[jimbobatx]

So two days in to my new 2023 M8 vert, and trying to figure out how to remove the rear headrests. I will never have anyone in the rear seats, and i think its will look better without the headrests not to mention better visibility out the rear view mirror. The manual says they cant be adjusted or removed, but am willing to dig in to the trim to try and get them out. Anyone done this yet? I did some thread searches but not much out there, so thought i would start a site dedicated to it! Help please.

[hinckley]

First . . . she sure is perty in the daylight. Congrats on the new car.

Second . . . I'm subscribing to your thread. I'm very interested to see if this is possible, although I do wonder whether the headrests are part of the whole roll-over protection system.

[Tenac]

There used to be a release under the covers, but I noticed the M8 does not have the same covers as say the M4..... My guess is the plastic covering the rear when seats are down its up behind there... Maybe able to get to from laying in the trunk looking up... I've not had time to try this myself. Amazon sells these blanks of rubber to cover up the wholes once removed we can measure for size.

[jimbobatx]

Originally Posted by Tenac

There used to be a release under the covers, but I noticed the M8 does not have the same covers as say the M4..... My guess is the plastic covering the rear when seats are down its up behind there... Maybe able to get to from laying in the trunk looking up... I've not had time to try this myself. Amazon sells these blanks of rubber to cover up the wholes once removed we can measure for size.

So i had dropped the seats and looked up from underneath in the trunk. Basically all closed off, nothing obvious. Hinckley may be right that its all part of the roll-over system!

[Ben_K]

Originally Posted by jimbobatx

So i had dropped the seats and looked up from underneath in the trunk. Basically all closed off, nothing obvious. Hinckley may be right that its all part of the roll-over system!

That is what I was thinking, the rear headrests being part of the pop up rollover system.

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by Ben_K

That is what I was thinking, the rear headrests being part of the pop up rollover system.

That would be shocking, I'm not sure rating such a device as a roll system would fly... Have you seen the actual deploy device its massive and goes very high.

Is there anyway to remove the black covers from behind the seat?

[M8Bimmer]

Sawz-all and masking tape works. Sorry trying to lighten it up some.
Interesting to see where....or if this goes somewhere.

[jimbobatx]

So this may be the way to go....

[hinckley]

Originally Posted by jimbobatx

So this may be the way to go....

omg, did anyone else's heart miss a beat when that video opened with a hammer and a 2x4 resting on a new BMW? I had to cover my eyes for the first few seconds.

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by jimbobatx

So this may be the way to go....

The worst part about that is see the head rest rods with the slots, those slots are what hold it to a key within the head rest. On the E36 pop that black plastic pcs up at the bottom and remove the key it slides right now. Sad to see that.

[Ben_K]

Originally Posted by Tenac

That would be shocking, I'm not sure rating such a device as a roll system would fly... Have you seen the actual deploy device its massive and goes very high.

Is there anyway to remove the black covers from behind the seat?

Somewhere I have seen the deployment video. The verdict is still out for me.

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by Ben_K

Somewhere I have seen the deployment video. The verdict is still out for me.

What I'm saying is if they have deployable roll over system why would they rely on a head rest as the system? The deployable one goes up a good 12-14" above the headrest. I could be wrong but doesn't seem worth engineering the strength into a head rest. The rails on the headrest don't look very sturdy either.

Cool older video:

[Tenac]

Looks like from this break down image we just need to get to part number 2 there is a slid bar at the top inside.


Sorry had to edit had wrong BMW image.

[jimbobatx]

Agree, just no easy way to get to it! At least not that I have found.

[bloozemanAZ]

Sadly this has been discussed in several older threads starting with the 2020s. I kept reading them as although not a convertible owner the condundrum was interesting. As far as my memory serves unfortunately nobody found a solutio. That said it's still worth a search on the forum to dig up the old threads just in case someone did and I missed it.

[Tenac]

Alright so I only had about 10mins or so and it was freaking HOT so didn't spend much time but I found out how to get access to the clip.

In the picture below you will see red circles those are plastic clips and blue circle T20 trox bit. I removed this one side but need to remove both sides and put seats down to get that cover off (didnt have time). With a flashlight I can see the retaining clips for the headrest there.

My thought is just the back cover needs to come off the top and seat back can stay but you need it loose enough to pull up and out on the back cover. I really don't know when I'll have time to attempt this with the heat and my travel over next few weeks I don't know..... I didn't get a pic of the clip bc it was super hard to see since I only had one side loose but it took less than 5 mins to get it opened up so I could see it. This is also good bc the whole on the plastic pc can be filled with a few options after you remove the headrest since you have access to underneath.

Anyone have time and want to go a bit further please do. I about missed my meeting and thought about going to whole way but wow is it hot today. Due to humidity.

[jimbobatx]

Originally Posted by Tenac

Alright so I only had about 10mins or so and it was freaking HOT so didn't spend much time but I found out how to get access to the clip.

In the picture below you will see red circles those are plastic clips and blue circle T20 trox bit. I removed this one side but need to remove both sides and put seats down to get that cover off (didnt have time). With a flashlight I can see the retaining clips for the headrest there.

My thought is just the back cover needs to come off the top and seat back can stay but you need it loose enough to pull up and out on the back cover. I really don't know when I'll have time to attempt this with the heat and my travel over next few weeks I don't know..... I didn't get a pic of the clip bc it was super hard to see since I only had one side loose but it took less than 5 mins to get it opened up so I could see it. This is also good bc the whole on the plastic pc can be filled with a few options after you remove the headrest since you have access to underneath.

