DIY: Disbale X3 seat belt chime

So I finally got around to fixing the seat belt chime problem on my X3.

A few weeks ago, I had my indy BMW shop program my 2006 X3 to disable the seat belt chime and to turn off the chime when it gets below 37 degrees. Unfortunately, the programming does not work on US spec cars--despite the fact that the Autologic displayed the chime as disabled. Blah.

So here's my DIY on removing the seat belt chime...

Step 1:
Remove instrument cluster. 2 Philips head screws holding it in. Remove screws, then pull out cluster and disconnect cable harness.

Step 2:
Remove back of instrument cluster. There are 4-5 tiny torx heads screws holding the back of the cluster together. Remove them, then gently pry the rear of the cluster off with a small flat head screwdriver.

Step 3:
Remove speaker. With the back off of the cluster, I turned the car on, found the source of the noise, and err solved the issue. There is a small speaker held on by 2 solder points. Gently sway the speaker back and forth until the connections sever.

Step 4:
Reassemble cluster.


That's it... We read the cluster with the Autologic for faults, and it came up clean... The whole project took about 15 minutes to complete, and I am much happier without the ear-piercing beep every time I throw my laptop bag on the passenger seat...

You mean you don't put a seat belt around your laptop bag?





lol.

Still great to see a classic BMW issue solved with a quick unplug-and-go DIY.

My 01 and 04 e46 never made the damn beeping noise... I've heard the new F cars don't have the damn chime either. So apparently BMW only planned to punish people who bought cars in the last 4-5 years...

Wow, that's great Steve, leave it to you to figure that sucker out!!!

Originally Posted by Norwegian33

Wow, that's great Steve, leave it to you to figure that sucker out!!!

Well, I can't take too much credit---I was just the complaining customer... My tech was the clever one with the idea...

But doesn't this also mean you'll lose the chime for everything else?

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

But doesn't this also mean you'll lose the chime for everything else?

Yup! I hate the chime... I really don't need an annoying beep in addition to the following:

- the warning lights...
- Escort 9500i boot up noise
- Laser jammer beeping at bootup
- kids asking to turn on the DVD players
- my wife complaining about something.

Anything to reduce overall car noise I'm a fan of...

What else is it for anyhow? I know of:
- seat belt
- 37 degrees
- key in the ignition

All 3 of those I can gladly live without.

Originally Posted by sna77

Yup! I hate the chime... I really don't need an annoying beep in addition to the following:

- the warning lights...
- Escort 9500i boot up noise
- Laser jammer beeping at bootup
- kids asking to turn on the DVD players
- my wife complaining about something.

Anything to reduce overall car noise I'm a fan of...

What else is it for anyhow? I know of:
- seat belt
- 37 degrees
- key in the ignition

All 3 of those I can gladly live without.

you are clearly not the person who BMW builds cars for

Originally Posted by noego

you are clearly not the person who BMW builds cars for

Or just maybe he should get a good pair of ear plugs
cheers
vern

Now when you sell the car does this mean you will have to go back and re do everything and put it all back?

Originally Posted by UncleJ

Now when you sell the car does this mean you will have to go back and re do everything and put it all back?

Don't think anyone will be asking why is not beeping! lol

Good job Sna, I know several here could use your instructions, I never thought it was that easy.

This looks like a promising modification. The chime is a nuisance and there should be a way to disable it via on-board adjustments. On two previous vehicles (Ford products) I had, you could locate the part that was bleeping, simply unplug it and consign it to the trash.

Does this improvement work on 2008 X3's? Will this modification produce any check lights?

Well, you might be surprised at who would be asking why the chime is disabled. I suspect any dealer would have to reconnect things as a safety feature, before reselling the car. There may also be an insurance issue with the buying party's company for a private sale. Not to mention any state DMV issues that may or may not be affected. While its your car you can pretty much do what you want to it (broadly speaking) but when you are transferring it to another party it becomes another story, especially a dealer as a trade in. I know that if I was buying a car that had safety features (however useful) disabled I would want everything put back together to insure against potential liability issues. Good luck in any event!

Sna77, great idea. Luckily my 2007 does not beep nor chime because of the seatbelt.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by mikelahti

This looks like a promising modification. The chime is a nuisance and there should be a way to disable it via on-board adjustments. On two previous vehicles (Ford products) I had, you could locate the part that was bleeping, simply unplug it and consign it to the trash.

Does this improvement work on 2008 X3's? Will this modification produce any check lights?

Should work on all X3s. The instrument cluster part # has changed, but the previous versions have ended, and been replaced with current generation ones:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...63&hg=62&fg=05

No lights out at all on my car. The seat belt light stays on just like it would before if you aren't wearing your seat belt... only without the annoying chime. This is as simple as simply unplugging the speaker...

Originally Posted by UncleJ

Well, you might be surprised at who would be asking why the chime is disabled. I suspect any dealer would have to reconnect things as a safety feature, before reselling the car. There may also be an insurance issue with the buying party's company for a private sale. Not to mention any state DMV issues that may or may not be affected. While its your car you can pretty much do what you want to it (broadly speaking) but when you are transferring it to another party it becomes another story, especially a dealer as a trade in. I know that if I was buying a car that had safety features (however useful) disabled I would want everything put back together to insure against potential liability issues. Good luck in any event!

