DIY Headrest Fix - BMW 3-Series Forum (F30 / F32)

dd1981 · 08-05-2012, 12:58 PM

I was very annoyed by the fact that the headrest was not able to go all the way down or you couldnt take it all the way out. Here is the simple fix.

Tools: 7mm socket and ratchet. And a pick tool.

You may have to move the seat back and forth to give you more room.

1. At the Rear base of your front seat locate the 2 push pins. This is basically the only thing holding the back plastic part on. Gently pull down with both hands and the pins will come free. Slide the Plastic panel straight down. This gives you access to the headrest clamp.

2. Look for the 7mm clamp usually on the left headrest stem. Undo it and slide the clamp off. This will allow you to remove the headrest completely out of the seat.

3. Locate the black plastic cap with out the adjustor. Its on the Right hand side. Gently pry up on the cap. Take your time be careful. This will expose the 2 springs that need to be removed.

4. Using a pick tool romove the 2 springs. Dont throwh them away you may want to reverse this process one day. This allows the plastic clip inside to move freely. Its whats preventing the head rest from moving all the way down. Reinstall the cap. And then the headrest. Then the plastic backing cover.

I also left out the clamp so I can take out the headrest if I want.
YOURE DONE! Very simple.

328i4me · 08-05-2012, 01:25 PM

nice write up! ill be doing this, once i receive my car next week!

dd1981 · 08-05-2012, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 328i4me

nice write up! ill be doing this, once i receive my car next week!

Literally took me 15-20 minutes. And I stopped to take pics.

gerbs · 08-06-2012, 04:00 PM

Cool thanks!

DrivenByE30 · 08-06-2012, 04:34 PM

very nice !! Thanks for Sharing !

steadymoddn504 · 08-20-2012, 06:04 AM

hello all. we can all agree this headrest issue just seemed a little off..(must be the ocd)

but its in place for a reason: TO MOD! jk so i also tried this mod but noticed that i didn't have the clamps on mine instead it was a 20 torx screw on one of the bars. anyway so after doing one side per dd1981 just going through the steps, it dawned to me years later that i didn't even need to do steps 1-2. the only thing i needed to do was pry up on the cap that you cant squeeze down-on while the head rest is still on there (bc the cap covers the internal adjuster thingy), bring down the head rest and then pressed down on both of them simultaneously once you are on the last knotch to bring it down all the way. too late to bare with me but you'll have about 1-2 inches of space to snap the cap back on and your done.

ps still be gentle when prying the cap and make sure u snap it back on real good. it has 3 groves that need to be snapped down

still

or cant figure it out then just go through with all the steps noted before. it just depends what you want and how much time you have.. ie i only wanted the headrest to be flush down

so i went through all the steps on the passenger side and cut the steps in half for the driver side whatever works for you. if you pull up on it then it'll snap back in place and you will have to do it again

dd1981 · 08-20-2012, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steadymoddn504

hello all. we can all agree this headrest issue just seemed a little off..(must be the ocd)

but its in place for a reason: TO MOD! jk so i also tried this mod but noticed that i didn't have the clamps on mine instead it was a 20 torx screw on one of the bars. anyway so after doing one side per dd1981 just going through the steps, it dawned to me years later that i didn't even need to do steps 1-2. the only thing i needed to do was pry up on the cap that you cant squeeze down-on while the head rest is still on there (bc the cap covers the internal adjuster thingy), bring down the head rest and then pressed down on both of them simultaneously once you are on the last knotch to bring it down all the way. too late to bare with me but you'll have about 1-2 inches of space to snap the cap back on and your done.

ps still be gentle when prying the cap and make sure u snap it back on real good. it has 3 groves that need to be snapped down

still

or cant figure it out then just go through with all the steps noted before. it just depends what you want and how much time you have.. ie i only wanted the headrest to be flush down

so i went through all the steps on the passenger side and cut the steps in half for the driver side whatever works for you. if you pull up on it then it'll snap back in place and you will have to do it again

Yep indeed you can skip the 1st two steps, I covered that in another post. The reason I did the whole thing is I want to be able to remove my headrests so I wanted the clamp off on the stem.

Good job and thanks for adding. Headrests Lookin much better.

