SL/R230: 2003 sl500 seat removal help
the power seats are not operating and i need to remove the seats
from the car they are in the partaily tilted toward the front postition
and i cannot move the seats along the track to get to the bolts
how do i remove the seat correctly now
i appreciate all help
I've taken out the passenger seat to get a better idea of how I could get to things on the drivers side, but haven't seen anything leading me to a solution. Is there a way to remove the seat cushions with the seat still in the car so that I can at least get better access to those rear track bolts?
Any advice surely appreciated, as now the car's basically not drivable.
Thanks for your tips. I checked the fuses and they're all looking good. No issues in the fuse box.
What would a MB dealership do if someone brought in an R230 where the seat didn't move? I can't help to think that Mercedes surely built in a way to get the seat out or moved without being able to power the seat forward to access the rear bolts. Is there a way to put that power seat motor in "neutral" or disengage the seat motor from the cog track with the seat still in the car? That way I could move the seat and then access the rear bolts to then remove the seat and replace the damaged motor.
Last edited by JR12; Feb 7, 2014 at 11:28 PM.

There is also the possibility of applying 12 volts directly to the motor and bypass all the relays,switches etc to move the seat far enough to reach those rear bolts too. There very definitely is a way to remove the seat when everything is dead.
Note: If someone does figure out how to accomplish removing the seat with the motors dead, I hope that they will post their solution back into this thread to close it out!
Good Luck, Bob
Last edited by mercy-me; Nov 26, 2014 at 10:14 AM. Reason: Add note
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the power seats are not operating and i need to remove the seats
from the car they are in the partaily tilted toward the front postition
and i cannot move the seats along the track to get to the bolts
how do i remove the seat correctly now
i appreciate all help
The seats by removing the front seat storage compartments and powering up the module. This is assuming that the module will work.
The power leads going to the module are the thicker gauge brown green(negative) and the red positive. After that you may be able to use the tilt button on the top of the seat by the headrest to move the seat up. If the module is inoperable your next step is to remove the bottom cushion and access the forward aft motor leads that plug into the back of the module, unplug these and power them up moving them forward to access rear 3 bolts ( 1 indside and 2 outer) remember to remove the front bolts first before moving seat forward or you will need to move it back again to access these.
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
SL series (230) seat motor diagram back/forth
The way to move the seat with external issues is to power probe motors directly. Question is, on my 2004 SL55 each seat motor is 4 wire, WIS does not make it clear what the brown and red thin wires do
Each motor has black and white thick awg wire and red and brown thin. Anyone know the requirement of the thin wires? Interlock coil, brake, motor clutch etc? You could brick a control element by aimlessly probing.








