Retrofitting M5 "M-Stripe" rear seatbelts, anyone tried it?

[TouringM3]

Hey Buds –

I'm going to order the 2020 M5 Competition rear seatbelts to see if i can either direct-mount, or swap over the material into the M3 Wagon as i put the interior back together next month 🤞 .

Has anyone else tried this, made it work?

One of the skus i'm referring to:
https://www.bmwautopartswholesale.co...ly-72118092487

[WagonR]

Pretty soon I'll have some seatbelts from the M2 Competition that you can check out to see if they'd work. Same stripe design. I also found a place that will re-do the factory ones with the strip, I have a sample of the material, so could compare that directly to OEM.

The other thing to think about in the wagon vs. the sedan/coupe is that maybe the X3M rear belts might be more appropriate? I'm guessing it has a layout more similar to wagon rear seats.

[IRNM3]

Subscribing to see the results

[WagonR]

Part 1 - Would the M2 comp belts work?

If you have a M4, then yes. The all black belts on the M2 and M4 are both part number 72-11-7-259-391. Since those are interchangeable, the M2 Comp seatbelts would work in the M4.

If you have the M3, or if you're trying to put these into a F31...then I think the answer is more complicated.

Sorry, picture heavy thread coming here. First, here's pictures of the rear left belt for the M2:

Overview


From the left side


From the back


From the right side


From the bottom


I would say, if the mounting point looks the same, then you're probably good. However, wanted to point out something that relates to the function of the belt. The part that locks the belt when pulled quickly is a little mettle marble that sits in a chamber to allow movement of the belt when oriented upright and pulled slowly. Here's a view of what that looks like:



This is looking at the right hand side belt with the cover removed, the purple thing with the yellow foot and chrome ball is the thing I'm talking about. If you tilt the assembly, the ball doesn't rest all the way at the bottom and it locks the belt from moving. So assuming the assembly is exactly the same, I think it would have to mount in the same orientation for it to work.

[WagonR]

Part 2 - Just reweb the belts

I'm sure there are other vendors, but I got a free sample of webbing from SeatbeltPlanet.com and it is a VERY close match. I'd say maybe the sheen is slightly different, but the belts really reflect light a lot depending on the angle. I think it would be impossible to tell the difference between OEM up front and these in the back. Here are some shots of the sample next to the OEM belt in a lot of different angles/lighting to hopefully show how close the are. The price is around $300 to reweb your factory belts, which I think would be about the same as new OEM belts, which aren't made specifically for your car.

Side by Side




With the sample on top

[IRNM3]

Until I saw this thread it didnt bother me that in the back of my comp I dont have the stripes. Now it does... thanks for that!