Seat belt guide replacement

Repository of 'how to do' articles relating to the Z3 and M roadster/coupe
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Fender2004
Joined: Fri 14 Aug, 2009 10:24
Posts: 907

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Houghton-Le-Spring

Seat belt guide replacement

Post by Fender2004 »

Hi Everyone I decided to upload this item for all the information I have received since my purchase of my Z3, as a way of repayment. I hope this post helps someone and gives them the courage to replace the seat belt guide properly. :)

The first step in the process involves removing the driver’s seat (in this case). This is quite straight forward you have two 13mm bolts at the front of the seat, and two 16mm blots at the rear, then another 16mm bolt keeping the seat belt attached to the side of the seat. Once all of the bolts have been removed this allows you to tip the seat over at an angle to allow you to gain access to the underneath of the seat, allowing you unplug the electrical connections. Once the electrical connections have been disconnected the seat will then lift out.
As a word of warning DO NOT start the car or even switch the ignition on while the seat is disconnected from the car, otherwise the seat belt warning light will illuminate on your dash board, costing you money to get the light reset at a dealer or independent auto electrician, you could also buy a reset tool.
With the seat out of the car the dismantling of the seat can begin, at the rear of the seat near to bottom there is a two part plastic strip. Remove the leather from this plastic strip along the bottom of the seat, there is a similar seam up the back of the seat, remove this in the same way. It will be obvious how this opens up when you see it.



I have removed only one side of the leather so far to show the differance




As you part the leather on the back of the seat, there will be a hard plastic panel underneath, this is held in place by one metal screw at the bottom, (some may have two one at the bottom and one at the top). Remove this screw and then the plastic panel should slide out of the bottom chair.



Under the plastic panel you will see the foam with a red metal rod running vertically on both sides. On these red metal rods are two hog rings, you need to remove these double hog rings on each side of the seat to allow the red metal rod to unclip from the frame.





Once these fastenings have been removed you can then slide the leather and the foam together vertically off the seat. You must remove the leather and the foam together as they are glued together in various places, but not where the seat belt guide is located. Once you have removed the leather and foam from the seat, you can easily peel back the leather to gain access to the seat belt guide.



Now that you have gained access to the rear of the seat belt guide, it is a simple task to remove the two securing washers from the bracket, releasing the seat belt guide from the front of the leather.

Now as they say in all the books to reassemble the seat is just the same procedure only in reverse, apart from a couple of pointers. I secured the new washers onto the seat belt guide using a socket so that the pressure is equal all round the washer as you are trying to push it on, and resting the other side onto a piece of wood to give you a firm base to work off.
Also the sheet of plastic between the leather and the foam at the top of the seat make sure that you reuse this when you replace the leather as it makes it much easier, as the leather slides easier over the plastic that it does over the foam.
Rejioning the long joint at the back of the seat was a bit fiddly but it all went back together great. :D



Hope this post helps and gives someone the confidence to attempt this job themselves, rather than paying to get someone esle to do it.
If I can do it anyone can.
Cheers :cheers
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Ian_C
Joined: Sun 10 Dec, 2006 20:10
Posts: 2415

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Lytham St Annes

Post by Ian_C »

Nice writeup Fender. How long did it take you to do one seat?
Current...1998 ///M Coupe
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Previously...1997 Z3 2.8
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Fender2004
Joined: Fri 14 Aug, 2009 10:24
Posts: 907

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Houghton-Le-Spring

Post by Fender2004 »

I would say about 3 hours, but that includes drinking lots of tea, thinking time :rtm: and hoovering out the carpet under the seat. I just took my time as I didn't want anything to go wrong.
Now I know what I am doing, I think I could do it in under two hours. But my other seat seems fine :D

Are you going to do this job yourself :?:

It is not as difficult as you think honest :D
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Ian_C
Joined: Sun 10 Dec, 2006 20:10
Posts: 2415

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Lytham St Annes

Post by Ian_C »

Fender2004 wrote: Are you going to do this job yourself :?:
I've already done it on my ///M seats; I was interested in the time taken as a comparison because the procedure is different. Seems about the same amount of time & effort.
Fender2004 wrote:It is not as difficult as you think honest :D
Exactly. I'm trying to encourage others to do it properly rather than bodging it with screws/heatshrink/glue etc :roll:
Current...1998 ///M Coupe
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Previously...1997 Z3 2.8
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Guest

  

Post by Guest »

Excellent Fender, I am going to have a go myself. Did consider the quick fix involving a drill and Titan but decided against it... sorry Titan :(

MRZ is on standby for me but this is yet another great example of step by step instructions with pictures.

