Anyone ever use E30 rear seatbelts in a 2002?

[bergie33]

I have rear shoulder belts from my 318is that I just cut up, and would like to use them in the rear of my tii. Anyone ever used them? The issue may be that they mount verticle, under the rear parcel shelf in an E30.

[pichos1]

Hello Karl,

I have the ones of a 325i which I belive are the same. I can send you pictures later.

Regards

Jan

[pichos1]

Hello Karl,

I have the ones of a 325i which I belive are the same. I can send you pictures later.

Regards

Jan

[bergie33]

I would love to see pics again. I know you showed them to me before, but forgot how you mounted them.

[MOJOJOY]

here are Jan's e30 rear seatbelt pictures

[bergie33]

Does the bottom anchor mount where the old inertia reel used to be? Did you add the center lap belt as well?

[pichos1]

Karl,

Thanks, I did not use the center belt because I have the M3 seat which only accomodates two. I made the lower bracket so that the reel could sit on it. I did have to cut the rear tray so that the seat belt could go through.

Hope that this helps.

Regards

Jan

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks for posting this.

I can't take my 6 year old daughter for a ride in my 2002 until I put rear shoulder belts in. I'm going to show what you did to my mechanic to give him an idea on how to go about it.

Best,

Morris

[acmeradio]

Does the bottom anchor mount where the old inertia reel used to be? Did you add the center lap belt as well?

I did this same mod...I've got 3 kids (4,6,8). I didn't do the center lap belt...with "booster" seats in...it'd be impossible to have anybody sit there unless it was Mary-Kate Olson. :-) My belts were out of an 84 318i. I found them on an E30 board. I just copied what Jan did. Had to make a cut in the parcel shelf and that bracket on the bottom. Oh..and to locate the upper mount bolt hole in the C pillar. Remember that bolt is NOT metric. UGH...found that out the hard way. I guess all seat belts bolts are standard...some universally accepted thing??!! Anyway... I feel much safer with kids in the back now.

L8R!

[shipm_8]

...seeing Jan’s rear seatbelt installation during one of the Bay Area 02 drives a couple of years ago, I had a sudden case of “I gotta have me one of those-itis” which led to a line item added to my list of things to do to Tip Top and a couple of line items added to the shopping list.

**edit: If you would like to see the pictures related to this post, please contact me. Thank you**

And then of course, time passed, with the parts stashed in a corner of the garage, until it was BA02S&S-3 (Bay Area 02 Swap and Show minus 3 days) and I got inspired to tear things up and get started on the project, to the eyerolling of my navigator, best friend, consigliere and wife.

Parts list:

E30 seatbelts (x2), 72 11 1 924 923

Lower straps (x2) 72111941553

Lower strap (optional, or if you envision small passengers in the rear) 72111941551

“bows” (x2) 72111924947

I measured the angle of the rear seat/parcel shelf with a folding ruler to give me an idea of what angle I needed for the bracket that would hold the seatbelt cartridge.

For the bracket, I used a 2x9.75x1/8 “improved strength” aluminum. Bent it at the 6” point to allow enough of a projection to hold the seatbelt cartridge.

This is the way I bent the piece of scrap metal I used for the prototype, before using the thicker aluminum

Made a 7/16” hole to mount the cartridge, and two 10mm holes to mount the bracket to the rear wall with some M10 cap screws.

But before I got to the mounting, I had to make some holes on the rear parcel shelf. Ideally, the rear windshield would have been off, to allow me a clear shot to make the hole but, as they say “there is the world that is, and the world that ought to be….and we live in the world that is”. So, I drilled a hole, and used aviation snips (“you see, honey….I finally found a use for those aviation snips!”), making the holes big enough for the belt to go through, but tight enough for the cartridge to seat snugly.

Then, I had to make holes on the parcel shelf panel, of the appropriate size so the plastic guide that the seatbelt rides over (the “bow” the catalog calls it) would snap in.

Threading the belt through

Mounting the seatbelt assembly required mechanical assistance from my consigliere, which she enthusiastically provided because this was a project related to safety(*), comfort and/or tidiness.

The end result.

William

(*) of course a relative thing, because this is not the way the engineers envisioned rear seatbelts installed on a 72tii so installation of this mod is at one's own risk.

[TobyB]

...you guys scare me...

t

[shipm_8]

T,

I am sometimes a bit afraid of myself.

[powelli]

Timely post. My kids are getting on me to add belts to the rear of mine.

[evoldog]

Can someone explain to me how to fabricate the metal bracket that holds the retractor reel? Pretend I'm dumb and I don't have a lot of shop tools.

Where do I buy the metal? How do I cut it? I see that I need a workshop vise to bend it. And I'm guessing I could drill it with the drill I have.

Could I save the money I would spend on a vise and have somebody fabricate it for me? What kind of shop would do that, a body shop?

Or, uh, hehe, maybe I need to buy some tools.

[shipm_8]

Or, uh, hehe, maybe I need to buy some tools.

It is fair that I warn you: You can draw a line between muttering "maybe I need to buy some tools" and finding yourself with a garage filled with rolling tool cabinets, air compressor, jack, jackstands, ratchet sets, lift, air hoses, reel for the air hoses, leakdown tester, compression tester, fuel pressure tester, vises, bench grinder, air tools, soda blaster, safety goggles, emergency eyewash station, several fire extinguishers, engine stand and engine hoist to meneuver the engine to the engine stand...and several copies of the BMW Repair Manual staged around the house in case that one part of the house succumbs to earthquake damage....you still have the backup copy on the other end of the house and, if the whole house succumbs to earthquake damage, you have the digitized copy of the repair manual backed up off site at a backup facility several hundred feet below ground in Utah, or wherever they keep offsite backup facilities. The 02 Operations Continuity Plan.

We can discuss parts caching and related compulsions some other time. In the meantime, let's chat offline and I'll be happy to bend some metal or, if you want to save the postage, all you really need to do this project is a drill, a pair of snips, and find someone with a vise or similar. The bend on the bracket does not have to be perfect...just needs to push the seatbelt cartridge against the parcel shelf. During my last trip to Home Depot, I bumped into some aluminum pieces that look the same as used above. Otherwise, McMaster http://www.mcmaster.com/#9134k121/=bkwbze will save you the trip to Home Depot and the inevitable two hours of roaming aisles.

William