JamesMA · 08-21-2012, 03:31 AM

I have to do this one. Maybe this weekend. Good stuff and thank you.

steadymoddn504 · 08-23-2012, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dd1981

Quote:

Originally Posted by steadymoddn504

hello all. we can all agree this headrest issue just seemed a little off..(must be the ocd)

but its in place for a reason: TO MOD! jk so i also tried this mod but noticed that i didn't have the clamps on mine instead it was a 20 torx screw on one of the bars. anyway so after doing one side per dd1981 just going through the steps, it dawned to me years later that i didn't even need to do steps 1-2. the only thing i needed to do was pry up on the cap that you cant squeeze down-on while the head rest is still on there (bc the cap covers the internal adjuster thingy), bring down the head rest and then pressed down on both of them simultaneously once you are on the last knotch to bring it down all the way. too late to bare with me but you'll have about 1-2 inches of space to snap the cap back on and your done.

ps still be gentle when prying the cap and make sure u snap it back on real good. it has 3 groves that need to be snapped down

still

or cant figure it out then just go through with all the steps noted before. it just depends what you want and how much time you have.. ie i only wanted the headrest to be flush down

so i went through all the steps on the passenger side and cut the steps in half for the driver side whatever works for you. if you pull up on it then it'll snap back in place and you will have to do it again

Yep indeed you can skip the 1st two steps, I covered that in another post. The reason I did the whole thing is I want to be able to remove my headrests so I wanted the clamp off on the stem.

Good job and thanks for adding. Headrests Lookin much better.

good stuff! thanks for sharing in the first place, it definetly helped

RonSwanson · 09-13-2012, 08:59 PM

Just did this "the easy way" and it was pretty darn easy. Took 3 minutes. Thanks good idea!

diesel86 · 09-14-2012, 09:43 AM

Maybe it's because I'm on the taller side so have never had my headrests all the way down on any vehicle I have ever owned...but what it the point of this mod? Cosmetic only or is there a functional purpose.

loz3rxfreak · 09-17-2012, 01:27 PM

Thank you for this fix. Was very simple to do. Took me 5 mins

RonSwanson · 09-17-2012, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diesel86

Maybe it's because I'm on the taller side so have never had my headrests all the way down on any vehicle I have ever owned...but what it the point of this mod? Cosmetic only or is there a functional purpose.

Only drawback is you can't tilt the headrest forward when its all the way down..which also looks good and might be a bit more functional. But I notice some F30s don't have that button to tilt forward on the side of the headrest. Not sure if that's a 2013 thing or something in the trim ordered.

dd1981 · 09-17-2012, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonSwanson

Only drawback is you can't tilt the headrest forward when its all the way down..which also looks good and might be a bit more functional. But I notice some F30s don't have that button to tilt forward on the side of the headrest. Not sure if that's a 2013 thing or something in the trim ordered.

Yeah thats kind of the only bad thing, but I never tilt mine. I have that button on the side, not sure wich models have it and wich dont. Its not something I would opt for, I never use it.

ocso1606 · 10-10-2012, 09:15 PM

Thats a good idea. Thanks

ThreeThirtyFiveI · 12-27-2012, 11:17 AM

Interesting... but I think you might be removing a safety feature by doing this. In the stock set up the head rest has a movement (front to back) that seems to be for neck injury prevention. I might be wrong but just a thought.

dd1981 · 12-27-2012, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreeThirtyFiveI

Interesting... but I think you might be removing a safety feature by doing this. In the stock set up the head rest has a movement (front to back) that seems to be for neck injury prevention. I might be wrong but just a thought.

