Jammed middle rear seatbelt

[windy]

The middle inertia-reel seatbelt on our X5 has jammed. I've tried unbolting it under the base and trying to feed the belt back into the mechanism, but it seems that the reel is as far in as it will go.

Any ideas?

As a worst case, how do I remove the seat back and access the mechanism?

[Weasel]

I take it it's jammed where it won't pull out but it is fully retracted? If so I am usually able to get them loose by pulling really hard to stretch the belt over itself o the reel just enough to get it to release. Otherwise you should be able to pull up the rear seat bottom and unbolt the free end of it with a torx bit.

[windy]

Originally Posted by Weasel

I take it it's jammed where it won't pull out but it is fully retracted?

Yeah, that's right. If I put the seat-back down, then there's enough slack for me to feed it back into the reel, but is feel like the reel is wound back as far as it will go. I've tried unbolting the belt from under the rear bench with no joy as the reel just won't retract at all.

[Weasel]

You need to get a good grip on it and pull it really hard to tighten the belt up on the reel, to make room for it to retract. Don't worry about breaking anything, it is really really strong. Just pull for all you're worth. After that it should be able to retract enough to release the latches.

[bmwmmn]

Originally Posted by Weasel

You need to get a good grip on it and pull it really hard to tighten the belt up on the reel, to make room for it to retract. Don't worry about breaking anything, it is really really strong. Just pull for all you're worth. After that it should be able to retract enough to release the latches.

Just what Weasel said, had the same problem, thought that retracting mechanism broke, but in reality it got stuck by(next) black button that keeps it available to pull. By holding the belt tight make sure you do not end up on your console, good luck!