Tried to search for this, but couldn't find any similar topics..

I needed to fold my rear seats this morning, but when I tried to bring them back into their upright position, the right half of the seat would not "click" in its position. Upon inspection of the latch mechanism in the rear seat, I found a small piece of plastic inside that broke off (I wasn't really slamming it at all, btw...)

I will be bringing the car to the dealer to have a look, but was wondering is it difficult to fix it, would you have to take off the upholstery (back of the rear seat) to get to the latch mechanism, since the opening in that upholstery is pretty small?

Thanks!

 

Here's a parts schematic of the rear seat: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.d...21&hg=52&fg=30

 

They might try selling you a new seat instead of ripping into this one. A local auto upholstery shop might be able to get the seat apart and fix it. They would probably have a way of getting parts for it, if the dealer won't sell you the little latch bits.

 

Car is under warranty (2006 MCS), shouldn't this be covered?
Also, it seems illogical to replace the entire seat just because of the broken mechanism, but I will see what they say

 

Did anyone else actually fix the rear seat latch?

Someone has to have done this. Mine now has an issue. Help!

 

Hope this displays OK - this is what the rear seat back looks like with the backing panel and the upholstery cover removed. To really get at the latch you would have to remove both. Not too sure how you would get the seat back out if it is clamped onto the striker. I would try removing the working seat back first, then see if it can be popped loose. Good luck, I don't envy you!

 

well i have the seat down now. I was hoping i could just pop out the plastic holder that holds the latch and play with it without removing the seat back. Is that possible?

Or is what you saying the only real access is getting the panel off the back?

 

once you have it out, can you take that pan off? it looks likes all 1 piece and riveted anyway?

 

Well, the steel pan is the seat back and everything else hangs off it. Without knowing what part of the mechanism has failed, it is hard to say what you will have to do. I never did figure out how to get the plastic bezel off the handle, but I didn't need to for my purposes. I imagine it pops off if you push it in the right direction. All the same, I would bet on having to remove that grey mouse fur panel on the back and the seat cover. You will need a set of those plastic trim tools. You also need to be careful on re-assembly to not bugger up the edge of the back panel when you press it back into the channel. What you may have to do to fix the latch, I can't say.