BMW E39 Twisted Seat Repair
Easy and Cheap!

I added one more shrink tube just for good measure. You really don’t want to do this job twice so it can never hurt to use two pieces of shrink wrap. I’ve seen people use electrical tape here and I’d really suggest against it. Electrical tape has a tendency to loose its effectiveness over time and can peel off afterwards.

Onto the second, quicker and simpler method.

Instead of cutting the metal head off right at the base, I cut the plastic sheath about an inch and a half away from it.

I removed then used the knife to cut another half an inch of plastic off.

And slid the metal head back on and shrink wrapped the split joint (twice) for a perfect seal and fix. I tugged at the metal end to see if I could get the plastic to separate and slide out of the shrink tubing but it’s in there solid so I’m convinced it’s going to last for many, many years.

Before you go putting everything back together, there’s still the issue of the seat back being twisted. Grab a drill and connect it to the according cable and adjust the seat back until it’s straight. You’ll want to make sure it’s actually spot on because the last thing you want to do is find out it’s still twisted when you’ve installed the seat back inside the car. Take your time, flip the seat over, look at it from different angles, sit in it until you have it properly aligned.

Assemble the seat back together much like you took it apart and that’s a wrap. Your seat should look like this. No more creases in the leather or twisting!

If you search online, there are much quicker methods that are accomplished by cutting the plastic around the cables in the car similar to my method. Those can certainly work but they leave the inner cable exposed and gaps in the plastic sheath since there’s no access to wrap or shrink tube the cable. I can’t say whether that’s a good long lasting solution or not but I’ve always done things right the first time to ensure that I don’t have to do them again and I think my fix is as rock solid reliable as going to the dealer and paying full pop for a new seat, which by the way is what most BMW dealers will recommend if you bring your car to them to fix this issue.

Lastly, I’d recommend using some Mother’s VLR on the leather to bring back some shine, elasticity and help protect the leather from cracking and fading.

Good luck! If you have any questions or issues or suggestions on this fix by all means leave some feedback in the comments section below.