Alas, all BMWs have one terrible fault, let’s admit it. BMW seats are among the world’s worst. If you have never been in a Recaro or Scheel bucket or driven hours on end in the other great German car, you’re lucky. You just don’t know what real seat comfort is like and you won’t miss it. But as a motoring enthusiast, what’s good for your back is good for your BMW.

The fault with BMW seats is that they have terrible thigh support and miserable back support. The seat bottoms are too short, front to back, and the rear upright cushion doesn’t provide any lumbar support. Short of spending lots of money on a rally seat, nothing much can be done about the short bottom cushion. However, if you tilt the seat about its transverse axis so that the front of the cushion is higher, additional and welcome thigh support will be offered. Inserting washers between the runners and the frame at the front will raise the seat even 1/4 or 5/16 of an inch makes a difference.

By undoing the six upholstery screws at the rear of the seat back and lifting the rear cover away with a downwards motion, you can get inside the seat. The seat shape is controlled by a series of zig-zag flat springs. You can’t bend them but you can add padding to either re-shape a worn seat or to super-contour what you have.

Using two pieces of carpet remnant, each S” by 13.5″, with the naps facing each other, slip this pad under the flat springs across the seat. A good starting point is about six inches up from the seat bottom. After the padding is in position, sit down and try it N your back is different from mine. Adjust the padding according to your own needs. When you sit squarely in the seat and have your hands on the steering wheel, press back into the seat cushion. If you feel your backbone creaking into shape and you can actually sit with a normal or expanded chest, no slouching here, you’ve got your own ideal position. Now go ahead and do the same thing to the passenger seat. After all, someday vou may be tired and someone else may be driving.

Author: Davld J. Rivkin
77-73 Kew Forest Lane, Forest Hills, NY 11375.