I saved the speaker... If I ever sell / trade-in the car I will solder it back to the cluster and return to original condition... Its like any other modification done to the car (like my Euro mirror glass)--back to stock when selling...

Originally Posted by kenza

Sna77, great idea. Luckily my 2007 does not beep nor chime because of the seatbelt.

Cheers!

The chime is deactivated by default in the rest of the world. Only sure happy USA gets the chime turned on by default. I watched the tech as he tried to disable the chime via the Autologic--there is definitely a button to turn it on an off. He contacted Autologic after attempting to disable the chime via software coding did not actually disable the chime. Apparently USA spec cars had something in place that renders BMW's coding ineffective.

Originally Posted by mikelahti

This looks like a promising modification. The chime is a nuisance and there should be a way to disable it via on-board adjustments. On two previous vehicles (Ford products) I had, you could locate the part that was bleeping, simply unplug it and consign it to the trash.

As i mentioned above--the programming via BMW's tools is ineffective on USA spec cars. This appears to be the only way to disable it...

Originally Posted by UncleJ

I suspect any dealer would have to reconnect things as a safety feature, before reselling the car.

I bet the OP's next interesting project will be that he opens things up agaian, and:

- replaces the missing (annoying) chimer with a much more subdued pleasant-sounding one

The next project after that will be to:

- bring a microprocessor into the mix that sends a text message to the GPS screen that says, "Passenger - please fasten your seat belt", or, "The air temperature is below 37 degrees".

Originally Posted by Supercourse

I bet the OP's next interesting project will be that he opens things up agaian, and:

- replaces the missing (annoying) chimer with a much more subdued pleasant-sounding one

I was actually thinking that you could probably put some microphone foam over it to deafen it a bit... The most annoying thing about the chime is its obtrusive volume...

Originally Posted by sna77

- my wife complaining about something.
.

I need a DIY for that as well

Sorry, if will be rude. My apologies in advance!

But I cannot help say that this is the most brutal way to solve an issue. I mean, good god, do you have to literally "break away" the speaker from the instrument cluster, just because you do not want it to chime???

So, next time just break anything else, just because you do not want it to work !!!

Gosh, this is insane!

Originally Posted by sna77

Should work on all X3s. The instrument cluster part # has changed, but the previous versions have ended, and been replaced with current generation ones:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...63&hg=62&fg=05

No lights out at all on my car. The seat belt light stays on just like it would before if you aren't wearing your seat belt... only without the annoying chime. This is as simple as simply unplugging the speaker...



I saved the speaker... If I ever sell / trade-in the car I will solder it back to the cluster and return to original condition... Its like any other modification done to the car (like my Euro mirror glass)--back to stock when selling...




The chime is deactivated by default in the rest of the world. Only sure happy USA gets the chime turned on by default. I watched the tech as he tried to disable the chime via the Autologic--there is definitely a button to turn it on an off. He contacted Autologic after attempting to disable the chime via software coding did not actually disable the chime. Apparently USA spec cars had something in place that renders BMW's coding ineffective.

Interestingly enough, my 2003 M3 has no chime; only an icon. My 2001 Audi didn't have a chime either. I hate the chime on this car and if have the time, I'll pull the instrument cluster and put tape over the speaker.

Originally Posted by PSUEng

Interestingly enough, my 2003 M3 has no chime; only an icon. My 2001 Audi didn't have a chime either. I hate the chime on this car and if have the time, I'll pull the instrument cluster and put tape over the speaker.

I'm beginning to wonder if this will solve the 37 degree chime..that also cannot be turned off. Sorry but I am smart enough to know its cold outside. I don't need to car to sound off the same sound as the flat tire chime.

Sna77 --this the same thing?

Also, surprised you didn't just get some copper desoldering strap and remove it?

Hi all,

My first post at Bimmerfest. I wanted to 'chime" in on this thread, as I have always found the seat belt/key chime annoying, and now that we're getting 30 degree temps here in SE TX, I really don't need the frost warning going on and off. I've just taken care of the problem on my '07, and there are a couple of points I'd like to add to the origin (very nicely done) DIY.
The '07 uses T10 screws on the cluster, not phillips head, and the small screws holding the back of the unit on are T9 (not too common, make sure you have one before you take the cluster out).
Almost all the noise comes out the hole in the back of the chime. Rather than break it off, I stuffed some foam in the hole, secured the foam with a small piece of tape, and put another small piece of tape over the little grill on the back of the cluster.
The volume has been reduced to almost nothing, barely above the threshold my airplane/motorcycle damaged ears can detect.

Trying to attach a couple pics.

Dutch

Originally Posted by sna77

Yup! I hate the chime... I really don't need an annoying beep in addition to the following:

- the warning lights...
- Escort 9500i boot up noise
- Laser jammer beeping at bootup
- kids asking to turn on the DVD players
- my wife complaining about something.

Anything to reduce overall car noise I'm a fan of...

What else is it for anyhow? I know of:
- seat belt
- 37 degrees
- key in the ignition

All 3 of those I can gladly live without.

Originally Posted by vern

Or just maybe he should get a good pair of ear plugs
cheers
vern

I would if the above in RED applied....