The driver seat on the 1984 mercedes sl wont tilt forward.

Check under the seat for broken wires. Forward and backwards is the function most used and causes the wires to bend back and forth. you may need to remove the seat for inspection or you may be lucky and see the problem just by raising the seat as high as it will go.

Usually the seat is bolted to the floor in the back. Slide seat all the way forward, look for 2 15mm bolts. take out bolts, tilt seat up, disconnect wires, then slide seat back out of front slots.

there will be bars underneath the seat that are supposed to go across to unlock both sides so that the seat can move forward and back, try having someone pull the lever and see if you can see from behind the bar that moves and figure out what it corresponds to on the opposite side. you should be able to move it by hand, release the lock and set the seat where you want it, as for a permanent fix, most seats are not difficult to remove, typically four bolts, although some take specialty tools like large torx bits, and i would imagine the bar is replaceable

Usually configuration on any seat. Slide seat all the way back and take out 2 front bolts. Sometimes the bolts are covered with a plastic cover that needs to be removed. Slide seat all the way forward the remove the 2 back bolts. Then I usually tilt the seat backwards and unhook any wires underneath. Carefully lift seat out of the vehicle being careful not to scratch the car.

Very common problem. The white plastic gear in the tilt mechanism gets old and brittle and breaks.
BMW will want to sell you a whole gear box with motor. Aside from the outrageous cost, removing that gearbox is a pain.
Odometergears.com will sell you just the plastic gear for $40, and their website has wonderful instructions that show you how to replace it quickly and easily.
You will have to remove the seat from the car. Put some old socks over the tips of the seat rails that unbolt from the floor because the seat is rather heavy and awkward to handle, and the tips of those seat rails are very sharp and will cut up the interior and exterior of your car if they touch anything as you wrestle with the seat DAMHIK.
The other tip is to be careful not to over-tighten the screws that hold the cover on the gear box, They are not very strong and will twist in two easily. Again.. Don't ask...
Unrelated, but if the leather on your driver seat is shot, you can use the leather from a junk yard passenger seat to freshen up your driver seat. The seat bottom is replaced foam and all. Don't bother trying to save the plastic snaps, just pry the seat bottom up and put in new snaps. The leather on the seat back has to be removed from the seat and transferred, but it is not difficult.

1. Take off the head rest. 2. slide seat forward until the 2 rear bolts are exposed on the track 3. Remove bolts 4. the seat that lifts out like a van seat. you need to tilt it forward then pull it up and back and it will come out. then maneuver it out of the door.

this is not uncommon and the test is very simple. The seat motor often fails in this vehicle and the simplest test is this: (1)raise the front of the seat as much as possible, (2)tap on the motor housing while holding the seat slide button (seat motor you need is the one easiest to reach in the front/bottom of the seat). If this resolves your problem what you need is a seat motor. Unfortunately these are often only available with a complete seat base system, so if this is the resolution you may want to search salvage yards, this piece can be easily replaced by itself.

I just had the same problem. When the seat is powered all the forward, one of the worm drives reached the end of its travel and jammed against the threaded block that it passes through. To fix this the seat has to be unbolted and tipped back. There are four tiny 6mm bolts that hold the motor plate in. Remove these and the motor will come out. The worm drive is bolted in at one end and has a set pin at the other. Remove the worm drive and use a couple of vice grips or equivalent to loosen the threaded block from the worm drive.

I'm not certain of the layout of the bolts on your particular model, but there should be 4 bolts, one at each end of the seat tracks (the things the seat slides back and forth on), attaching the tracks to the floor. You may need to slide the seat back to access the front bolts, and forward again to get the back ones. Tilt the seat back right forward to allow you to get the seat out the door. If the seat has electric controls there will be some plugs to disconnect under it. If there are any yellow coloured plugs, DO NOT disconnect them without disconnecting the negative terminal off the battery and waiting for 5 minutes. The yellow plug is an airbag system plug, and if the battery is not disconnected the airbags could potentially deploy. Make sure the battery remains disconnected for the entire time that the yellow plug is disconnected, and reconnect the battery AFTER the yellow plug. If there isn't a yellow plug, don't worry.

Hope this helps.

There are four bolts holding the seat to the floor. Slide the seat all the way forward and you will be able to see the two bolts which are at the rear of the seat slide rail. They are 14mm bolts, remove them. Slide the seat all the way back and remove the two bolts at the front of the rail. Once the bolts are out removed tilt the seat towards the back, it should lift the seat bottom easily and you can find your flash drive. Be careful not to push the seat too far back as there may be a wiring harness to damage. Once you retrieve the flash drive, put the seat back down and put the bolts back in.