Bowflex Max Fix – A Little Hacked

If your Bowflex is not working I might have the answer for you. This applies to the M5, M5u, M6, M7, M7u, M8, M9, Max Total, Max Total 16, SE. If there is no change in resistance this might be it. So lets take a closer look at the part and problem.

This is the Servo Motor that changes the resistance up and down. They go for around 150 if you just replace the unit but lets take a closer look inside.

Nothing seems off here so I removed the gears to inspect.

Well there it is, the gear is stripped. Will this be the problem with your unit? Only one way to find out. So let’s go to the fix.

I found a gear that fit but it was a little thin for my liking so I installed 2 of them to make sure the gears had a large contact area. I selected ones out of brass, mainly in the hopes to prevent it from failing in the same spot again. I have a few of these available on ebay with the upgraded gear. See https://ebay.us/iNXEMf if your interested.

The rest of this article is a group of pictures to help with disassembly and installation. Bowflex also has a video on YouTube you can follow. First up is plastic removal. The cover is the natural place to start but beware of the power plug. I ended up installing a quick disconnect after breaking mine. The power cord is not very long so you will need to take care when removing it.

It is also helpful to remove the front cover to gain access to the top 2 servo motor screws. The one screw holds it on, then it lifts up and out.

Image of lower latch of cover to show you need to lift up to remove. I also recommend removing the lower screw in the second picture. I left the top one in.

Now that we have the covers off we can disconnect the spring and remove the cable. I disconnected to release the tension on the cable you need to remove. If your motor works you could set the Bowflex to max resistance to loosen the cable but chances are it doesn’t if your here. I left the cable attached to the swing arm and just removed the screw. I would recommend marking it’s position with a sharpie but it’s not critical as you can reposition the arm if needed. You will need either an 8mm wrench or a pair of pliers to loosen the nut on the cable or you can just remove the top two screws holding the bracket on.

I used a long Philips screwdriver to access the 4 screws holding the servo motor on. I used a magnet on my screwdriver to help it stay with my screwdriver. It worked well, especially for reassembly.

Now the unit should be out and re-assembly is just the opposite. I have modified a few units now and plug each one in to test it before I install. The motor does not rotate very far don’t expect a lot of movement.

I hope this post has helped you. I would very much like to hear from those of you that replace this servo motor. Please feel free to make recommendations or suggestions that might make this easier for others.

Bowflex