BMW: Broken seat part, police www, vin check

Question
In a 1999 540i I am considering buying, I found the part attached to both front seats where the belt and the bottons that move the seat are attached is broken loose in both seats. I thoght the car had an accident but the VIN check did not show it and the owner says they were not aware of it. Question 1. would you think the car may have had an accedent the owner is not willing to disclose? 2. what is the name of that part of the seat? and 3. could that be replaced without buying a whole seat?

Answer
Miller,

 I'm not sure about the part you are looking for, so I would check out this website to find the part number to see if it's available.

 Some people have accidents that they do not report, so it could be that the car was wrecked, and never reported to insurance or the police.

 www.realoem.com

 Your car is an E34 5-series (the website will require this info to search for parts).

 Hope this helps,
 Josh