Driver's Headrest tilted forward

[Franklin2]

The headrest on the driver's seat is tilted forward, much more than the one on the passenger's side. I remember reading somewhere that in the event of a rearend collision, the headrests will tilt forward. Since the car has not been hit, I think this must have happened when my dealer replaced the drivers seat belt unit. He mentioned that they had to removed the seat in order to replace the belt. Is there any way for me to adjust the headrest back to its normal position? The dealer is about 25 miles away and I hate to bother them on something I can fix. None of the buttons on the side of the drivers seat will adjust the angle of the headrest.

Thanks, Larry


Modified by Franklin2 at 7:04 PM 6-16-2005

[PanEuropean]

Hi Larry:

I think you are correct in your presumption that the rear impact protection system has been triggered. I had a look through all the technical literature that I have, and I could not find any instructions about 'resetting' the headrest if it has moved forward. This suggests to me that there is no special process to follow, you probably just need to grab it and push it backwards.

Below is an illustration and description of how the system works, extracted from one of the Phaeton self-study guides. From looking at this, my guess is that if you just sat in the back seat of the car, and grabbed the affected front headrest and gave it a few shakes fore and aft, it would probably return to the normal position.

It might make the process easier (give you more leverage) if you raised the headrest to the highest possible position first. Be aware that the seat controller is smart enough to know that if the seat base is in the highest position, raising the headrest to the highest position will cause it to hit the roof - so, it limits headrest extension if the seat base is in the upper range of its movement. Because of this, you may want to lower the seat base to the lowest position, then raise the headrest to the highest position after that.

Let me know what the result is.

Michael

Description of Active Headrest System (Rear Impact Protection)
text and arrows in red have been added by Michael. Note that of the four illustrations at the bottom of this page, only the lower right illustration shows the headrest in the deployed (post-accident) position. The other three show the headrest in the normal position.

[PhaetonChix]

I think a call to PCC is in order, especially since safety equipment has been triggered and a possible liability issue exists.

~PC

[rmg2]

Quote, originally posted by Franklin2 »

The headrest on the driver's seat is tilted forward, much more than the one on the passenger's side. I remember reading somewhere that in the event of a rearend collision, the headrests will tilt forward. Since the car has not been hit, I think this must have happened when my dealer replaced the drivers seat belt unit. He mentioned that they had to removed the seat in order to replace the belt. Is there any way for me to adjust the headrest back to its normal position? The dealer is about 25 miles away and I hate to bother them on something I can fix. None of the buttons on the side of the drivers seat will adjust the angle of the headrest. Thanks, Larry Modified by Franklin2 at 7:04 PM 6-16-2005

Larry,

I do not know if you have the comfort package with the comfort seats but if you do you might check the seat back setting for the top half of the seat back to make sure it has not been adjusted to its most forward position.

I personally like having the upper seat back pulled forward towards my shoulders and head but some might find it a bit confining.

Just a thought!

[Franklin2]

Hi all, thanks for all the help.

I will try to do as Michael suggested and pull it back into position. If no success, will call PCC.

Rick, I do have the comfort package and have tilted the top part of the seat forward. I agree with you, very good feature. But the problem is the headrest itself. I will try to post a picture of it tonight so you can see the issue.

I did not think about it being a safety issue. Thanks PC for the thought. Of course you are right.

I continue to be amazed at the insight and diagrams that Michael can pull out at a moments notice. Never in my mind did I think that such a resource on a forum was possible.

Will post the results.
Thanks again, Larry


Modified by Franklin2 at 6:10 AM 6-17-2005

[Franklin2]

Michael, I tried your suggestion about lowering the seat, raising the headrest, getting in the backseat and pulling the headrest back. It worked. It is now back into its normal setting. Thanks for your research on this and the technical illustrations.

If I can learn how to post a picture of the headrest in its "crash" position, it might be good for others to see what it looks like. I took a few shots before resetting it.

Larry

[Franklin2]

After doing some searching in the Help section, let's see if this works
This one shows the headrest in the "crash" forward position.

This one is, of course, the normal position

Larry

[PanEuropean]

Hi Larry:

Glad to see that you got it fixed. I kind of figured it would be one of these 'easy to reset' things, because I couldn't find any instructions explaining how to reset it.

Thanks for the photos - they are great. I had no idea that the headrest moved that far forward. I can now see how this would be a very valuable intervention if someone hits the Phaeton from behind.

Michael

[PhaetonChix]

If someone hit my Phaeton from behind, I'd pull the headrest out and beat them to death with it.

Not kidding

~PC

[Franklin2]

I know what you mean. A friend here in Atlanta was hit yesterday by a typical inattentive driver in an F-150. Seems like we have a lot of those around here. My friends 745li was crunched between the pickup and a Crown Vic police cruser. BIG dollar damage. But his drivers compartment was just fine. His headrests did not move forward.
The BMW was only four months old. At least they did not have to wait too long for a police officer.

Larry

[PanEuropean]

Photo re-hosted.

Michael