How I Replaced My Seatbelt Buckles
 

I'm not saying this is the right way nor the best way to replace the buckles, but this is how I did it ... and it seems to be working!

I got some Vader seats cheap several months ago. After a short while, I kept getting various SRS codes thrown ... 02-10 and 02-11 ... and that nagging SRS light!

I bought a Peake SRS code reader/reset tool and kept resetting it periodically. Probably not the smartest thing to do.

Lately, as soon as I used the reset tool, the light immediately returned. Time for a (hopefully) more permanent fix!

I decided to use the seatbelt buckles off the original seats. Here's what I did:

First, disconnect the battery when working on anything electrical.

Second, remove the 2 nuts holding the two front corners of the seat in place. I used a 5/8" socket I think. There are two screws holding the two rear corners of the seat in place. I used the same size socket for those.
http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/1.jpg
Yes! I own a dog that sheds!

Third, I disconnected the seatbelt buckle connecter from the wiring harness under the seat. The passenger seat has another connecter for the seat occupancy mat. Heated seats? Even more to disconnect!
http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/2.jpg
Yuck! My carpet is filthy! Vacuuming comes later!

Once the seat was removed, I started removing the presumed faulty buckle. Get that 5/8" socket again and remove that bolt circled in red below.
http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/3.jpg


There are two zip-ties holding the connecter wires in place. I carefully cut them.
http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/4.jpg

Next, I removed the bottom seat cushion by removing two T20 screws from the front of the plastic seat bottom. There are normally two plastic non-removable (at least not without breaking) fasteners that attach the seat cushion to the plastic seat bottom, but these were previously sacrificed when I removed the cushion months ago to dye it.

http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/5.jpg


This next part is a little tricky and difficult to describe. There is a cable that attaches the front of the buckle assembly to the seat bottom. See the photo? Place a slotted screwdriver near where the red arrow is pointing, underneath that horizontal black plastic piece and gently pry upward. The goal is to lift that plastic piece up slightly so that it can clear the metal vertical piece circled in blue. Once you've lifted it up high enough, slide it in the direction indicated by the blue arrow. You can now easily removed the metal hook at the end of the cable from the eye circled in yellow.

http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/6.jpg


With the zip-ties cut, the nut removed, the cable disconnected, and the bottom seat cushion removed, you should be able to easily pull the entire assembly off of the seat.

http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/7.jpg


The next step involves harvesting the seat buckle from the donor seat.

Here is how I removed those plastic fasteners. There are two of them, both on the rear section of the seat bottom, one left side, the other on the right. Snips and a drill were required. I snipped off what I could and drilled just enough to free the seat cushion.

http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/8.jpg
http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/9.jpg

Installing the donor buckle onto the recipient seat is essentially just reversing the removal process. First, I attached the cable to the seat bottom. Next, I bolted the assembly to side of the seat. Finally, I threaded the wiring through the seat bottom and zip-tied it in place.

http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/10.jpg
Zip-ties ready to go on.


http://bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/11.jpg
Wiring zip-tied in place.


Now, reattach the seat cushion and reinstall the seat by reconnecting the seat buckle connector to the wiring harness and bolting the seat in place.

You're all done ... unless you actually want to USE the car. You didn't forget about the battery cable, did you? Also, you may need an SRS reset tool to turn out your warning light.


NOTE: I'm not an expert, a master mechanic nor factory-trained technician. Messing with airbag systems may be hazardous to your health, wealth, and well-being. There is apparently a way to disarm the seat buckle assembly so that it won't blow up in your face (see Pelican Parts tutorial), but mine doesn't appear to have that feature. Proceed at your own risk. YMMV.

I know Jess will be in here so I'll save him the trouble of having to retype it lol

Mine doesn't seem to be able to be disabled. On some, there is a slot to use a screwdriver to disable it (see below). Mine looks just like the photo below except no slot to disarm it ... just a white piece of plastic. How do you disarm those?


From Pelican Parts:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/tech...ir/Pic3-01.jpg

Mine:
http://www.bmw318ti.info/seatbelt/20.jpg

In all fairness and to remain completely honest, I DIDN'T disarm mine either when swapping them:redface: Truth is, I didn't even know about this feature until MacUser mentioned it to me via PM. I looked in the Bentley and found the information addressing the procedure which pretty much follows pelican's guide.

In a failed attempt, I tried to verify by checking my own receptacles(which happen to be the newer pyrotechnic style) as well as an older mechanical style tensioner that I once had laying around my garage. Unfortunately, it seems that I either misplaced the mechanical style tensioner or perhaps tossed it. On my pyrotechnic tensioners, I was unable to locate the "orange connector" that the Bentley says to "remove".

Despite not being able to find such features on my own equipment, I still went back and added warnings to my previous posts for the sake of others. To avoid injury, if your seat belt receptacles don't have the auto-locking mechanism arm/disarm feature, I suggest handling them very carefully, once removed, from the bottom of the unit and not the buckle assembly or flexible stem. I've never seen one of these actually fire, but I'd imagine that something with a pyrotechnic charge would not feel pleasant if it were to go off in your hands.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...gtensioner.jpg

Thanks for your input, Jesse!

The seat buckle assembly in the photo is from my 1996 318ti. One (and probably both) of my 1998 318ti has what looks like a gas cylinder attached to it (but I have no real idea about what's actually in it). I could not find an orange connector nor any other apparent way to disarm it. There was lots of German on it ... the English was oriented in such a way as to obscure it. If my German is correct (which it isn't), it said something like "I'm a can of whoop-ass. Handle me with care or I'll have to open up.".

OK, I figured it out now. e36's manufactured before 09/1993 came with the receptacles that needed to be armed and disarmed. These receptacles are not compatible with the ti since the ti wasn't introduced to us until 1995. 318ti's built up to 03/97 use a mechanical auto-locking mechanism(part#'s 72118167711 left and 72118167712 right) while models built after 03/97 use a pyrotechnic auto-locking mechanism (part#'s 72118221013 left and 72118221014 right). These do not require arming or disarming, simply unplugging them disarms them.

So I went back AGAIN and fixed all of my old posts regarding the receptacles:redface:

That's great information to know! Thanks!

So I guess I can quit kicking them across the garage, throwing them off the deck, and running them over with the car ... they're NEVER going to go off!