has a cigarette lighter in it (early cars), sometimes it doesn't (later cars). This is the plate I spoke of in my previous post.


best, whit

[charlie]

it sounds like you are looking to torture yourself

[Cambridge]

It is a bit unique; learned a lot already, though. ;)

[Cambridge]

I'm told European E34 M5's had motorised headrests. Seems the switch was installed on the rear seat on the side of the lower cushion.

Motorised headrest diagram (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&btnr=52_0421&hg=52&fg=30) Item #10 is the covering for the switch. I'm told a cutout is made in the fabric of the lower rear seat cushion on the side for it.

Anyone seen a European E34 M5? Pictures of rear seat?

[rockyfeller]

I commend you for your time and patience. I have a ton of projects I wish I had time for on my car. I don't know too many others who would think it's worth it. I am all for uniqueness. You'll be a 1st on this forum.

[Cambridge]

I commend you for your time and patience. I have a ton of projects I wish I had time for on my car. I don't know too many others who would think it's worth it. I am all for uniqueness. You'll be a 1st on this forum.

It started when I was looking at the various web pages on installing rear headrests in an E34. I thought that would be sort of unique for an E34 since I hadn't seen too many first hand. I also had various friends and family ride in the back and express surprise that a 540i didn't have rear headrest standard (of course, these days, rear headrests are rather common on newly manufactured cars). And a few times I rode in the back seat myself and missed having a headrest.

Of course, how the headrests would install is fairly obvious from reviewing the ETK and various instructions posted on the web. But collecting the parts to do it was a bit challenging. I thought I could save a bit by getting the parts off a junker instead of from the dealer. Problem was that E34's with rear headrests are rare; junked ones rarer still. That's when I thought I'd check out E32's. Fairly standard to see rear headrests on E32's and although the seat itself is different, by using the ETK for comparison I could see that the headrests themselves and the support mechanisim was identical to the E34's.

So, now I started looking for trashed rear E32 seats. As I looked around I noticed several "all electric" E32 rear seats that had motorised rear headrests. A quick check with the ETK showed that these too were shared with E34's.

I figured, if I'm going through the trouble to strip the parts from an E32 and install in my 540i, it might as well be with the with the motorised parts. The ETK gives the part numbers for the additional switches, switch covering, and E32 specific harness.

Here is a typical all electric rear seat on eBay
e32 seat with motorised headrests (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-REAR-SEAT-SEATS-ELECTRIC-LEATHER-E32-E-32-735-750_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33701QQitemZ8007242 638)

This would get me most of the key pieces for under $200 dollars including shipping. Of course, I'd also need to get the E34 specific electric harness
e34 electric rear seat harness (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&btnr=61_0338&hg=61&fg=10) since my car is a 95 I'd guess it is the 61108366805 part. www.bmw-auto-parts-dealer.com has the harness for $36.55.

And I'd also need to dye the headrests to match my other seats (I have some dye left over from another project).

The only little piece left is to figure out where the positioning switches go. So far, it's been suggested that they may be normally installed at the 1) rear of the center console between the front seats, or 2) on the sides of the rear seat cushion. However, when I look at the wiring harness it seems like the switches may have somehow been located near the top of the rear seats near the headrests themselves. The plot thickens :)

Seems like a fun little project! :)

[Reuben Lim]

My US spec 525i didnt come with any rear headrests and as I ride in the back a lot, it was murder on the neck without them. Had to convince another guy letting go of his E34 to sell me his rear headrests and the frame bolted onto the rear wall they need. Good thing he also had tan leather seats. Comfort difference is like night and day. Sadly, our cars have limited legroom at back, so when I'm there, I move the front passenger seat a bit forward (and I'm not a tall guy at all). My friend has a euro E34 M5 with rear headrests, didn't see any power adjustment on them. Btw, his rear seats are only built for two passengers, the area between is raised. Don't know why. Drove the sucker, it was horribly fast, the fastest car I ever drove. He also has a long wheelbase E32 with rear power seats, I didnt notice if they also had power rear headrests. Good luck!

[AllGo'n'Show]

Maybe you can look into this too....

I have a E32 with the electric headrests aswell, nice feature, everyone likes them along with the adjustable rear seats.

Something you may want to look into would be the fact that I think when either...

1. the door opens
or
2. the seat senses someone in it
or
3. everytime

The headrests automatically go up to full position, but it only seems to do it sometimes, I haven't played around with it alot to figure out exactly what triggers it but that may also be something you will have to consider for wiring or whatever.

[Espen]

Pulling up an old thread here..

I`ve bought myself a complete interior last week. This one got electric rear hearests. Im having trouble figuring out how to wire it. Under the rearseat there is a small harness and switches for the headrest.

The headrest got only to wires, that means that the polarity of the electrics is changing for up / down. Have anyone here retrofitted this?

Is this a "independent" system? Or is it connected to a controlbox (RM module?)

[Airborne001]

Does anyone have one of the plates(plain or with the electronics) that does NOT have the lighter in it? That lighter makes me nervous with my young kids in the back seat, but I don't want to leave a hole there either. The buttons might come in handy for the headrest DVD system I want to install.

[Kalevera]

Does anyone have one of the plates(plain or with the electronics) that does NOT have the lighter in it? That lighter makes me nervous with my young kids in the back seat, but I don't want to leave a hole there either. The buttons might come in handy for the headrest DVD system I want to install.
Yes, the blank plates can be had from the dealer, part of the smoker's package delete on later cars. Try 51 16 1 946 193. List cost is a little under $8.

best, whit