RE: Seat belt buckles

[weeksyz4]

I've found a nice set of e46 seats I want to fit in my Z4. However, they don't come with seat belt buckles. Is it possible to remove the buckles for my standard sports seats and fit them to the e46 seats. If so, is it fairly easy to do?

 

[Jakg]

Yes it's easy to remove them. It's a single (tight!) bolt and split the connector.

Not sure that the E46 uses the same as the Z4 though - it shares them with the X3 and something else I think. I'm sure they fit though.

 

[weeksyz4]

Yes it's easy to remove them. It's a single (tight!) bolt and split the connector.

Not sure that the E46 uses the same as the Z4 though - it shares them with the X3 and something else I think. I'm sure they fit though.

Thanks Jakg, that’s good to know!

 

[davros]

Hi, one other thing to bear in mind is the seat belt tensioner.
I think they are fitted differently on the E46 seats, so when I Installed E46 seats in my Zed I also swapped over the seat runners to retain the Zed’s seat belt tensioner.

 

[weeksyz4]

Hi, one other thing to bear in mind is the seat belt tensioner.
I think they are fitted differently on the E46 seats, so when I Installed E46 seats in my Zed I also swapped over the seat runners to retain the Zed’s seat belt tensioner.

Thanks Davros!

Is it fairly easy to remove and swap over the runners?

 

[davros]

Yep, quite straightforward mate
The Z4 & E46 seat frames are basically the same and have the same retaining points. Just make sure the runners are lined up and square to each other when you put the seats in. Sadly I didn’t, and needed to take the seats out and refit because they were twisted - doh
Good luck with the install. They’re a great improvement on the standard SE seats

 

[weeksyz4]

Yep, quite straightforward mate
The Z4 & E46 seat frames are basically the same and have the same retaining points. Just make sure the runners are lined up and square to each other when you put the seats in. Sadly I didn’t, and needed to take the seats out and refit because they were twisted - doh
Good luck with the install. They’re a great improvement on the standard SE seats

Thank you Davros! Right, I think I’ll go ahead and give this a go.

 

[NickDE]

Do you mean the bit you stick the seat belt into with the red PRESS button on ? Which is also the seat belt tensioner. They are pretty much the same on E46 and Z4 and fit in either model. When I put E46 seats in my Zed I swapped them from the Zed seats onto the E46 seats to avoid airbag lights as they vary a bit electrically depending on model year. If the seats are electric don't have them on the lowest setting before you remove them, or you will struggle to get the connectors for the tensioners out of the seat frames.
If you have seats from an E46 saloon or touring they should have a mounting point for the other end of the seatbelt on the frame - easy fit. If you have seats out of an E46 coupe they won't have the mounting point on the seat runners as the belt mounts to the floor on the E46 coupe. Not an issue, just put the belt end fitting under the seat runner and put the seat mounting bolt through it.
Photos would help this explanation, but I don't have any !

 

[weeksyz4]

Do you mean the bit you stick the seat belt into with the red PRESS button on ? Which is also the seat belt tensioner. They are pretty much the same on E46 and Z4 and fit in either model. When I put E46 seats in my Zed I swapped them from the Zed seats onto the E46 seats to avoid airbag lights as they vary a bit electrically depending on model year. If the seats are electric don't have them on the lowest setting before you remove them, or you will struggle to get the connectors for the tensioners out of the seat frames.
If you have seats from an E46 saloon or touring they should have a mounting point for the other end of the seatbelt on the frame - easy fit. If you have seats out of an E46 coupe they won't have the mounting point on the seat runners as the belt mounts to the floor on the E46 coupe. Not an issue, just put the belt end fitting under the seat runner and put the seat mounting bolt through it.
Photos would help this explanation, but I don't have any !

Yes, that’s what I mean. Sorry, I wasn’t sure of the correct name! Thank you for the advice NickDe.