BMW Repair: electric driver seat, plastic retainers, anchor bolts

Question
the  electric seat in my 98 528i died. Had a problem with it a couple of months ago , but now it has stopped and will not move.

I'm told their is a control board under the seat that controls all of the memory stuff. The mirrors stil lower when the car is put in reverse

Any thoughts?  

Answer
Matt the memory is stored in the switch on the side of the seat that you press to move the seat. Carefully remove the plastic covers on the end of the seat rails to expose the Seat rail anchor bolts (either T-50 torx or 16mm) remove the bolts/nuts and tilt the seat back. Remove the small two wire connector with the big gauge wires on the back of the seat drive motors. Take a small 12V battery (like a cordless drill battery) and make two jumper wires connect them to the battery and the motor you are testing. If the motor is toast then it will do nothing. If good it will move and your problem is not the motor. Seats will have 2 or three motors depending on what seat version you have. Don't pull the main seat harness connector (usually yellow and black) with the key on in the car, you will induce an airbag light on the dash. You can purchase motors separately or I think if you buy the seat rail assembly it comes with the all motors. Don't quote me on that, check with your BMW parts person. If Seat moves then the next likely cause is the seat module on the side trim of the seat. Remove the side seat trim. Recline the seat back fully if you can and raise to heightest position using the remote battery trick from eariler. You will need a trim fork tool to lever out plastic retainers and a T-30 torx. You lever straight off the seat switch toggle cover off the module to remove the module. Dont worry about breaking the side molding because they are cheap. The module is not. A lot of times the side molding comes loose and the connector on the module brakes off often leaving the module unplugged. Your local BMW parts depot should have all the trim, rivets, and clips in stock. I can help you with part numbers if you get stuck, but may take me sometime.
-Evan