Recaro Seats

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amble-gamble
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Thu May 17, 2007 10:37 am

Is anybody in the know about these seats, I'm a bit of a shortie, so I have the seat raised but every time I get into my car, the drivers seat slumps back down.

If I stay in the seat and raise it, it's ok......unless the lead foot hits the pedal :)

Is it a simple fix or is it a seat out job
Chris-W
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Thu May 17, 2007 10:44 am

Seat out - the mechanisms on these seats can wear in various places. Need to strip it down a bit and investigate.
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ric325i
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Thu May 17, 2007 1:39 pm

bits snap and things like that!

my recaro seats are lose and have snapped in places so they are getting sorted.

just if you do take care removing the back of the seat as its a bit of a pain.

good luck
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someguy
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Thu May 17, 2007 2:04 pm

Don't know if the mechanism is the same as in the standard seats but I had a similar problem when I got mine, think mine was worse though as the adjuster had pretty much stopped working.

I pulled them out of the car and stripped the seat down. turned out that the frame in the base of the seat had snapped.

Stripped the base of the seat and welded it. Works perfectly since.
oze30
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Thu May 17, 2007 4:08 pm

What about the high back recaros? Mine are floppy and can adjust themselves each time you getin/out!
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someguy
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Thu May 17, 2007 4:43 pm

oze30 wrote:What about the high back recaros? Mine are floppy and can adjust themselves each time you getin/out!
Do they adjust properly? It sounds like what went wrong on mine. Are the adjusting levers pointing in the right direction? I used to have to climb into the car in such a way that I didn't touch them.
jcjdavis1
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Thu May 17, 2007 6:45 pm

Hi I am having same prob. with standard seat.Reading replies with interest.
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someguy
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Fri May 18, 2007 8:17 am

Hey Jim,

If you have a welder/access to a welder, pull them out and strip them down. There's a bar that runs accross the back of the base of the seat, connecting the lever and mechanism on one side to a similar mechanism on the other side. Any break will be obvious once you start taking it apart.

I found that where this connects into the seat frame had snapped clean off, this meant that the adjustment lever was twisted up all the time, so I hit it getting into and out of the car, also it didn't work correctly due to it's position.

Here's approximately how I sorted it:

I took the offending seat out of the car.

removed the seat back (it may have been easier to do this in the car)

Removed the lever and the mechanism it's attached to (as one piece) and removed the same mechanism on the opposite side. They are held on by a circlip, and you have to have the seats in the reclined position to remove them.

REmoved the seat cover (carefully) and the foam.

This allowed me access to the frame to weld it.

It is quite a time consuming job, took a couple of hours, fortunatly I can weld though :D

Good luck sorting it!

Oh and I've ordinary bog standard 316 seats.
DanThe
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Fri May 18, 2007 8:53 pm

someguy wrote:
oze30 wrote:What about the high back recaros? Mine are floppy and can adjust themselves each time you getin/out!
Do they adjust properly? It sounds like what went wrong on mine. Are the adjusting levers pointing in the right direction? I used to have to climb into the car in such a way that I didn't touch them.
My "proper" Recaro's were a bit like that when I got them, they just had sticky workings. I took them out, removed the plastic side covers and soaked the mechanisms with WD40 while working the levers. Absolutely full of dust and mankyness, they now work fine again 8)
oze30
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Sun May 20, 2007 3:03 am

Dan, How do you get the rotary handles off? I've had a quick squizz, but don't want to break anything
DanThe
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Sun May 20, 2007 9:00 am

Rotary handles? :?

Youve lost me there mate
oze30
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Sun May 20, 2007 4:11 pm

The ones that adjust the seat backs.
oze30
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Sun May 20, 2007 4:23 pm

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=52&fg=25

part nos 9/10/11/12 depending on which seat Ive got. I'm fairly sure is 11/12
jcjdavis1
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Sun May 20, 2007 5:01 pm

Hi someguy thanks for the write up but I think I will take the easy option and stalk the breakers for a new seat. Jim
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SPADGE
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Sun May 20, 2007 5:23 pm

oze30 wrote:The ones that adjust the seat backs.
On E30 Recaro's Col they are levers and not rotary knob things
I just got that LPG thing off for you btw :D
oze30
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Sun May 20, 2007 6:36 pm

buggar. Cheers and cheers! Sorted the starter too. Bloody battery clamp is shite!
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