Ownership Experience of Old BMWs

[Obioban]

It’s something that plagued every BMW 5- and 7-series from the E34/E32 generation through the E39/E38 generation. The plastic sheathing around the seat cable expands over time and forces the drive cable out of the motor, often on only one side, causing the seat to twist when it’s adjusted. It’s a super annoying problem but is thankfully fairly easy (if not tedious) to repair. You pull the seat out, get the cables out of the motors, cut the sheathing a bit, re-synchronize the seat adjustments, and put it all back together. It affects the seat back tilt and the seat height adjustment.

I’ve fixed more of these than I can count, you 3-series people are lucky you don’t have to deal with that nonsense. Thankfully, BMW eliminated that setup with the E60 and onwards.

Yep, that's the exact issue-- the e38 and e39 both suffer it.