Driver Side Seat Belt Hander Mechanism Broken

[frankzlin79]

Okay, after 15,000 miles, the first and only thing on my M3 that has broken is the driver side seat belt hander in my E92. The bar extends and retracts just fine. However, when doing so, the brushed nickel/almuminum plate does not extend out at a right angle. Therefore, it never catches the seat belt now. This is very annoying as it's not that easy to grab the seat belt in a coupe. I'm going to have to take it to the dealer.

Anybody who had this problem care to share your experience? Did the dealer have the part readily available or am I going to have to wait a freakin' week for the part to ship from Germany? Seems like this install requires a lot of the panels to be removed in the back seat area.

I wish I could just tell the dealer that I know what's wrong and for them to order the part now, so I get to keep my car while it ships from Germany. But I know that I'm going to have to take the car in...let them do their fancy diagnosis....realize that yep, I need a near part...realize nobody has that part in stock....wait a week for the part to arrive from Germany...and then spend another day installing.

[frankzlin79]

Yes, I know it's covered under warranty. I'm just asking for people's experience at the dealership for this problem. I can't make it to the dealership for another 2-3 weeks.

[ooowowizstev]

15.5k miles and mine is still pushing strong. Hopefully it stays that way! Also hope it's a quick fix for you.

[Silvertige]

Where's elp_j to discuss this? He's deactivated his seat belt butlers for this exact reason.

[ooowowizstev]

Originally Posted by Silvertige

Where's elp_j to discuss this? He's deactivated his seat belt butlers for this exact reason.

Yeah, I read that but it's just too hard to reach for the seatbelt in the E92, its wayyy back there.

[Kenyon]

Its only one complete unit. It literally takes 15 minutes to remove. The dealer should stock it. If not usually other dealers in the area will have it and they just get it from them which will arrive the next day.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by Silvertige

Where's elp_j to discuss this? He's deactivated his seat belt butlers for this exact reason.

Here comes JC to the rescue : Pull fuse #30 (blacked out spaces are empty slots in my car).

Originally Posted by ooowowizstev

Yeah, I read that but it's just too hard to reach for the seatbelt in the E92, its wayyy back there.

Come on man; consider it your yoga workout for the day .

[frankzlin79]

Just got back from dealer. The seat belt mechanism needed to be "reset" because it was jammed. That's all my SA told me. I'm not sure if he meant that a fuse was pulled or he had to remove the piece and mechanically reset something. At any rate, the part did not have to be replaced. And if it did, the SA said that it is a common part that the dealer stocks.

[Mark's M]

Thank-you JC, my first experience with the thing was recent but I HATED it, the cheesiest looking thing I've ever seen and just looking for an excuse to break. And heaven forbid you open the pass. door to put something behind the seat or on the floor, then both of them go off at startup. My arms aren't quite broken or that fragile yet, first thing I'm gonna do when the car arrives....take out Fuse #30!!

Much appreciated - Mark

[Georgeair]

If you've got a good relationship with your SA, it would be really helpful to know what sort of "reset" is done to fix this. Any chance you could call/e-mail him and ask nicely if he can find out from his techs?

TIA!