It could very well be for safety, it still does tilt just not as much.

themoveforward · 12-29-2012, 05:25 PM

This was done to comply with Federal safety standards. In fact, there was a recall on early production F30 models due to this fact.

dude987 · 04-06-2013, 06:14 AM

Just completed my set up. Appreciate the DIY. I may opt to buy the switched cover and replace with the fixed cover.

gteye · 04-22-2013, 03:23 PM

Great help. Thanks

e90im · 04-25-2013, 09:27 AM

Great DIY.

kromix · 05-04-2013, 12:35 PM

I dont' get how you guys got the spring out? I was trying now, I almost bent/broke the plastic piece at the end the spring is on, there almost no room for manuevering the spring out???? Help! lol

08-05-2012, 12:58 PM	#1
dd1981 Kapetan Svog Života Drives: 2012 335i sport Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Chicago Posts: 1,135 iTrader: (0) Garage List 2012 BMW 335i [4.50] 1999 Ford Ranger [0.00] 2001 Alfa Romeo 156 [0.00]	I was very annoyed by the fact that the headrest was not able to go all the way down or you couldnt take it all the way out. Here is the simple fix. Tools: 7mm socket and ratchet. And a pick tool. You may have to move the seat back and forth to give you more room. 1. At the Rear base of your front seat locate the 2 push pins. This is basically the only thing holding the back plastic part on. Gently pull down with both hands and the pins will come free. Slide the Plastic panel straight down. This gives you access to the headrest clamp. 2. Look for the 7mm clamp usually on the left headrest stem. Undo it and slide the clamp off. This will allow you to remove the headrest completely out of the seat. 3. Locate the black plastic cap with out the adjustor. Its on the Right hand side. Gently pry up on the cap. Take your time be careful. This will expose the 2 springs that need to be removed. 4. Using a pick tool romove the 2 springs. Dont throwh them away you may want to reverse this process one day. This allows the plastic clip inside to move freely. Its whats preventing the head rest from moving all the way down. Reinstall the cap. And then the headrest. Then the plastic backing cover. I also left out the clamp so I can take out the headrest if I want. YOURE DONE! Very simple. Attached Images Last edited by dd1981; 08-11-2012 at 08:10 AM.
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08-06-2012, 04:00 PM	#4
gerbs woof Drives: 2013 Estoril F30 335i Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,134 iTrader: (1) Garage List 2007 BMW 335i Coupé [5.00] 2008 BMW M3 Coupé [5.00] [retired] 2004 Suba ... [0.00]	Cool thanks! __________________ 2013 F30 335i Estoril Blue II ///M Sport 2008 E92 ///M3 Interlagos Blue 2007 E92 335i Montego Blue Sport

08-06-2012, 04:34 PM	#5
DrivenByE30 Colonel Drives: '12 F30 Lux 335i 6MT Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: OC - SoCal Posts: 2,182 iTrader: (0)	very nice !! Thanks for Sharing ! __________________ all 3 are MT > F30 Luxury 335i 6MT- The dream driven... _..._4/12/12 ED trip MASSIVE photo thread here <<<

08-20-2012, 06:04 AM	#6
steadymoddn504 Private Drives: F30 328i Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: NorCal Posts: 75 iTrader: (0) Garage List 12 BMW 328i [0.00]	Re: Diy Headrest Fix hello all. we can all agree this headrest issue just seemed a little off..(must be the ocd) but its in place for a reason: TO MOD! jk so i also tried this mod but noticed that i didn't have the clamps on mine instead it was a 20 torx screw on one of the bars. anyway so after doing one side per dd1981 just going through the steps, it dawned to me years later that i didn't even need to do steps 1-2. the only thing i needed to do was pry up on the cap that you cant squeeze down-on while the head rest is still on there (bc the cap covers the internal adjuster thingy), bring down the head rest and then pressed down on both of them simultaneously once you are on the last knotch to bring it down all the way. too late to bare with me but you'll have about 1-2 inches of space to snap the cap back on and your done. ps still be gentle when prying the cap and make sure u snap it back on real good. it has 3 groves that need to be snapped down still or cant figure it out then just go through with all the steps noted before. it just depends what you want and how much time you have.. ie i only wanted the headrest to be flush down so i went through all the steps on the passenger side and cut the steps in half for the driver side whatever works for you. if you pull up on it then it'll snap back in place and you will have to do it again Attached Images __________________ the only thing in this world that gives orders is balls. You got that? Balls. Last edited by steadymoddn504; 08-23-2012 at 02:15 PM.

