Sport Seat Rebuild

[Lippy]

I have the sport seats in my convertible, but almost none of the adjustments work (or work very well).
Has anyone rebuilt these seats before? Any thoughts on what I would need? I know I'll need the shock kit for each seat. Anything else before I tear these apart?
Special tools?

Thanks!

[roguetoaster]

Start with pulling the side covers and cleaning/inspecting the mech/sliding surfaces. A full rebuild is involved, for this you just need a screwdriver.

You can also pull (after removing the screws) the rear cover off of the seat to get to more bits.

[Lippy]

Thanks I'm going to start pulling the passenger seat apart soon.

[cory58]

Try this:

http://bmw.e30tuner.com/articles_seatfix.php

I'm sure there are also plenty of YouTube videos. I first learned how to take them apart pre-YouTube/FB Groups. It's easy after the first time. I lot of the movement problems come from the mechanism on the side of the seat being gunked up with crud. Once you have it removed from the seat:

1. Blow it out with compressed air.
2. Spray the inside of it good with a cleaner (I used carb cleaner) and activate all the movements a few times. Repeat until everything moves freely.
3. Blow it out good again.
4. Grease it with something that you can spray into the mechanism and gears.