BMW E36 recline gear repair diy. Electric seats are nice to have, but they do have a common set of issues that typically occur on higher mileage vehicles. Luckily, most of the repairs are quite simple to perform.
Replacing the recline gear involves removing the seat completely, and then opening up the gearbox to access the plastic gears.
The seat has two nuts and two bolts holding it down, and then there is some wiring underneath that must be disconnected.
The gear box lid has 6 torx bolts holding it to the gearbox, once you've removed the bolts the gearbox lid should easily pop off. 
If you buy solely the plastic gear you will need to press it onto the rod. This can be done by placing the gear on a solid surface and then tapping the rod into the gear.
BMW E36 seat repair is typically pretty quick and simple, this repair took me about 45 minutes total.