Front Seatbelt not retracting

[Guest Anonymous]

My front seatbelt stopped retracting fully/reliably. If you pull on it it will retract a bit - repeated attempts will get it fully retracted (emphasis on repeated). Anyone have any suggestions on what I can try, or am I SOL and need to buy a new one?

[Guest Anonymous]

Remove retractor from the B-pillar rocker location. clean off any dirt, build-up, oxidation as best as possible. DON'T try to take apart....you end up screwing it up......

Pull the seat belt out fully....and lubricate the roller/spindle with your favourite lubricant....WD40, Stop-Squeak....whatever......work back and forth several times, and make certain that the retractor is in "design position" ie. in the position that it is in when in the car, or the retractor mechanism will be overriden....cause it works by centripedal force and orientation.

This should help.......but make sure that its clean before you reinstall.

Good Luck

02MonsterMike

[Guest Anonymous]

if it doesn't and you want an adventure, you can take the retractor apart and rewind the spring. I've done it before--just takes a lot of patience and careful observation of how everything goes back together BEFORE the parts fly all over the garage upon disassembly. As I recall, the real PITA is that the spring is wound backwards to its natural tendency to coil. Do this as a last resort, though. You might be better off to either buy a new one or scrounge one from a parts car or a 320. Remember, though, that BMW fitted two different makers' units: Autoflug and Repa. They will interchange as a whole but the buckles are different; you can't insert a Repa belt into an Autoflug buckle and vice versa.

Good luck--hope it just needs lubrication.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

if it doesn't and you want an adventure, you can take the retractor apart and rewind the spring. I've done it before--just takes a lot of patience and careful observation of how everything goes back together BEFORE the parts fly all over the garage upon disassembly. As I recall, the real PITA is that the spring is wound backwards to its natural tendency to coil. Do this as a last resort, though. You might be better off to either buy a new one or scrounge one from a parts car or a 320. Remember, though, that BMW fitted two different makers' units: Autoflug and Repa. They will interchange as a whole but the buckles are different; you can't insert a Repa belt into an Autoflug buckle and vice versa.

Good luck--hope it just needs lubrication.

Mike