Loose Sport Seat Front Rail Bearing

[e30Chris]

The sport seats in my 318is are flawless, but they rock back and forth upon acceleration and deceleration. After looking into it, I found that the front "clip" bearing that holds the seat to the seat rails is loose, allowing the seat to rock. From the vendors I asked, the part is NLA, so I can't replace it. Has anyone run into this problem before and know how to fix it?

Here's the part I'm talking about:

[DRTSRFR]

Is the ""clip" bearing" damaged, or are the holes ovaled out?

[AndrewBird]

Replace it with a bolt and nut. Simple fix.

[e30Chris]

Is the ""clip" bearing" damaged, or are the holes ovaled out?

Not that I can tell. Looks fine to me, but something must be worn out.

Replace it with a bolt and nut. Simple fix.

I thought of that, but the seat won't be able to fold forward anymore. I use the feature quite a bit when putting things in the back, so I'd really like to keep it functional.

[AndrewBird]

I might be wrong about this, but I don't think the seat pivots at that point when you fold the seat forward. The seat base doesn't move, only the seat back.

[e30Chris]

I thought so too, but the entire seat bottom moves forward when you fold the seat forward, and the front pivots at that point. I'm surprised nobody else has run into this problem. Or they have and just live with it?

[Pocket Chant]

I have it, but haven't really looked into it. I may try the bolt solution though. If anything, I can always loosen it again.

[e30Chris]

Yea, I'm thinking about that myself. Just need to get around to trying it.

[Swanny]

Shouldn't you be able to use the bearing from some comfort seats? I'm sure you can find someone around here with a set of coups that wouldn't mind tearing out a bearing for you.

[e30Chris]

Shouldn't you be able to use the bearing from some comfort seats? I'm sure you can find someone around here with a set of coups that wouldn't mind tearing out a bearing for you.

Ahh, not a bad idea. I'll see if I can find someone. I'm not sure it'd be an improvement over what I have, but it's worth a shot.

[vpilarrt]

I've got an old comfort seat I use for parts - I'll check if it has this part.

[e30Chris]

Cool, thanks!

[vpilarrt]

This is what's in my Comfort seat. If you want to try it I'll send it to you.

[e30Chris]

That'd be great! PM me your paypal and shipping cost/whatever you want and I'll gift it to ya.

[jeffnhiscars]

Im surrounded by seats and seat frames and am having trouble seeing a) how that part can wear out since it only gets wear when you tilt the seat back for rear seat access and b) if it did get worn that it would cause a noticeable problem.

Typically they are stuck tight and have to be coaxed out rather than being loose so I am curious to see if this solves your problem