What is this? (2003 rear middle seat shoulder belt thing)

[jben]

The 2003 sedan models added a 3 point seat belt (i.e., shoulder belt) for the rear middle seat. In addition this “interesting thing” has been added to package shelf. Anyone know what it is and why its there? It seems related to the shoulder belt, because you can view the belt’s take up reel through a slot in the thing. It’s triangular shaped and spaced equidistant between the middle and right hand child restraint brackets.

[BikeGuy1]

That's a bracket or holder (not sure what to call it!) to hold the disconnected end of the middle shoulder harness. In other words, you can reach below the seat to the lower connected end of the middle belt, disconnect it (especially handy if you have fold-down seats) and insert the loose end up into the pictured bracket. It seems to arch up just a couple of cm from the package shelf due to the labels, etc, that prevent it from reeling all the way onto the spool, but I've left mine in the bracket for a cleaner look across the back leather seating. Hope this helps!

[jben]

That's it. Also just found it in the manual (p.106)

Thanks

[PABS]

Been around in other sedans for quite some time. My '95 525i has one.

[ride365]

Originally posted by PABS
Been around in other sedans for quite some time. My '95 525i has one.

yeah, e30s have it too.