** MUST SEE**BMW e46 3 series (1997-2006) front seat wiring check.

Owners of the e46 may be unaware that they could be sitting (literally) on a potential fire risk. It is important that you check this or have it checked.
It is NOT good enough to simply look at the insulation tape covering the wires, you MUST remove the insulation tape that covers/binds the wires a visually check the plastic insulation of the wires.
Put away your electrical testers and other such gadgets and use the “Mk 1 Eyeball” (just look at it!)
Check both driver and passenger seat. Each check will only take around 10 minutes.
This 10-minute check could save you from a total vehicle loss.
This is something we always check when restoring or retrimming seats from the e46 and it is something we are starting to see more of.
We have seen these wires touching when moving the seat which creates sparks. You would have thought that it would blow the fuse? Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Enough spark can be created to cause a fire long before any fuses blow.
Remember, mileage of your vehicle has nothing to do with this issue.
It could be a 1 owner car with 200k on the clock where the seat has been set in one position for years. You are more likely to see this issue on a vehicle with 80k on the clock where two people use it and the seat has been moved more frequently. And lets no forget the ex-demo vehicles where potential buyers have moved the seat hundreds, maybe thousands of times.
It costs nothing and very little time to check.
Team Bespoke

[@bw1532]

Thanks for the video. In my 2003 e46 coupe, these wires were fine, but two other sets of wires were broken/severed. The red wire to the rear-most motor plug was completely broken and there was a small black, two conductor wire going from the loom connection to the seat back that was completely severed. After I reconnected all these wires the battery was totally dead over night. So essentially what I'm saying is the wiring under these seats could be a total horror show. Good luck! I was able to de-pin the connector to the motor with two cell phone sim card ejection tools that I cut to slide in on either side of the connector that I was looking to remove. It was a complete pain in the... pins.