HELP needed on E39 Power Seats and Fan - BMW Forum

abooyeung · 06-11-2004, 02:12 PM

Question for those who are knowledable about the Power Seats in their BMW. I have a 2000 528i BMW. Everything is working fine and just yesterday, the driver's side power seats no longer adjust at all. The passenger seat still can adjust forward, backward, tilt, up and down. Is there a fuse that might be blown for the driver's power seat or is the motor blown? (no sounds or anything... no response) When I hit the memory button on the door, only the driver's side mirror adjusts, but the seat does not respond. I am hoping that this is a simple fuse. PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

Also, for some reason, the fan seems very loud and on all of the time. When I turn off the car, it makes a kind of whirling down sound. When i fired it up, it sounds like a jet starting up. In the past, my 528i was pretty quiet. ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS TOO?

Thanks,
Bruce

TECH · 06-13-2004, 03:10 AM

If you've sat on the trim that holds the seat switch, it could be broken. Pull off that trim that holds the switch, and you'll probably see a broken connector and/or seat switch.

Your fan may be going bad, but if it's like an electrical radio whine, it would be the blower resistor. That'll cause it to stay on all the time as well, or go up and down on it's own, with no response from the controls.

abooyeung · 06-14-2004, 02:33 PM

Hi TECH,

Thanks for your reply. Since my posting, I pulled out the manual and verified that it is not just a fuse. (E39 fuse #13 in the glove box) I was thinking that it could have been a fuse since none of the seat controls were functioning.

I think that you are pretty accurate about your hypothesis. Either I or my wife may have sat on the seat trim which holds the seat controls. It is loose and there is a gap where I can actually see some wires. Is there an easy way to take apart the seat trim? What should I be looking for when the seat trim is removed? (a master control for the whole seat or individual controls for each funtion? the thing is that none of the controls are working which makes me think that there is a master control switch or cutoff?)

As for the fan blower resistor. You seemed to have nailed it on the head again. The fan doesn't seem to turn off except for when the engine is shut off. It didn't used to do that... Is it common for the blower resistor to go bad? Is this something that I can do, or does it need to be done by the dealer?

TECH, thanks for sharing your knowledge. You are very helpful. When you have time, please do respond and suggest what I should do from here. I would like to fix these issues if they are not too difficult as it would save lots of money from taking it to the dealer.

Thanks,
abooyeung

fcortez916 · 08-09-2008, 09:30 AM

Hello all, this is my first post. I have a '97 e39 and all of a sudden one day the right side of the driver seat will not recline. All other controls work except the right side of the seat will not recline. What i mean is only the left hand side will recline. I had this problem once before and all i did was uncline/recline? the seat all the way forward and then it reclined... so i thought it fell off track or something but now that doesn't seem to work so now i have a driver car seat thats stuck all the way forward. I can recline the left half of the seat backward but i don't want to do any more damage so i keep it forward... any help?

fcortez916 · 08-09-2008, 09:41 AM

Also, i dont know if its just a loose connector behind the seat trim but i will check that and post back... any advice whether it maybe a motor problem would help alot... thanks in advance. Although I'm in doubt about that because its only on half of the seat not the whole recline but maybe. I dunno. I hope its something so easy.