Going to fix the drivers seat adjuster whilst the seat is out so got all my part numbers etc... just need to get up to the local dealers to get the parts and away we go.
Fender2004
Joined: Fri 14 Aug, 2009 10:24
Posts: 907

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Houghton-Le-Spring

Post by Fender2004 »

Let me know how you get on :?: I'm sure you'll do the job fine :)
redpepsi31
Joined: Mon 09 Apr, 2012 15:59
Posts: 11

  Z3 roadster 2.0

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by redpepsi31 »

hi folks ,
i'm in the throws of removing the seat cover in order to replace the guide , however , having removed the seat and opened up the seat at the rear and taking out the bottom plastic retaining screw i cannot get the plastic seat back to come out so i can get at the hog rings .... i can lift it up no problem but i cannot get it to shift at its uppermost point i.e the headrest part .
i cannot feel any more screws etc in this area and i'm just a little nervous of pulling to hard for fear of causing any damage to the upholstery / plastic panel .
your thoughts / ideas would be much appreciated .
cheers in advance
brent
Fender2004
Joined: Fri 14 Aug, 2009 10:24
Posts: 907

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Houghton-Le-Spring

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by Fender2004 »

When I did mine there was a second hole for a screw at the top of the plastic sheet under the leather outer cover.
There was no screw in the hole maybe
the screw is still there on your car.
Have a good feel around under the
leather cover if you find nothing try
moving the plastic sheet from side to
side at the free end.
Hope this helps :)
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redpepsi31
Joined: Mon 09 Apr, 2012 15:59
Posts: 11

  Z3 roadster 2.0

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by redpepsi31 »

cheers for that fender .
after a severe amount of waggling and one mighty crack it released its grip and slid out a treat .
now for those pesky hog clips.....
Fender2004
Joined: Fri 14 Aug, 2009 10:24
Posts: 907

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Houghton-Le-Spring

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by Fender2004 »

No problem :)
Glad to see you are winning
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Buz007
Joined: Fri 16 Jul, 2010 20:18
Posts: 254

  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Leeds

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by Buz007 »

Cheers for the write up, Ive got this to do soon on BOTH passenger and driver seat, can I ask where you got the guides from? I ordered some from ebay coming from america and I needed to pay an etxra 60 quid or thereabouts import tax. Bonkers!
''need I remind you 007, you have a licence to kill...not to break the traffic laws''
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('_')Z3
Joined: Sun 21 Mar, 2010 19:29
Posts: 555

  Z3 roadster 2.0
Location: Lymm

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by ('_')Z3 »

Bought both mine from the dealers when I fitted mine, £30 all in!
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Robert T
Site Admin
Joined: Mon 12 Jun, 2006 10:35
Posts: 10170

  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Cheshire

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by Robert T »

Well there you go, another ebay rip off - the guides are showing at £17.65 each from Coopers - though interestingly the description says "belt buckle" - but it is the part shown as #11 in the diagram below.

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Front seat frame/covers - BMW parts catalog

Go and get a price (and availability) from your local BMW dealer (which should be cheaper than Coopers anyway) and if you don't have one nearby, then Coopers do mail order. It is also worth checking BMMiniParts as well, as they are often quite a bit cheaper, but they don't have everything. If nothing else they will give you an idea of how much to pay elsewhere. And don't forget BMW dealers don't charge postage for getting items in for you - your order and collect from the parts desk and you just pay for the parts.

Cheers R.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
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mrwhippy
Joined: Sat 30 Jul, 2011 11:56
Posts: 86

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Liverpool

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by mrwhippy »

bmminiparts can supply them. It cost me £34.84 including insured delivery for a pair a month ago.
redpepsi31
Joined: Mon 09 Apr, 2012 15:59
Posts: 11

  Z3 roadster 2.0

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by redpepsi31 »

just for info the part number for the seat belt guide reads as 52 10 8 410 506 £14.71 from halliwell jones bmw the kit includes the guide , backing and 2 star clips .which to be fair is pretty reasonable for main dealer oe parts .
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Robert T
Site Admin
Joined: Mon 12 Jun, 2006 10:35
Posts: 10170

  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Cheshire

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by Robert T »

Just to add, there are two different parts here, one for the left and one for the right. Make sure you order the correct one. Click the diagram for a full list of part numbers.

Cheers R.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
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Buz007
Joined: Fri 16 Jul, 2010 20:18
Posts: 254

  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Leeds

Re: Seat belt guide replacement

Post by Buz007 »

brilliant thanks very much everyone
''need I remind you 007, you have a licence to kill...not to break the traffic laws''
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