16- Z3 Replacing the Seatbelt Clip Pt2

CLASSIC BMW (RHD-UK)

Replacement Seatbelt Guide

Note: Many Thanks to Vinci on BimmerForums.com - I have also added my bit from my perspective...

How to fix your broken seat belt guides.

The introduction is very much the same as with the previous seat model and therefore we will skip that part or you can turn back to the previous page and re-read it...

Required tools:

13mm socket
16mm socket
16mm combination wrench
Large slotted screwdriver
Small slotted screwdriver
Needle-nose pliers
Diagonal cutters
Large towel(s)

The first tasks initially is to remove the chair to be worked on from inside of the vehicle, removing the chair is not difficult, but can be a lot easier with a second set of hands to help you lift it out if they are available.

WARNING: Do not put the key into the ignition with either of the 2 seats out of the car. If the airbag sensor connectors are disconnected when the ignition is turned on, the airbag light may come on. This normally, cannot be reset without an airbag reset tool. The visit to the BMW dealership will be expensive.

A. Cover the door sill, centre console and anything else that you might bump into with something protective like a dust sheet
     or blanket. This will help prevent collateral damage to your interior while you are wrestling with the seat out of the car.
B. Slide the seat back to expose the two nuts on the studs holding the front of the seat bracket.
C. Using a 13mm socket, loosen and remove the nuts.
D. Slide the seat all the way forward and fold the seat back forward. This can be done by using the motor switch.
E. Using a 16mm socket, loosen and remove the two rear bolts.
F. Using a 16mm combination wrench, remove the seat belt from it's mount on the seat. (note: on some Z3 models the bolt
     may be welded and may need a breaker bar to crack the nut).
G. Disconnect the wiring harness from under the seat. There is usually a yellow wiring module that is easily unclipped. Check
     there are no other wires, such as, the seat heater connectors. Take your time with all of the connectors and never pull them
     apart by pulling on the wires. It helps to tip the seat forward and to the side while disconnecting.
H. This is where an extra set of hands comes in handy. Carefully lift the seat off the front studs and then out of the car. I found
     it to be easiest to do this with the seat back fully reclined (my chair refused to do this). I personally did this job by myself,
     and one does not have to be strong, however it can help. Take your time. It is very easy to scratch things with the seat
     brackets while removing the chair, (hence the dust sheet or blanket).
I.   Take the chair someplace where you can lay the chair seat components out without damaging the leather, (again; the
     dustsheet or blanket could fulfil this function).

Note: there are different designs of chair for the BMW Z3, I believe the Chair 'B' is off an 'M' Series. (clarification maybe
           needed)...

The following or the first description is for chair B:

II. Disassemble the seat
This is the part where you realise why the BMW Dealership charges £200+ per seat to replace the seat belt guide.

A. Remove the two plastic plugs at the bottom of the rear plastic shell. You can either pry them out from the top with a slotted screwdriver or slide the screwdriver behind the plastic shell, next to the plugs and then twist the screwdriver so that it pushes the plug out. This method results in MUCH less damage to the area around the plug. I figured this out after the first one... Or invest in a priser tool!

Remove Plastic Plugs

B. With the plugs removed, lay the seat down on its front. Lift the bottom of the plastic shell and pull it towards the top of the chair. I wrapped a thick towel around the bottom edge of the shell and gave it a couple taps with a rubber mallet to get it loose. There are plastic hooks on the shell (circled) they snap onto the chair (circled). Once the hooks slide free, remove the shell and set it aside. The nylon portion of the seat skin is now exposed.

Before you can unzip the seat cover, on this chair model, you will need to remove the yellow sensor. Be VERY careful with this sensor, as it is not very sturdy and could be easily damaged. There are two funky-looking expanding plugs holding the sensor onto the seat frame.

C. Using a small screwdriver, push the black center portion in towards the seat upright. Don't worry about it popping out the back of the plug, as it will just fall to the floor.

Once the centre has popped out, just <<< wiggle the plug out of the seat.

D. Using diagonal cutters, cut the zip-tie holding the sensor wire to the seat frame.

Now the interesting bit to the design of the chair and relates to both chairs illustrated above. E. Unhook the bottom of the seat back skin by finding the plastic channel at the bottom of the seat back where the front of the seat hooks together with the back.

<<< You can unhook the two sides by reaching under the plastic channel and rolling the plastic strip downwards and out of the channel.

Personally I found it easier to gently pull the material apart from the clip on clip from the front of the chair...

Chair B. has a zip -
F. With the clip channel unhooked, you can now unzip the back. Needle nose pliers may help if you have a hard time with the zipper or if the zipper tag has detached or broken, try using a small paperclip through the eye if the zipper has one. This will act like the zip tag.

<<< G. Unhook the leather straps around the lower seat frame cross brace. These are just tucked behind the brace, so just wiggle them free.

H. Push the plastic channel and leather tabs through the crack in the seat.

I. Begin pulling the seat skin up off the bolsters or the upright to reveal more of the back.

J. Unhook the nylon straps along the frame of the seat. These straps are stitched into the vertical seams of the front of the chair. When the straps are pulled tight and attached to the frame, they hold the seat skin in the right shape.

<<< Each strap is held to the frame by a "hog ring". You can open these rings up by forcing a screwdriver into the overlapping part and twisting it open. Needle nose pliers help turn the run on the frame so you can get the strap loose. I believe there are 5 of these rings per side of the seat. Make sure you don't damage the straps, as the seat will look like 'crap' if you can't hook them back to the frame when you're done.

Here is where I ran into serious problems. The bottom strap is hooked to the frame behind the crossmember where the yellow sensor was mounted. I couldn't reach these rings, so I couldn't pull the cover up all the way. Because of this, I had to do the rest of the operation by sliding my arms up the skin and working blind. This is the worst

K. With the skin removed where possible, you can get to the snap-rings that hold what's left of your seat belt guide onto the skin. Use a screwdriver and/or pliers to pull the snap-rings or star retaining washers off of the posts that go through the seat skin.

L. Replace the guides with new ones and they usually come with the star retaining washers fixed on the back with tape.

M. Reassemble the seat by pulling the skin back on and feeding the straps back through the holes in the padding. Make sure to get all of them hooked back to the frame. Everything else just goes in reverse of how you took it apart.

When putting the seats back in the car, make sure that you bundle the wires up so they don't interfere with the movement of the seat and to connect the electrics at this point of the process. (once the chair is in, it is difficult to reconnect the electrics or even seeing them....)

That pretty much covers it. If you haven't done this before, make sure you set aside a couple hours to do it. Also, remember that you cannot drive the car until both seats have been reinstalled, (noting, airbag sensors, remember?). Further instructions of attaching the clips can be found on page 15, please refer to both pages for the occasional tip that could refer to both chair models.

The most difficult part of this job concerning both model chairs is not the clip repair, it is the reinstallation of the chair, the first time I took the chair out, no problem, the second time was another one of those problems from hell, an irritation and very time consuming..... so be aware of this, protect your rail guides.

See page 15 for disassembling & Reassembly

Gently remove the skin tags, straps from the chair...

*Note: the electrical connections in the bottom centre. This is where they are on the driver seat:>>>
Sometimes these can be seen to be damaged for whatever reason...

possible way to do it and my hands were screwed up for a couple days after. I will continue the how-to assuming, that I had been able to get those straps loose and do everything right.
Get all of the straps free of the seat frame and pull the seat skin off of the seat.

Note: One recommends reading the diary first and then linking to workshop notes to maintain the continuity of the theme...