I posted this in a thread here, but I figure many of you own older 5 (and 7) Series with power headrests that don't work. If there is noise when you operate the headrest, but no motion, this link should help you.

http://www.garageboy.com/e28/headrest.html

Thanks to the great people who operate the garageboy site! There are other neat tips and insights on the site--please do browse!

Hope this will benefit someone!