I came out to my car today and the drivers seat wont lock upright and wont go down into the resting position. the inside lever does not work either. any suggestions?

 

Scroll down to the seat section of this link and you will find numerous threads about seat maladies that may pertain to your situation. Based upon the numerous comments and complaints about this subject, I started collecting this information years ago in the event that I too would eventually require a potential solution for this PITA repair. Good luck.

 

Wow, buzzsaw--that's brilliant stuff there, it is.

 

On mine I just needed to hold down the "recline" lever and slam it backwards, and it magically worked fine.

 

Thanks. We have constantly searched and updated the information on the site for the last four years and are happy to share it with the MINI community.