Head rest motors.

[aston_jag_tech]

Has anyone replaced both head rest motors/assemblies/ etc. My motors work and Im pretty sure the cable broke or stripped.... Anyone anyone??

[shogun]

I repaired my one at the rear yesterday.
Passenger side was working, driver side not, but a heard a short click in the motor.
Swopped headrest with motor from right to left and left to right.
Passenger side worked with the driver side headrest.
So I concluded it is not a wire, fuse or relay, but must be the motor.

Removed the motor (2 bolts), tested it under hood directly on plus pole and ground. Just a short click again.
Turned it by hand at the drive shaft, tried again with power. Started to run.
So the motor got stuck inside because in the rear it is very seldom used.

Let it run 20 times forward and backwards to run in again and to get oxidation out, works like a charm now again.

[Ross]

If the motors run it's the cables. It's well covered here, search for headrest cable. Easy fix, zero cost.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Heat, snip & crimp

[BMWCCA1]

...or 5mm of thick hanger wire. Much simpler, less invasive, works just as long.

[Ross]

Explain please.

[Qsilver7]

Explain please.
Instead of retyping it and inserting photos here...can I just link you to a previous post on another forum?

Instructions on how to repair front headrest with a 1/4" piece of metal coathanger: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9217977&postcount=8

Again, this only works if the motor works (you can hear the motor run when the switch is pressed). Like others stated, this is less evasive, and very simple...and it works! :D

[xspeedy]

Has anyone replaced both head rest motors/assemblies/ etc. My motors work and Im pretty sure the cable broke or stripped.... Anyone anyone??

I am a fan of this procedure - much more professional than the fuel hose fix or the coat hangar solution and not really difficult at all. I have just done it on my E34 with great success. I don't think the coat hanger would have worked for me, as the cable shrunk too much. At the motor end, with the cable pushed all the way to the mechanism, the end of the cable (flex-shaft) was just about flush with the exit point of the sheathing at the motor. I trimmed a half inch from the sheathing, and that seemed perfect for my situation.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/m/i/miales/seatcablesfix.htm

[Ross]

Thanks but I don't understand what the piece of wire will do. I'm familiar with why they fail and the cutting down the outer cable method as well as another way to effectively shorten the jacket.
This escapes me. Is this to bind the cable end in the socket if it still reaches and was just spinning in it? What am I missing here folks?

[xspeedy]

Thanks but I don't understand what the piece of wire will do. I'm familiar with why they fail and the cutting down the outer cable method as well as another way to effectively shorten the jacket.
This escapes me. Is this to bind the cable end in the socket if it still reaches and was just spinning in it? What am I missing here folks?

Imagine a cable that twists with two square male ends- this is a flexible drive shaft that transfers the action of the spinning motor to the headrest screw drive that forces the headrest up and down. There is a female receptacle at the motor end (about a half inch deep), and another at the headrest mechanism end (probably another half inch deep). The problem is that the cable pops out of the mechanism side (from shortening due to torque over time), so it doesn't engage. This could be because the cable is pushed all the way into the motor receptacle. If you put a 1/4 inch piece of coat hangar or something inside the motor receptacle, you force the cable out 1/4" towards the mechanism, and hopefully enough to be able to engage it. What isn't explained is why wouldn't the cable wind up all the way in the drive end, and become disengaged from the motor.

My cable seemed quite short, and I wasn't sure about this method, so I went with the more professional, yet equally easy solution below.

http://bellsouthpwp.net/m/i/miales/rockingseatfix.htm