Rear selt belts not working

SodasM3 · Tue, Jul-28-2009, 05:23:34 PM

Okay both my rear shoulder strap seat belts are locked and won't come out. I do have an airbag light on that I plan on going to the shop tonihgt and see why it was tripped and have it reset. I undid the 16MM bolt that hold the seatbelt on under the bottome of the seat and let it go back in a ways to see it would start working however all it did is just pull it in move and would come back out. Any idea's as to what might be wrong? does the airbag light locked the rear selt belts but not the front? seems kinda odd to me that it would do that. Any help or ideas would be great.

Thanks,
Bryan

hypebeast408 · Wed, Jul-29-2009, 08:05:09 AM

man i have the same problem

goodluck tho

egebhardt · Wed, Jul-29-2009, 07:06:01 PM

The AirBag light has nothing to do with it.
One trick is to get the back of the seatbelt assembly vertical. This is done by releasing the back latch to tip the seat forward slightly. The try to pull them out.
Another trick is to just keep pulling and releasing until it comes. It doesn't take much force.
Another trick is to remove the assembly (another 16mm bolt on the back of the seat) and play the pull-and-release game.
There is a plastic plug covering the 16mm bolt holding the assembly in. It may take 50 pulls.

Little Black Buttons on the belt fabric
If the plastic buttons have fallen off (the ones that keep the belt out about 2 feet), then you need to put them back on, or sew on a small black button where it used to be. These buttons keep it un-wound enough to work properly.

Once the assembly is out of the seat, don't remove the side-caps containing the wound springs. They are no fun to re-wind and re-winding does not help.

The colored plastic top to the assembly gets brittle and will break. They are cheap ($8) and can be special ordered from www.pelicanparts.com.

SodasM3 · Tue, Aug-04-2009, 05:38:49 PM

Okay so I took the seltbelt unit out and finnaly got them to work. It appears that you have to push in the little red button on the top of the unit to get the seatbelt to come out. Well if you have it at the perfect angle and get really lucky it works anyways. I will look at Pelican and see if I can find the replacement button you were talking about. because right now it is about a 1 in 50 chance that the seat belt will actaully come out. I know a guy and on his the little red button stay down all the time so he doesn;t have the problem of the selt belt not coming out. DO you know how to lock that button down? Thanks for you help so far. You help me get farther than the two days that I had already been fighting with it.

**PurduinaM3** · Tue, Aug-04-2009, 06:19:03 PM

If you have rear folding seats, the seat belts won't release unless the rear seats are completely locked into the rear trunk. Might want to check that...

Tue, Jul-28-2009, 05:23:34 PM	#1
SodasM3 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Age: 37 Posts: 32 Reputation: 0 Location: Spokane	Rear selt belts not working Okay both my rear shoulder strap seat belts are locked and won't come out. I do have an airbag light on that I plan on going to the shop tonihgt and see why it was tripped and have it reset. I undid the 16MM bolt that hold the seatbelt on under the bottome of the seat and let it go back in a ways to see it would start working however all it did is just pull it in move and would come back out. Any idea's as to what might be wrong? does the airbag light locked the rear selt belts but not the front? seems kinda odd to me that it would do that. Any help or ideas would be great. Thanks, Bryan

Wed, Jul-29-2009, 08:05:09 AM	#2
hypebeast408 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Age: 21 Posts: 106 Reputation: 0 Location: San Jose,The Bay Area Cal	man i have the same problem goodluck tho __________________ Conforti Air Intake Shark Injector H&R springs EBC brake Pads Rouge Engineering RMS's ZHP Shift Nob

Wed, Jul-29-2009, 07:06:01 PM	#3
egebhardt Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Age: 40 Posts: 1,728 Reputation: 0 Location: San Mateo, CA	The AirBag light has nothing to do with it. One trick is to get the back of the seatbelt assembly vertical. This is done by releasing the back latch to tip the seat forward slightly. The try to pull them out. Another trick is to just keep pulling and releasing until it comes. It doesn't take much force. Another trick is to remove the assembly (another 16mm bolt on the back of the seat) and play the pull-and-release game. There is a plastic plug covering the 16mm bolt holding the assembly in. It may take 50 pulls. Little Black Buttons on the belt fabric If the plastic buttons have fallen off (the ones that keep the belt out about 2 feet), then you need to put them back on, or sew on a small black button where it used to be. These buttons keep it un-wound enough to work properly. Once the assembly is out of the seat, don't remove the side-caps containing the wound springs. They are no fun to re-wind and re-winding does not help. The colored plastic top to the assembly gets brittle and will break. They are cheap ($8) and can be special ordered from www.pelicanparts.com. __________________ 96 Boston on Grey 2dr - New 5.17.13 98 Estoril on Grey 4dr - New 3.25.12 98 Arctic on Grey 4dr - Sold 3.18.13 Brandon driving it 98 Estoril on Grey 2dr - Sold 8.6.12 Thy sold it 99 Estoril on Sand 2dr - Sold 7.31.12 Eric driving it 98 Arctic on Grey 2dr - Sold 3.10.12 Kyle driving it 96 Techno on Black 2dr-Sold 6.13.09 Ross totaled it Last edited by egebhardt; Wed, Jul-29-2009 at 07:12:50 PM.

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Tue, Aug-04-2009, 05:38:49 PM	#4
SodasM3 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Age: 37 Posts: 32 Reputation: 0 Location: Spokane	Okay so I took the seltbelt unit out and finnaly got them to work. It appears that you have to push in the little red button on the top of the unit to get the seatbelt to come out. Well if you have it at the perfect angle and get really lucky it works anyways. I will look at Pelican and see if I can find the replacement button you were talking about. because right now it is about a 1 in 50 chance that the seat belt will actaully come out. I know a guy and on his the little red button stay down all the time so he doesn;t have the problem of the selt belt not coming out. DO you know how to lock that button down? Thanks for you help so far. You help me get farther than the two days that I had already been fighting with it.

Tue, Aug-04-2009, 06:19:03 PM	#5
PurduinaM3 Banned Join Date: Jul 2007 Age: 27 Posts: 15,677 In the garage: '98 BMW M3 '05 AUDI A4 Reputation: 0 Location: White Plains, NY	If you have rear folding seats, the seat belts won't release unless the rear seats are completely locked into the rear trunk. Might want to check that...