I searched and got info on how to manually move them with a drill. But I thought I would post just to get some ideas on this one.

Passenger seat problems:
back of lower seat will not come up or down
entire seat will not come forward or back
outer most harness was unplugged (if removing seat, it stays plugged in), when plugged in the seat goes into an endless cycle of waning to back the seat up.

So all the motors run, they just are jammed at the gears. I can hear them try to engage and see the cable tense up. The tracks are clean and clear. Seat is now removed for bench testing.

Ideas?

By the way, removing a seat with it all the way back AND down is NOT fun!

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

First thing to always do with seats is to get a can of aerosol contact cleaner, with the doors closed and the key off, pull the buttons off first, then spray with the little red pipe into the switch at the switch posts, work the switch posts back and forth, let the switch dry for a few minutes and then open the door and see if things operate differently. If they do the switch was dirty, if there are still problems you’ll need to remove the switch and disassemble and clean it checking the contacts to make sure none are broken or otherwise misplaced. It is very likely the switch is the cause of the problem, if you do the whole switch routine and the problem still exists, the seat memory controller attached to the underside of the seat can be a problem, usually unfixable by the DIY but you can swap in a different one fairly easily.

The contact cleaner is the thing to try first with any electrical control issue, window switches and any of the other console switches have years of crud down in them that can cause intermittent problems. A good spray and movement will clean things up enough to get some functioning of an electric motor. Eventually disassembly and cleaning of all the switches is a rewarding endeavor!

If you need to move the seat around with it out of the vehicle there are a series of connectors along the rear area of the seat’s memory control module, there is one connector for the three seat track motors and one for the seat back motor, the headrest motor is a smaller connector with pink and green wiring. You can unplug the 4 pole connections for each of the motors and use a pair of jumper wires to apply 12V and cause each electric motor to move, if the correct motor moves but in the wrong direction just reverse the polarity of the jumpers and the motor will move in the opposite direction

I will try the switches, but find it odd they do appear to try to run full force. Then again I have seen what bad battery clamps will do. I will get 0-residue electric parts cleaner and see what happens.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

I kid you not...I had just logged on to see how I could get my 300SD's passenger seat to move forward. And the first thread that was showing? This one!!

Billybob: I did what you said and it is working again! Thank you!

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2004 E320 Wagon W211
2000 CLK430 Convertible W208
1985 300SD W126
1983 300D W123

Got a link? I'd love to know how to do this. Thanks!

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2004 E320 Wagon W211
2000 CLK430 Convertible W208
1985 300SD W126
1983 300D W123