08-21-2012, 03:31 AM	#8
JamesMA Second Lieutenant Drives: 2013 F30 335i M Sport Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: MA Posts: 263 iTrader: (0)	I have to do this one. Maybe this weekend. Good stuff and thank you. __________________ 2013 F30 335i 6MT M-Sport - Blk Saph. / Beige Lthr / Wood Tr. - Tech Pk - VSS M-Adp. Susp. M-Perf Stainless Exhaust M-Perf. brakes

08-05-2012, 01:25 PM	#2
328i4me First Lieutenant Drives: 08 E92 335xi Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: NorCal Posts: 325 iTrader: (4)	nice write up! ill be doing this, once i receive my car next week!

09-13-2012, 08:59 PM	#10
RonSwanson Fortune Favors The Brave Drives: 2013 328i M Sport Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 155 iTrader: (0) Garage List 2013 BMW 328i [4.50] 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 [5.00]	Just did this "the easy way" and it was pretty darn easy. Took 3 minutes. Thanks good idea! __________________ 2013 ///M Sport Estoril Blue - Navigation - Enhanced BT - Xenons - Sport Auto

09-14-2012, 09:43 AM	#11
diesel86 Private First Class Drives: 2012 BMW 328i Sportline Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 147 iTrader: (0)	Maybe it's because I'm on the taller side so have never had my headrests all the way down on any vehicle I have ever owned...but what it the point of this mod? Cosmetic only or is there a functional purpose. __________________ 2012 328i Sportline - Black Sapphire Metallic - 8AT Sport I pronounce it "Beemer" and turn my fog lights on even when it's not foggy.

09-17-2012, 01:27 PM	#12
loz3rxfreak Enlisted Member Drives: 2012 328i Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: United States Posts: 32 iTrader: (1)	Thank you for this fix. Was very simple to do. Took me 5 mins

10-10-2012, 09:15 PM	#15
ocso1606 Lieutenant Drives: 2013 335i M Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Syracuse,NY Posts: 509 iTrader: (0) Garage List 2007 BMW 525xi [0.00] 2010 Volvo [0.00] 2013 BMW 335i M-Sport [0.00]	Thats a good idea. Thanks __________________ 2013 335i M-Sport, Alpine White, Red Coral Leather, 6SP M/T, 403m 19" wheels, M- Suspension, CWP, M-Performance Exhaust, M-Performance Power Pack!

12-27-2012, 11:17 AM	#16
ThreeThirtyFiveI First Lieutenant Drives: 13' Estoril II Blue 335i F30XM Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Elmira, New York Posts: 340 iTrader: (7)	Interesting... but I think you might be removing a safety feature by doing this. In the stock set up the head rest has a movement (front to back) that seems to be for neck injury prevention. I might be wrong but just a thought. __________________ Retired: 99'* E46 323i AW / 06' E90 330i SG / 09'LCI E90 335i MB* Driving: 13' F30 / 335i / Msport /// xDrive / Estoril Blue II / Black / HexEstoril / ZMT / ZCW-ZDA-ZDH-ZPP-ZTP-337-688 /

12-29-2012, 05:25 PM	#18
themoveforward Private First Class Drives: 13' 328xi MG mSport Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: L.I., NY Posts: 103 iTrader: (0)	This was done to comply with Federal safety standards. In fact, there was a recall on early production F30 models due to this fact.

04-06-2013, 06:14 AM	#19
dude987 Private First Class Drives: BMW 328i Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Chicago Posts: 188 iTrader: (0)	Just completed my set up. Appreciate the DIY. I may opt to buy the switched cover and replace with the fixed cover.

04-22-2013, 03:23 PM	#20
gteye New Member Drives: F30 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: South Africa Posts: 10 iTrader: (0)	Great help. Thanks

04-25-2013, 09:27 AM	#21
e90im Colonel Drives: f30 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: USA Posts: 2,603 iTrader: (8)	Thanks Great DIY. __________________ '13 f30 328i \| P7ACA \| S563A \| S4DLA \| Jet Black \| f30 e92 tt S5 e92 350z e90

05-04-2013, 12:35 PM	#22
kromix Lieutenant Drives: '13 328i F30 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 528 iTrader: (0) Garage List 2013 BMW 328i (F30) [0.00]	I dont' get how you guys got the spring out? I was trying now, I almost bent/broke the plastic piece at the end the spring is on, there almost no room for manuevering the spring out???? Help! lol

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