Rear Headrest Removal

Hello all,

I would like to remove the rear seat headrests in a 2000 328CI coupe. I have done several searches that all say there is a grey clip you have to press and then to pull really hard. I cannot find this grey clip, and I have tried pullying roughly 100lbs of pressure with no luck.

From what I can tell it looks like I will need to remove the metal houseing beneath the headrests from the trunk, but there is a lot of stuff tied into that.

Any input appreciated.

-Todd

anyone? These headrests are blocking my rear view and no one has ever rested there head on them I assure you.

Haha, yeah, I took them out for the same reason.

1. Take the backrest off the rear seats or fold them down.
2. Take the sides of the rear backrest off, just pull out hard at the top and the top will unclip, then lift the bottom up and out
3. Removed the self expanding rivets that hold the plastic cover over the edge of the rear shelf, then remove the rear shelf
4. I just pried up the edge of the rear shelf (it is flexible) then used some long need nose pliers to reach and and pull out the C-clip that holds the rear headrest in. Once you pull these clips out, the headrests should slide up and out without much force.
5. Reassemble

Win:

Thank you mkodama!!

That is the best description I have heard and I spent a long time searching.

Could you clarify a little though?

"2. Take the sides of the rear backrest off, just pull out hard at the top and the top will unclip, then lift the bottom up and out" -mkodama

Sides of the rear backrest? You mean the headrest? its stiched in. You mean the seat? Its folded down. Neither of these make sense, please elaborate.

Also, how did you fill in the wholes so well? Got new upholstery?

Originally Posted by Toad21

Thank you mkodama!!

That is the best description I have heard and I spent a long time searching.

Could you clarify a little though?

"2. Take the sides of the rear backrest off, just pull out hard at the top and the top will unclip, then lift the bottom up and out" -mkodama

Sides of the rear backrest? You mean the headrest? its stiched in. You mean the seat? Its folded down. Neither of these make sense, please elaborate.

Also, how did you fill in the wholes so well? Got new upholstery?

Well, when you fold down the rear seats, there is still that little bit of backrest on the sides that doesn't fold down. They are kinda trangular shaped cushions. In the case of my sedan, the seat belts hang over these pieces of the backrest.



And since the rear shelf is made of recycled particle board, I just glued a bit of wood on the bottom of the hole, then fill in the top with wood filler and sanded smooth. Then applied some new material.

mkodama your the man, thank you sir. I will update this when mine is done, i will probably use some sort of plastic cover for the hole.

Fold down the rear seats. Use both hands on just ONE of the two head rest stud/rods. Then yank or push towards the ceiling. The stud/rod will come out quite easily. Then yank the second rod/stud for the same head rest. For installation, push down only one side of the headrest at a time, or it will be impossible.

those before and after pictures aren't even the same car....lol. Ever seen the where's waldo comics...... name the differences....LOL

Originally Posted by ZHPEE

those before and after pictures aren't even the same car....lol. Ever seen the where's waldo comics...... name the differences....LOL

look the same to me...just with suede wrap pieces

No problem Toad

Originally Posted by ZHPEE

those before and after pictures aren't even the same car....lol. Ever seen the where's waldo comics...... name the differences....LOL

I dunno, one of the pics looks like I took it at 4 pm and the other at 6pm. And if the first one, my trunk is up. Go search for thread I created in the DIY forum about wrapping in fake suede.

haha, i find it kinda funny that you think there are differences.

Ok I am still not doing this right. I removed the arm rest piece to the right, what is this supposed to expose? What the hell am I supposed to remove, please bey very specific. I yanked up on 1 individual poll of the headrest with probably 150lbs of force and no budge.



Thanks a bunch!

Only if you would read.

There's not enough room for you to do any kind of serious yanking. Cup the rod between the two hands, Elbows on thighs and push up. Also the bottom of your palms on the small finger end should push against the rear deck trim to increase upward thrust.

Originally Posted by GoingNuts

Only if you would read.

There's not enough room for you to do any kind of serious yanking. Cup the rod between the two hands, Elbows on thighs and push up. Also the bottom of your palms on the small finger end should push against the rear deck trim to increase upward thrust.

I did, I mean I pulled as hard as I can. Is your car maybe different procedure than mine? So your saying im too much of a pusea to get this done. I will start a cycle of steroids tomorrow, maybe by the end of the month I will be strong enough to do this ? Maybe I will try and find a way to pry it out.

I like mkdona's plan, but I cant follow it.

I am stuck on

3. Removed the self expanding rivets that hold the plastic cover over the edge of the rear shelf, then remove the rear shelf

These bastards, is there a trick? I had 2 flat head screws drivers on either of a rivet issolated, and I pryed as hard as I could and they would only come up about quarter inch. I need a way to get these guys out.

Originally Posted by Toad21

Ok I am still not doing this right. I removed the arm rest piece to the right, what is this supposed to expose? What the hell am I supposed to remove, please bey very specific. I yanked up on 1 individual poll of the headrest with probably 150lbs of force and no budge.



Thanks a bunch!

Ok...

1. See that plastic thing you have your fingers on in the picture? I has a little sticker talking about closing the through-loading facility? It is held on with 4 plastic self-expanding rivets on the top. Pull out the center of the self-expanding rivets, then the rivets will pull out. Remove that black plastic piece and then you can reach under the rear shelf to remove the metal C-clips holding the headrests on.

OK, for 2000 328Ci, TIS states:

Move head restraint up as far as possible.

Forcefully pull out head restraint or detach by hitting firmly on one side from below.


Is the BMW technique good enough for you ? BTW, if you extract those 4 rivets, you may regret it as you may end up doing damage to the trim or hit your self in the eye. Those rivets are equal if not more difficult to take out than one of the head rest rods.

There's an easier way to extract the rivets. Push the centre pin through the bottom with a thin screwdriver (instead of pulling it out). The outer part of the rivet will just pop out.

The only tricky part is then to dig the centre pins out of the metal brace through the small holes. I only managed to retrieve three of the four.

Those barbed rivets have no central pin. They are not designed to be removed. The same rivet is used for the seat back cover:

Originally Posted by GoingNuts

OK, for 2000 328Ci, TIS states:

Move head restraint up as far as possible.

Forcefully pull out head restraint or detach by hitting firmly on one side from below.


Is the BMW technique good enough for you ? BTW, if you extract those 4 rivets, you may regret it as you may end up doing damage to the trim or hit your self in the eye. Those rivets are equal if not more difficult to take out than one of the head rest rods.

You must have some crazy rivets in your car, I didn't have to worry about damaging the trim or my eyes.

Takes me about a minutes to take out that trim piece.

But weird about just pulling up really hard on the headrest. On my car, there is no way to remove the headrests by pulling because of that little metal C-clip that locks them in there. Maybe the difference between a sedan and a coupe?

They all have C-Clip. I think the main reason you can't do it is because you don't believe you can. You must think like Neo, and you will be the One. BTW, I didn't think I can do it either. At one point I thought BMW were crazy. But they were not.

See if you can remove that rivet on the seat under one minute.

Originally Posted by GoingNuts

They all have C-Clip. I think the main reason you can't do it is because you don't believe you can. You must think like Neo, and you will be the One. BTW, I didn't think I can do it either. At one point I thought BMW were crazy. But they were not.

See if you can remove that rivet on the seat under one minute.

And I think I'll leave that rivet in there, especially when you just said they were not designed to be removed. I have already spend so much money on plastic clips for my car, I don't need to raise that amount even more.