Sam's Project Clubsport/OEM+

[1536Z4]

My wheels!

Very nice

[1536Z4]

Wow - your new wheels look great

But Mr Tidy they are Black / Anthracite

[Mr Tidy]

Mr Tidy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:20 pm
Wow - your new wheels look great
But Mr Tidy they are Black / Anthracite

I surprise myself sometimes!

Although to be fair it was the spoke design I really liked.

[1536Z4]

Although to be fair it was the spoke design I really liked.

Spoilsport

[LemonConnoisseur]

An unfortunate update this time - MOT failure.

Took it in last week expecting it to fail on the brake pads (they're nearly at the point of being non-existent ), because I haven't fitted the new RP1s from EBC due to time constraints. Go to pick it up, and they tell me that it's got an advisory for the front pads, but it's failed on both seatbelts due to them not retracting properly I hadn't really noticed it, but went to look at the car, and I can understand why. The seatbelt retracts fine for the most part, but then it almost appears as though the buckle itself is too heavy for the mechanism's power, so it just leaves the latter part of the belt sagging down. Tried some silicone spray on the belt hoping it was gunk in the mechanism, but that didn't do a thing.
Has anyone else had this issue? Is it just the way the Z4 is designed (surely not)?

Either way, with BMW wanting £400 for a pair of belts, I've bought a couple of second hand ones off eBay to see if they sort the issue as it'll be a damn sight cheaper than new.

If anyone has any recommendations for the seatbelt removal jobby, that would be great. Having had a quick look, it seems as though a lot of trim is going to need to be removed which I am certainly not looking forward to.

[lucasxdiniz]

An unfortunate update this time - MOT failure.

Took it in last week expecting it to fail on the brake pads (they're nearly at the point of being non-existent ), because I haven't fitted the new RP1s from EBC due to time constraints. Go to pick it up, and they tell me that it's got an advisory for the front pads, but it's failed on both seatbelts due to them not retracting properly I hadn't really noticed it, but went to look at the car, and I can understand why. The seatbelt retracts fine for the most part, but then it almost appears as though the buckle itself is too heavy for the mechanism's power, so it just leaves the latter part of the belt sagging down. Tried some silicone spray on the belt hoping it was gunk in the mechanism, but that didn't do a thing.
Has anyone else had this issue? Is it just the way the Z4 is designed (surely not)?

Either way, with BMW wanting £400 for a pair of belts, I've bought a couple of second hand ones off eBay to see if they sort the issue as it'll be a damn sight cheaper than new.

If anyone has any recommendations for the seatbelt removal jobby, that would be great. Having had a quick look, it seems as though a lot of trim is going to need to be removed which I am certainly not looking forward to.

My seat belts were slow to retract and in order to avoid dismantling a lot of plastic trim, here's what I attempted which worked okay:

Pull as much if the seat belt out as you can and place it inside a bucket full of hot/near boiling, soapy water and let it stew in there while you remove the trim on the top of the seat belts and clean a lot of dust and dirt that accumulates there. Replace the hot soapy water with soapy water and scrub as much of the seat belt as you can. Rinse and let it dry for a day.

If seems that the seat belt greats a bit greasy over the years and that just makes it very slow to retract. Should make it loads better but still no where close to as new. You can always get the mechanism rebuilt and new fabric for about £100/side. Just avoid going for a ///M stitching one haha

[LemonConnoisseur]

My seat belts were slow to retract and in order to avoid dismantling a lot of plastic trim, here's what I attempted which worked okay:

Pull as much if the seat belt out as you can and place it inside a bucket full of hot/near boiling, soapy water and let it stew in there while you remove the trim on the top of the seat belts and clean a lot of dust and dirt that accumulates there. Replace the hot soapy water with soapy water and scrub as much of the seat belt as you can. Rinse and let it dry for a day.

If seems that the seat belt greats a bit greasy over the years and that just makes it very slow to retract. Should make it loads better but still no where close to as new. You can always get the mechanism rebuilt and new fabric for about £100/side. Just avoid going for a ///M stitching one haha

Cool, thanks mate. I'll give this technique a go this evening and hope for the best.

[LemonConnoisseur]

Unfortunately, after soaking the seatbelts in a bucket of water for 30 mins then scrubbing them with a brush, it made no difference

Time to swap out the seatbelts. Can't really find any definitive guides online, so it's going to be a slight mission I think!

[TheDan]

Found this on Pelican Parts for the Z4M which might differ slightly, but could be a good starting point for figuring out what to remove:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticl ... cement.htm

[LemonConnoisseur]

Found this on Pelican Parts for the Z4M which might differ slightly, but could be a good starting point for figuring out what to remove:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticl ... cement.htm

Ah that's ideal! Thanks Dan.
I was limiting myself to YouTube

[LemonConnoisseur]

An update on this saga...

Took a lot of trim off yesterday to gain access to the belts, half of which didn't actually need to be removed!

I'll do a write-up on this process at some point, because it's not difficult once you know what you're doing, but the first time can be a pain.

Refitted the second hand belts I'd got from a couple of breakers on eBay; lo and behold, they're as weak, if not weaker, than the 2 belts I'd taken off - a complete waste of money.

I'd been trying to avoid it, but I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new set of belts from BMW at considerable cost.
Gotta love cars, eh!

[1536Z4]

BMW at considerable cost.

Ask your local BMW if they will give you a discount . There are quite a few people that have used Soper in Lincoln for example even if they are miles away from where you live . I now have the same relationship with Rybrook in Shrewsbury which is my local dealer and they can normally give some discount if you ask ( mention you are a Z4 forum memeber ) .

Good luck

[LemonConnoisseur]

Ask your local BMW if they will give you a discount . There are quite a few people that have used Soper in Lincoln for example even if they are miles away from where you live . I now have the same relationship with Rybrook in Shrewsbury which is my local dealer and they can normally give some discount if you ask ( mention you are a Z4 forum memeber ) .

Good luck

Cheers for the suggestion! In all fairness, my local dealer gave me 10% off without me even asking, which I was very pleased about.

2 new belts, a couple of bolts and the rocker cover bolts came to £391. Expensive, but it needs to be done.

[1536Z4]

Expensive, but it needs to be done.

At least you can be pretty certain they are not going to play up again and they can be the difference between life and death so I would say worth the money

[LemonConnoisseur]

Another update, we now have a fresh MOT!

One of the more expensive MOTs I've endured, but at least it won't fail on the belts again.
Good to be driving it again!