Rear middle seatbelt won't retract
 

Hi so my middle back seatbelt will not retract and the seats are down and I cannot bring them back up. I have read other posts about fixing the retractor, however, I am unclear how to dismount it from the seat. If someone could point me in the right direction of how I can take out the retractor, it would be very much appreciated.

(2005 BMW X5 3.0i)

The belt won't retract, or won't pull out?

Even with the middle seat belt all of the way in, you should be able to raise the seat. I think it's either bunched at the bottom (pull hard on the webbing), or the button on the middle rear belt is caught inside (see photo - work it out of the plastic housing.)

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...-belts/COe2SUc

There is also a bowden cable attached to the seat fold release lever that prevents the seat belt from pulling out when the seats are down or not locking in the upright position. You may be able to access that to release the seat belt while the seat is folded down.

In mine, sometimes the middle seat belt won't pull out with the seat locked upright, but works when you push the lever towards the back of the car. I wedge a pen lid in it which prevents it from locking up.

I had this issue last year. I tried all manner of repair etc but never could get it to STAY fixed.

ultimately i had to remove the back seat, take off the seat cover and install a new center seatbelt.

it was one of those repairs that wasn’t super hard, but it was a bit of a PITA. mainly taking off the seat cover and putting it back on.

I had some sort of guide that I followed. might have been a TIS document.

thank god I replaced it though. it’s been at used by an actual person at LEAST once. my wife INSISTED.