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Seatbelt wrapped around the headrest (need help)
My wife let the kids play in the bimmer and they locked the seatbelt tight around the front passenger seat headrest.
I tried moving the seat forward, backward, tilted, headrest up, headrest down, but, I just can't unlock that seat belt. Each time, it just got tighter and tighter. I know from the Bentleys there is a pyrotechnic charge (explosive device) in the seat belt tensioner ... but I am not sure exactly where it is. It behooves us to plan ahead when working near explosives ... so I ask for advice.
Is there an emergency tension-release button for the seatbelt latch?
Is there an easy way to remove the power headrest?
Or, is there some other lesser-known trick to loosening that seatbelt?
| | Reply » Seatbelt wrapped around the headrest (need help) |
Try pulling it forward and lifting up...should pull right out like the manual ones do. And don't ever let your kids in the car again.
| | Reply » Seatbelt wrapped around the headrest (need help) |
Quote: | Try pulling it forward and lifting up...should pull right out like the manual ones do. And don't ever let your kids in the car again. | I guess I should have made it clearer that I pulled and tugged and relaxed and tugged and pulled and tugged and relaxed and tugged for at least 15 or 20 minutes.
The seatbelt ratchet is locked so tightly that the belt can't be pulled forward more than 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch ... which isn't enough to release the tension lock.
The Bentleys seem to fail us on the removal of the front seat head rest (maybe I need to move this over to the E39 forums?). This thread simply says "remove the headrest" (http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...power+headrest).
I suspect the power headrest can be accessed from the rear of the front seat. Or, maybe I should just tug harder upward on the headrest until something gives. Does anyone have experience with that? If the headrest were removed, then there would be plenty of play in the belt to allow the tensioner to release.
The other approach is to disconnect the seat belt. According to page 720-4 of the Bentley's, the seat belt on the 5-series bimmers is apparently the pyrotechnic type (i.e., an explosive charge), so, I'll need to familiarize myself with the location of the explosive gas charge (I don't know yet if it's at the top ratchet or at the lower attachment of the seat belt but I suspect the former location and not the latter).
It seems, from page 520-4 that the seat-belt lower-bolt removal procedure is pretty simple:
o Disconnect the negative cable from the battery in the boot
o Turn the ignition switch to the OFF position
o Remove the plastic trim panel covering the black-painted steel seat rails
o Remove the lower seat belt torx head mounting bolt from the seat frame
I suspect that merely removing the bottom seat belt bolt, lock, & cable will release the tension on the seat belt; but it would seem to be even easier to just pull the headrest off.
At least, I would guess it to be pretty easy to remove the headrest (like just pull it off maybe?). But, since the Bentley service manual doesn't even cover the front headrest, I'd like to ask if anyone here has removed a power head rest before.
Has anyone on bimmerfest ever removed the headrest on the power seats? How did you remove it? (Should I move this to the E39forum?)
| | Reply » Seatbelt wrapped around the headrest (need help) |
Don´t worry about the pyrotechnics. They´re ignited ONLY by the crash sensor that also deploys the airbag. Pulling on the belt or similar will not deploy them.
If you´re about to dismantle anything though, you should disconnect the battery and wait 5 minutes to be sure.
| | Reply » Seatbelt wrapped around the headrest (need help) |
Quote: | Don´t worry about the pyrotechnics. They´re ignited ONLY by the crash sensor that also deploys the airbag. Pulling on the belt or similar will not deploy them. | Thanks for the advice on the explosive charges in the female seatbelt connector; I was worried that tugging too hard might simulate an accident (as the belts were very tightly wound on the spool).
Today, I found the solution to the dilemma, kindly provided by Oscswa (http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/member.php?u=15323) in the E39 thread (http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99642) titled "E39 front seat power headrest R&R procedure".
Basically the solution was to remove and replace the power headrest.
Both Oscswa and I initially tugged too gently on the headrest.
It takes more force than you want to give it (if you worry about the electric motor) both for the removal and for the replacement.
For the next guy with this problem, here's my new-found advice:
o You won't be able to pull the seatbelt simply by tugging on it
o You might be able to remove the bottom seatbelt torx-head bolt
o But, it's far easier just to remove the power headrest
o Just note that it takes MUCH more force to remove than you'd think necessary
o Likewise, it takes more force to replace than you'll feel comfortable with
| | Reply » Seatbelt wrapped around the headrest (need help) |
Quote: | I guess I should have made it clearer that I pulled and tugged and relaxed and tugged and pulled and tugged and relaxed and tugged for at least 15 or 20 minutes. [/i] | Sounds like you may need to check into Viagra, maybe some Cialis...  
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Seatbelt wrapped around the headrest (need help)