1992 BMW 325i Front Seat Removal

To gain access to the floor area and search for a route through which the rear battery pack power cables can pass, required the removal of the seats.  Each of the front seats of this 1992 BMW E36 325i are secured at four locations.  Two M10 nuts secure the base to studs welded to the floor at the front, and two M10 bolts attach to threaded openings in the floor at the base at the back.  Although the seats have manual attitude adjustment, both front seats have embedded electric heater elements and the connection cables on the underside of the seat must be removed prior to extracting the seats from the car.

Picture DSC01297 of the passenger seat in full back position revealing the plastic nut cover.

Picture DSC01299 showing the revealed a M10 hex nut  (16 mm socket for removal) that was attached to a chassis stud welded to the floor.

Picture DSC01304 showing the tilted back passenger seat with the pair of electrical cables attached to the seat.  A plastic tie-off was cut prior to being able to unplug the two connectors.

Picture DSC01313 showing the seating wires as they emerge from the carpet below the seat.   The pair of wires with blue/white and brown attach to the socket closest to the door, and the pair of wires that are yellow/white and brown connect to the socket closest to the mid line of the car.

The passenger seat was then reclined toward the back seat area, and lifted up and the base rotated out onto the door frame.  This exposed the seat belt connection which was attached to the seat with a T50 Torx bolt.  After removing the bolt, it was rethreaded back into the seat belt harness plate so that it would not be misplaced.

 Picture DSC01590 showing access gained by tilting the passenger front seat backwards and raising the chair frame onto the frame of the door.

Picture DSC01309 after the removal of the harness bracket from the seat frame.

A note of interest is that each of the bottom rails is independent of one another.  During handling it is possible to shift only one rail such that when the seat is replaced in the car, only one side is aligned with the mountings.  To correct this the seat is removed from the car, the release lever activated on the side of the seat, and then both rails pushed back until they stop, then they will be symmetrical and all of the mountings will line up.  

The removal of the seats allowed for the removal of the carpet and access to the wiring underneath.    Additionally, this action improved the overall budget for the project, as $1.58 in coinage was discovered in the process.  Sadly, all the coins were found under the driver's seat, so this represents more of a recovery process than an infusion of fresh capital, which would have been the case if the coins were discovered under the passenger seat!

Picture DSC01497 of the treasure found under the drivers seat.