Re: Seat-cable fix--Paul M. Brown (archive)

I have just completed the fix on my 840Ci seats. Another case of BMW using plastic where they should have used conventional engineering. The Up/Down function did not work on either front seat of the 1995 840Ci I purchased recently. Upon inspection the problem appeared to be that the flex shaft drives(2) from the motor to the gear boxes had a center drive cable that was too short, causing it to come out of the socket at the drive motor. I called my local BMW dealer parts desks to ask if there was a service bulletin on the item and a longer cable available. He said the fix was to cut a section out of the outer sheath to make the inner cable stick out further. In doing so I found the sheath was made out of a flexible plastic tubing without the normal metal spiral inside. The plastic has stretched over time allowing the inner cable to pull out of the socket. To me it is beyond my comprehesion that BMW engineering would turn out a 75 thousand dollar car with this type of elementary error in it. Speedometer cables have proven reliable for nearly a hundred years.

I have stopped counting the number of brittle plastic tabs, broken rubber mounts, plastic pulleys, plastic rivets, plastic radiator tanks and other non metal parts I have replaced or have broken in disassembly(and that are in line for replacement) on my 840. Maybe 1995 was a bad year for quality plastics in Germany but BMW overdid it on this car.

Norm

: : : Paul, I mailed you a request regarding the seat cable fix. Haven't heard back from you so just posting this as a heads-up. Also, everyone, if you have a gasoling smell coming from your engine compartment (bonnet) don't automatically assume it is an intake manifold gasket leak or fuel system problem. Found mine was coming from the charcoal cannister that had rusted through due to a leaking washer fluid bottle (just had both reservoirs replaced a year and a half ago--shouldn't the plastic be made heat-resistant since it seems to be the heat that causes the plastic to deteriorate?).

: : : Jim S.

: : Those bottles can fail. Happened to me last year.

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