[Bmwsaz]

Hey guys ,
Ever since is bought the car from the dealer and drove off I felt the lumbar support very uncomfortable . It's like the lumbar never deflates to the normal position , it's always protruding into my back causing severe stress in lower back after 30 mins of driving . The passenger side seat on the other hand is perfect and u can feel the differnce . I tried every possible setting to get the lumbar into normal position. , took it to the dealer . They said its some thing u have to try and play with .. I am telling g you , I ve spent hours n hours . I recently had to go to Canada , after I came back I could not bend my back for a week ..has any one else experienced this issue and been able to fix it ?? Any pointer highly appreciated ..I don't want to sell the car which I love otherwise bcoz no one know how to fix the stupid seat ..

[NewM3driver]

Something is obviously wrong. Do you have the standard seats or the luxury seating package? BMW has some of the best seats in the business.

[TourStageFan]

Originally Posted by Bmwsaz

Hey guys ,
Ever since is bought the car from the dealer and drove off I felt the lumbar support very uncomfortable . It's like the lumbar never deflates to the normal position , it's always protruding into my back causing severe stress in lower back after 30 mins of driving . The passenger side seat on the other hand is perfect and u can feel the differnce . I tried every possible setting to get the lumbar into normal position. , took it to the dealer . They said its some thing u have to try and play with .. I am telling g you , I ve spent hours n hours . I recently had to go to Canada , after I came back I could not bend my back for a week ..has any one else experienced this issue and been able to fix it ?? Any pointer highly appreciated ..I don't want to sell the car which I love otherwise bcoz no one know how to fix the stupid seat ..

What you are experiencing is not uncommon, but then again everyone's anatomy is different. I suffered from the same problem in my '12 535iX M-Sport and I do not have any back problems whatsoever.

Do you have the Multi-Contour Seats? Is your car still under warranty?

The solution in my case was that the dealer took apart the seat and discovered that the air hose that deflates/inflates the lumbar bladder was being pinched, therefore not allowing the lumbar bladder to deflate fully although I held the button down.

I believe there was a service bulletin regarding this problem. Ask your Service Advisor to take apart the seat, check the air hose and reposition the lumbar bladder a bit lower so that it does not protrude into the small of your back.

[Bmwsaz]

Tourstage,
I think I have the standard seat without contours . It's still under warranty.
I have an appointment scheduled soon, I will ask the dealer to check the hose like u suggested . Hopefully they are able to fix it ..thanks for your comments , at least I know it's not just me ..

[Bmwsaz]

Also do you have any links handy which describes this service bulletin so that I can show it to dealer . I tried looking but did not find

[lsturbointeg]

Maybe I slouch a bit when I drive and I notice that my back aches a bit to and from but when I use the Lombard support my lower back never aches anymore. Like someone mentioned early everybody has different arches?

[Bmwsaz]

lsturbointeg , I agree everybody has a different anatomy. But trust me have I driven so many different cars for varied amounts of time, never had a back issue .. Not only that, when my younger brother and my close friend drove the car for 1 hour, they felt uncomfortable too. Is definitely the seats

[The X Men]

Originally Posted by Bmwsaz

lsturbointeg , I agree everybody has a different anatomy. But trust me have I driven so many different cars for varied amounts of time, never had a back issue .. Not only that, when my younger brother and my close friend drove the car for 1 hour, they felt uncomfortable too. Is definitely the seats

The fact that your passenger's lumbar support is fine and the driver side is not tells me that there is something wrong with the driver side lumbar support. I would either demand your dealer to take apart the seat and troubleshoot the problem or go to another dealer that will take your problem seriously.

[BMWrules7]

Originally Posted by Bmwsaz

Hey guys ,
Ever since is bought the car from the dealer and drove off I felt the lumbar support very uncomfortable . It's like the lumbar never deflates to the normal position , it's always protruding into my back causing severe stress in lower back after 30 mins of driving . The passenger side seat on the other hand is perfect and u can feel the differnce . I tried every possible setting to get the lumbar into normal position. , took it to the dealer . They said its some thing u have to try and play with .. I am telling g you , I ve spent hours n hours . I recently had to go to Canada , after I came back I could not bend my back for a week ..has any one else experienced this issue and been able to fix it ?? Any pointer highly appreciated ..I don't want to sell the car which I love otherwise bcoz no one know how to fix the stupid seat ..

I just drove a bare bones 5 series. It was not the 550. May have been a 528 or 530.

I couldn't believe it. For the first time, in my 20 years with BMW, I found the seats comfortable---really comfortable.

I have had lumbar support for a long time. I have never found any setting comfortable.

In fact, my seats in my f02 are not comfortable. I have a theory. BMW intentionally limits the comfort on the seats to prevent you from falling asleep.

[snowmuch]

I have the same problem, I'm in my early 20s and coming from a C63 seat this seat is making my back sore.

[BavariaExclusive]

lumbar bladder

Originally Posted by TourStageFan

What you are experiencing is not uncommon, but then again everyone's anatomy is different. I suffered from the same problem in my '12 535iX M-Sport and I do not have any back problems whatsoever.

Do you have the Multi-Contour Seats? Is your car still under warranty?

The solution in my case was that the dealer took apart the seat and discovered that the air hose that deflates/inflates the lumbar bladder was being pinched, therefore not allowing the lumbar bladder to deflate fully although I held the button down.

I believe there was a service bulletin regarding this problem. Ask your Service Advisor to take apart the seat, check the air hose and reposition the lumbar bladder a bit lower so that it does not protrude into the small of your back.

[lsturbointeg]

So has the dealer done anything about this for you?

[Bmwsaz]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

So has the dealer done anything about this for you?

He called me yesterday and said they have ordered a new air bladder without giving too many details . Most probably I will go pick it up today . Hopefully that should fix the issue..fingers crossed ..will update the thread once I get it back ..

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Bmwsaz

He called me yesterday and said they have ordered a new air bladder without giving too many details . Most probably I will go pick it up today . Hopefully that should fix the issue..fingers crossed ..will update the thread once I get it back ..

Awesome to hear! Let us know how it works out

[Bmwsaz]

Picked up the car today .. The service advisor said that they did test and confirmed a faulty air valve ..which they replaced ..but frankly it's still not like the passenger seat .. I told him that and made him sit on both seats .. He asked me to come back later in the weekday as the foreman had left or something .. He said they will test air pressure on both seats and see if it's still really a problem ..I guess I will go sometime later this week

[Bmwsaz]

Update : they changed the air bladder system .they say they did , God know what's the reality .i don't see much improvement even after what they did . I asked them to open the seat to which they said it won't do anything , the bladder is as thin as paper etc etc ..long story short they did not help me get the problem solved .. I ended up buying this lumbar support cushion (memory foam) from Amazon ..going on long trip this Memorial Day weekend .. Hopefully it would help me ..

[lsturbointeg]

Bummer!

[ndinh]

We recently purchased a 528i for my wife (standard seats, etc) and just took it on a 4 hr trip this past weekend. When we got to our destination, both my wife and I had a hard time standing straight up and we both had lower back ache. 2 days later and my lower back is still sore. I've had my 535i GT for 2 years and have driven it extensively without any issues. My seats seem so much more comfortable than my wife's 528. Also, the F10 528 rides much harder than the F07. If you find a cure for the uncomfortable seat, let me know.