BMW driver returned from cafe to find seat mysteriously ballooned like an airbag

This BMW driver was left baffled when he returned from having a coffee to find his seat had mysteriously ballooned like an airbag.

He did what most people would do, and called a mechanic.

But in the three hours of waiting that followed, the seat went back to normal.

So he decided to go to Reddit to try and get some answers.

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What this BMW driver discovered when he came back to this car

On Reddit, user Historical-Avocado86 opened up about his predicament in hopes that he’d secure some sort of explanation.

“I was going for a coffee with my brother and we were away for about one hour, when we came back, my seat was filled up with a lot of gas,” he wrote, alongside a picture of the ballooned seat.

“It was really, really plump and bulging. After about three hours of waiting for a mechanic who didn’t come, we went back to the car to check if it got fuller, and to our surprise, saw that it was back to near normal.

“When I sat back down in the seat, we could hear the rest of the air hiss while slowly leaving the seat.

“It’s a BMW from 2005. I do have heated seats and airbags. Anyone any idea what it was and if it’s still dangerous?”

As is the case with Reddit, there were a bunch of joke answers.

Some teased that the seat was pregnant, while others joked that it was a ‘reverse air bag’.

But a real answer did cut through.

The truth behind why this seat ballooned

Reddit user Eastoe came forward with an answer to the original poster’s question.

“Does it have adjustable lumbar?” he wrote.

“Some car seats have bladders in them that fill up with air to add or reduce lumbar [support].

“If I had to guess, something failed in yours, causing it to continuously fill with air until maybe an overpressure valve opened and deflated it. If it burst, I don’t think you’d have had much of a seat left.”

The original poster responded:

“Oh yes, it does! I didn’t think of it being adjustable by filling up with air at all! Good call!”

It’s good to know that Reddit can help people out.

It’s been used countless times by users who needed help identifying a car – even if others got distracted by terrible parking.

Some cars are harder to ID than others, though, as was the case with this mystery vehicle sitting in a storage lot in Vancouver.

Alternatively, cars that haven’t been seen for years can find themselves on Reddit, like Skyler White’s Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

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