Anyone have time and want to go a bit further please do. I about missed my meeting and thought about going to whole way but wow is it hot today. Due to humidity.

Well that certainly would have been easier probably than what I did! For the first one I used a couple of modified zip ties and inserted them in-between the cover and the posts. I was thinking there would be some type of post/rod/spring going across the indent of the headrest post that had to be nudged partially out of the way. Well after about 45 minutes I could tell I got one side up past the indent in the rod rod. Another five minutes, and miraculously I got the second one out of the way and got the left side out! Didn't have that kind of luck on the passenger side, tried a couple of hours with my zip ties, but no luck. I went back and looked closer at how the first one came out and what I must have nudged, and finally found a small enough screwdriver I could use to nudge the rod/spring. A little touch and feel and managed to get both sides loose and out she came. The arrow points to the post/rod/spring that need to move in the direction of the arrow (towards the right side of the car). It’s the same direction on all 4 headrest posts.

Once out, I filed down (with a dremel tool) the bottom side of the indents so as they will slip back out easily when/if I ever put them back in. I think she looks a lot better without! Here are some pics (along with the tools I used, the indents on the headrest, and the spring/rod that needs to be nudged):

[yugrac]

Resurrecting this thread out of frustration.

I spent a few hours trying to get the rear headrests out of my '22 vert with no success. Tried jimbobatx and tenac methods to no avail. Trying to remove the cover as suggested leads to the all familiar cascade of 'to remove this you need to remove this and this and this...... I was able to get to the clips and pull it away from the headrest post, but no matter, the damn thing WOULD NOT come out.

So does anyone have any suggestions? And where might I find the documentation a dealer tech would use if they had to replace one of these headrests for some reason.

I feel like I have to be missing something simple. It just can't be this hard! Thanks

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by yugrac

Resurrecting this thread out of frustration.

I spent a few hours trying to get the rear headrests out of my '22 vert with no success. Tried jimbobatx and tenac methods to no avail. Trying to remove the cover as suggested leads to the all familiar cascade of 'to remove this you need to remove this and this and this...... I was able to get to the clips and pull it away from the headrest post, but no matter, the damn thing WOULD NOT come out.

So does anyone have any suggestions? And where might I find the documentation a dealer tech would use if they had to replace one of these headrests for some reason.

I feel like I have to be missing something simple. It just can't be this hard! Thanks

So after I read Jimbo method that was the one I tried and it wasn't too terrible. The trick is the spring is not very far down maybe only 2" down that was my first mistake I thought it was further. I found a pen light found the spring pull hole as seen in picture above. I took a very small flexible Philips and found the whole and pulled quite far, now here is the trick at the same time pull up you will see it move very very slightly at this time allow the spring to go back it will put enough pressure on the rod to keep it from falling back down. Move on to the other side of the headrest same thing light to find the whole and use the tool until you will feel it. This time before you move the spring keep tension on headrest pulling up (helps to have another set of hands but I did do it alone) then when you pull the spring, while pulling HARD on the headrest upward. The other spring is fighting the rod from going out you will pop it out takes some good pulling. Repeat on other side.

I also put plugs in the whole after I took mine out. See pick below.

[yugrac]

Originally Posted by Tenac

So after I read Jimbo method that was the one I tried and it wasn't too terrible. The trick is the spring is not very far down maybe only 2" down that was my first mistake I thought it was further. I found a pen light found the spring pull hole as seen in picture above. I took a very small flexible Philips and found the whole and pulled quite far, now here is the trick at the same time pull up you will see it move very very slightly at this time allow the spring to go back it will put enough pressure on the rod to keep it from falling back down. Move on to the other side of the headrest same thing light to find the whole and use the tool until you will feel it. This time before you move the spring keep tension on headrest pulling up (helps to have another set of hands but I did do it alone) then when you pull the spring, while pulling HARD on the headrest upward. The other spring is fighting the rod from going out you will pop it out takes some good pulling. Repeat on other side.

I also put plugs in the whole after I took mine out. See pick below.

Thanks for your reply. I'll give it another go! Would you mind posting a picture of the flexible Philips screwdriver you used? I'll have to purchase one. Amazes me you can do all this through the post hole from the top with the headrest installed, but I'm sure going to try again! BTW, where did you get the black rubber plugs? Thanks again.

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by yugrac

Thanks for your reply. I'll give it another go! Would you mind posting a picture of the flexible Philips screwdriver you used? I'll have to purchase one. Amazes me you can do all this through the post hole from the top with the headrest installed, but I'm sure going to try again! BTW, where did you get the black rubber plugs? Thanks again.

Here you go you can buy both with these links: When I say flexible I mean bend easy cheap stuff... lol Once you get light and see the ring to pull from it will all come to you fast, its right there moves about .5 -1".

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Wiha-26192-Sl...-1-spons&psc=1

[yugrac]

Originally Posted by Tenac

Here you go you can buy both with these links: When I say flexible I mean bend easy cheap stuff... lol Once you get light and see the ring to pull from it will all come to you fast, its right there moves about .5 -1".

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Wiha-26192-Sl...-1-spons&psc=1

Thank you kind sir! I appreciate your efforts to help me.