Seat belt retraction

I had same problem on my car. They had to replace the entire drivers side seat belt. The part took 4 months to get.

The seat belt assembly must be replaced.

Anyone know where to order the drivers side seat belt retractor??? Mine is slow to retract and won't retract fully. The seat belt flops around when opening the door.

Your dealer can help order it. Also because it's hooked up to the airbag system, you need to reset the SRS system after you replace it. Obviously it's unlikely you have the tools to do that.

I'm check with the dealer then. Thanks! My mechanic didn't want to mess with it. He must have been hesitant for that reason (SRS). I didn't know that it was a factor.

Mine only expand when I press the button. It use to expand when I sit in the car. Anyone know how to fix that?

gold benz said:

I'm check with the dealer then. Thanks! My mechanic didn't want to mess with it. He must have been hesitant for that reason (SRS). I didn't know that it was a factor.

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I'll note I replaced mine, plus the rear two seat belts last fall. The rear ones you can do yourself. It took about 2 weeks to get the parts from germany. Likely this fall after saving yet more maintence $ I'll look at replacing the passenger side.

I had a similar problem. There is a "sensor" in the belt buckle receptical (the slot you click the belt into). I sprayed CONTACT CLEANER into this "slot", and NOW the belt retracts just like normal, and automatically tensions itself against your chest when the belt is on.
I don't know if this will help, but it certainly won't hurt anything to try.

HI VVvv 12
The push button switch in the door frame is a control unit. Try pulling the button out ,If your belt comes out, the switch is sticking.Then try some dry lube on the switch.
It worked for my 98 CL500.

I tried all of the above to no avail. The dealer quote for the new belt retractor set is $336 plus $150 labor. I'm traveling to Stuttgart this summer, I'll see if it's any cheaper from the source.

Mine is acting up too....I could do without the "comfort feature". The 26 year old belts in my 82 500SEL still work perfectly.

I have the same problem. The drivers side seat belt does not retract fully after unbuckeling. It seems that there are mixed findings as to whether contact cleaner spayed on the belt buckel recepticle does the trick or whether a replacement of the system is needed. Before I make a mess and spray contact cleaner, can anyone anyone confirm success using such? Thank you.

Let's be realistic here. We're talking about seatbelts - not fashionable exterior parts or headlight bulbs that if aren't working are an inconvenience - this is one unit the if it fails may cost you your life.

For the sake of a few hundred dollars - get them professionally replaced and don't muck around with sprays etc that may cause even further damage.

the seat belt tensioners work fine (a hard pull, they stop in their track). the problem is that they do not retract when UNBUCKELED.

dbs600 said:

the seat belt tensioners work fine (a hard pull, they stop in their track). the problem is that they do not retract when UNBUCKELED.

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I actually had the same problem. It slowly got worse and I eventually had the dealer replace the entire unit (still under warranty).

For me personally, I wouldn't want to be scratching my head saying "oh it seems that giving it a test pull with my hand doesn't simulate an actual accident" as my wife or child (or I) go through the windscreen.

Like I said - it's the seatbelt - something of 'real' concern when not having 100% functionality.

i do not believe this to be a safety issue, otherwise mb would have issued a recall.

exactly when were yours replaced under warranty? was this under the factory or an extended warranty? how old was your car at the time? how many miles were on your car? if it was outside of the factory warranty and not under an extended warranty, how did you compel replacement?

a side question: have you replaced your airbags? to my understanding, proper functioning cannot be gauranteed past 10 years...

dbs600 said:

i do not believe this to be a safety issue, otherwise mb would have issued a recall.

exactly when were yours replaced under warranty? was this under the factory or an extended warranty? how old was your car at the time? how many miles were on your car? if it was outside of the factory warranty and not under an extended warranty, how did you compel replacement?

a side question: have you replaced your airbags? to my understanding, proper functioning cannot be gauranteed past 10 years...

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A faulty seatbelt is not a safety issue? Due to the age of the car I think MB are expecting some common sense when it comes to replacement of parts with moving mechanisms - like; wheels, electric window motors, hinges etc.


Yes indeed - airbage is one of the things I had read about here in the forum before I bought my car. As part of the purchase agreement I had them replaced - actually the amount of work I had done on the car pre-purchase was a little over the top - but I basically had them get the vehicle into good enough condition to be able to drop a 3 year parts and labor warranty on her. Glad I did, since last year alone (70,000km) I've had the air conditioning done twice, 3 electric window motors (actuators is it?) replaced, the interior lighting cluster and other bits and pieces done as well!

Haku said:

A faulty seatbelt is not a safety issue?

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Of course the tensioning part of it is! This is about the retracting of the seat belt.
I`m pretty certain that these two features are designed to be decoupled in that unit,
functioning independently.

Now, since it in addition also involves a charge loaded tensioner, I would let the
mechanic replace it, and I think $500 for the lot is a good price.

Although, if the signs points to the comfort feature to be active, I would try
to figure that one out.

br,
syljua

Had a similar problem with mine 2 years ago - would only tension up when I turned the ignition off ! Replaced the offending belt with a new one (well the main dealer did !) £125 ....and it still does the same
Incidentally it's not just a question of phoning and ordering a seat belt - as I found out there are 11 different versions for the passenger side in my 600 and that's only in black ! Apparantly in the USA and Germany there are more 'stoutly built' gentlemen who require the extra length seat belts ! and of course various other lengths ! so you will need to quote your chassis number