Z3 sticky seatbelt

The seatbelt on the passenger side of my 2000 Z3 does not retract easily. The belt feeds from its housing through the bracket on the side of the seat. The housing and the bracket are not aligned and the belt seems to get hung up as a result. By manually feeding the belt into its housing, which relieves the stress of the misalignment, it retracts fine. That tells me the spring mechanism in the housing is in working order. The Bracket on the drivers side seat is broken and the belt retracts as it should. I thought about removing the belt from the passenger side bracket but before I do that, I thought I'd see if there was another solution. Anybody have a thought?

The passenger seatbelt issue is a long standing one. I've experienced this on a 1998 (1.9), 2001 (2.5) and currently on a 2002 (3.0i). Over the years, I've had the mechanism replaced on the 1.9 and 2.5 with no joy. I'm resigned to living with it.

As far as removing the belt from the bracket, I would think that it was put there to keep the belt in a particular position and is part of the geometry of a properly functioning restraint system.

I am having as much, if not more, trouble with the driver's side...

Thanks Tommy! I'm somewhat relieved that this is a common problem however it's difficult to live. Did you experience this issue on both seats or one vs the other?

Thanks JKrell! As I indicated in my original post, the bracket on the drivers side is broken and the belt rides free and retracts normally. The position of the belt when being worn seems normal. I may just remove the belt from the bracket on the passenger side and confirm proper retraction if no other solution exists.

I removed the belt from the seat bracket and the belt retracts normally. I believe the problem is due to the fact that the seat in question is all the way back. This creates a radical geometric angle between the belt housing and the seat bracket crimping the belt at the point of housing entry. In other words too much friction. The passenger seat forward and back motor doesn't work which is another chronic problem.

You know there is a famous song about this issue.

"all the way home, I held a grudge, for a safety belt that wouldnt budge"

That's funny Stihl....Hadn't heard that. BTW, nice car

You never picked up on that in the Chuck Berry song? That was always my favorite part, trying to get his girl out for some hankypanky and didnt get none!

Thank you, still a work in progress. New pictures next month after I finish with the mods.

Same issue, and airbag dash light is lit. Any chance they are related? Hate to purchase a code reader if the bracket is the reason for the dash light. Thoughts? Thanks, Birdhunter

Birdhunter, I'm not certain they're related. My GUESS is they are not. I removed the belt from the passenger seat bracket and the belt retracts just fine. The only issue is that this makes it a little more difficult to reach the belt but that's not a big deal. I don't think this change negatively affects the position of the belt when worn either.