My wife had the same issue on her 2005 X3. She ended up getting the entire seat (bottom part) replaced under warranty. I'm guessing the '01 isn't covered, but BMW didn't fix hers, they replaced it.

Good luck.

Rob

__________________
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2005 X5 4.4L
2005 X3 3.0L
do you FU?
visit drfu.com