Seatbelt locked my seatback down!!!!

[larkinjc]

So, I folded down the rear seat last night to help a buddy move a dresser... when I went to put the seat back up, I discovered that the middle seatbelt had LOCKED while the seatback was in the down-position. Now, when I try to lift the seat back up, the seatbelt is so tightly wound that it is pulling the lower portion of the seat up and will not let the seatback go upright! When you try to force it, the seat cushon begins to lift in an unnatural way... I am afraid I will ruin something!!

Has this ever happened to anyone? Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?! I don't want to drive to the dealership to deal with such a ridiculous problem...

[motordavid]

You can't stuff/slide your hand in under the upper seat back cushion, and poke the seat belt release button?

What a weird glitch...
GL,mD

[larkinjc]

There's a button?! That would be great... keep in mind, this is the middle seatbelt in the back seat. From what I can tell, the seatbelt retracts from inside of the seat...

You are right. It's very weird.

[motordavid]

Lark, no I meant reaching in and under the seat back to poke the normal seat belt release button. I assume you tried raising the rear seat side that
isn't nailed down and reaching in to release middle seat belt.

What a fiasco!
GL,mD

[larkinjc]

OH! No, the seatbelt isn't clicked in... it's completely undone...

Here's a photo of a different back seat...



You can see that the seatbelt originates in the actual seatback and it ends in the bottom of the lower seat cushion.

When the seat folded down, (while the seatbelt was unclicked), for some reason, the seatbelt locked. Now when you lift the seatback, the top of the seatbelt is locked, and it pulls up on the lower portion of the seat...

I'll try and get a photo of it on my lunchbreak...

I may have to take it to BMW... grr!

[rayxi]

My daughter locks the seatbelt all the time in my car. There is a mechanism that locks the belt reel when it detects that the belt is being accelerated. This is suppose to prevent the belt from feeding out during an accident. It can also activate if you pull fast on the belt. The only way to release it is to feed it all the way back in.

I suspect that the middle belt is looped over the bottom cushion corner and when you pulled up on the seat back quickly it locked. If you can unloop the belt and feed it back in it should unlock.

[motordavid]

Sorry, Lark...I was confused via your description...
that has happened to me, too. I agree w/Ray's advice;
that's how I undid mine.

After I got it unhooked, I buried the middle seat belt strap,
male end, under the friggin seat. I've never had a 3rd person
in the back; if I do, I'll dig it out.
GL,mD

[larkinjc]

Live and learn eh? I'll fiddle with it and let you guys know what happens. Thanks for the advice!

[larkinjc]

NICE! You were exactly right Ray. The seatbelt was caught on some springy wire underneath the seat cushion.

I removed the seat cushion and unhooked the seatbelt from the spring. The next thing you know, it was working again. What an odd issue!! Thanks for the help guys...