Hi guys, yes its me again. :0)

Done a bit of googling because my seat belt is slow to retract when I take it off.
Sometimes it gets trapped in the door when I get out.

Ive seen some vids and articles from a W209 on this but they just mention replacing the mech.

Is it possible to remove the belt from the winder to re-tension the spring on
a W209 as this guy is doing on a different MB?


I can see that the seat belt mech on a W209 has an SRS device attached.
Should I leave well enough alone or is this do-able?

I'd quite like to wash the belt too as mine is light grey and shows off the dirt
like its on a cat walk! :0)

 

You have to replace whole belt assembly or send unit for repair to those eBay services ($50).
I had same problem and cleaning if the belt solved the problem. Now I have nice clean and retractable belt. Use some kind of degreaser, regular stuff won't work.

 

Ok, I couldn't wait for someone to reply, so I went ahead and did it anyway.

Getting the panel off in front of the rear drivers side window was straight forward enough.

1. Disconnect battery and wait 15 minutes for the current to disapate.
2. There are 4 torx bolts holding the seatbelt mech in place, remove these.
3. Unplug the green SRS plug from the mech.
4. Remove the torx bolt from fixing point behind the arm which extends to
give you the belt when you close the door. (whats this called again?)
5. Remove the torx bolts which holds the chrome bar in the rear footwell.
6. you will now have the seatbelt and mech free from the car.

Take a break! (I did, phew)

7. Remove the beige/grey plate from the mech
8. You will now have good access to the sprung seatbelt winder.

NOTE: Dont panic if the seat belt will not extend, you will need to wind it back in again a
little and (most important) ensure you hold the mech in an upright position or gravity
will pull a small ratchet type lock into place and it wont extend.

9. Unwind the belt fully. This is where it gets a little tricky. There is a silver
'U' shape clip which holds the end of the seatbelt on the winder.
10. Pull this siver clip away from the winder. There is a shaft inside that the
belt loops around. (see photo) Remove the silver clip from the folded loop
in the end of the belt.
11. You can now pull out the belt from around the shaft inside the mech.
12. MOST IMPORTANT!!! DO NOT LET THE WINDER UNRAVEL ITSELF OR ITS
GOING TO BECOME A MUCH BIGGER JOB THAN IT NEEDS TO BE, OR MAYBE EVEN WORSE!!!
13. You can now add tension to the winder by rotating the winder against
the push of the spring, I was able to get 3 full rotations before it felt like enough.
14. INSERT SOMETHING INTO THE WINDER (I USED THE SAME TOOL I MADE
TO REMOVE THE CLOCKS FROM MY DASHBOARD) SO YOU CAN SET IT ASIDE.
15. Find some very strong nylon string or flexible steel cable. I used nylon.
16. Thread it through the loop in the end of the seat belt, then tie it off.
17. Pass the end of the nylon into the winder and around the shaft within.
18. Pull the nylon through so it threads the seat belt back onto the winder.
19. Once you have it back through you can re-fit the silver clip which holds
the belt on the winder.
19. Cut the nylon string away and you should now have a belt with enough tension
to fully retract when fitted.
20. Refit everything back into the car. :0)


I hope this helps. :0)

 

Worth mentioning that I also soaked my belt in hot water with some non-bio
clothes washing liquid (or powder) for about an hour, then did the same with
just hot water to rinse the suds out and then let it dry in the sun.

My belt was quite dirty and I'd read that a dirty belt will aslo develop more
friction as it tries to wind itself back in. Just the oils in your skin on your hands
over the years will be enough to increase the friction.

OMG I think I should have tried just washing the belt first. Ha.

Went out for a spin and when I got back and removed my belt it almost took
my ear off!

 

Thanks for detailing all this! I am going to try it on mine. I figured getting some extra tension on the return spring would help. Mine retracts, but I have to give it some help.

 

No worries guy.

I had exactly the same as you, it was ok if I helped it back into place.

I love working on my MB. I nearly had a semi when I discovered the
mechanism that is used to attach/seperate the top half of the arm rest to the
bottom half. You'll know what I mean when you attempt it (if you don't already).

Gotta love those Germans, they never use 2 bolts where 25 will do. :0)

 

My armrest is the "rollerblind" version, but I know what you mean about the mechanism you have - it's quite ingenious.

 

Rollerblnd, in the armrest?

I havent seen one of those before.

Could you show a photo?

I quite like the sound of that. :0)

 

Instead of the mech we have, there is like a plastic screen that slides over the arm rest.




Probably more convenient for access, but it doesn't really look like a good arm rest.
Don't know what the difference is in why they came with one or the other? Is it a coupe/cabriolet thing? Or telephone?

 

Ahh, no. I didn't mean that.

I was refering to the arm rest panel in front of where the rear passenger
window slides down into.

The bit im talking about is item number 9 in the PDF.

Awesome piece of engineering only to connect two panels together. :0)

 

Oh, you mean the rear side panel. Yeah, that's quite the engineering where it attaches.

 

I would love to have one of those!

 

My 2007 CLK-350 driver's side seat belt would not fully retract when I released it, so I had to stop and sort of hand feed it into the slot so that it would not get caught in the door. I thought I would have to replace the rewinder, but I googled a little and found several guys saying that the problem is often dirt and grime that accumulates on the belt which reduces its suppleness and makes it harder to wind up. The fix is to soak the belt in a mixture of hot water and laundry detergent and clean the grime off of it. I decided to try it and it worked like a charm. My seat belt only appeared a little dirty but after I cleaned it it retracts just fine.

Here is a nice YouTube that explains how its done. I used Top Job cleaner, but most guys recommend laundry detergent and hot water.


I also found a few sites that recommend spraying WD-40 or silicone based spray furniture polish on the belt but I don't like that idea.

 

When I purchased my CLK a few months ago I had the same problem. Over night soak in hot water with a degreaser and a good dry, and mine work as new.

 

I also washed mine as it was slow and it improved a lot. Then I pulled it right out and lightly sprayed the part that does normally come so far out in normal use with a light spray of silicone aerosol....NOT the part that comes into contact with your clothes!! Shoots back in like a missile now!!

 

Sounds great, did you take the belt off completely?

 

Not sure if this is the right thread but, here goes:

When I start my CLK 350, the seat belt extension clicks and clicks and clicks and clicks! For almost 15 seconds. Then it stops. Once I secure the seat belt, it again clicks and clicks and clicks and click as it retracts.

WTF??? Anyone else experience this problem? SO annoying...

 

Broken gears in the module.

 

Greetings Coruscator. I saw the pdf you attached with the instructions on how to reach the seat belt tensioner. Do you remember where you got that information? That’s awesome material!

 

 

This is for the cabriolet: http://benzbits.com/w209/RemoveSidePanelling.pdf

This is for the coupe: http://benzbits.com/w209/RemoveSidePanellingCoupe.pdf

 

Rudeney = alive Wiki

 

Nah, just good at finding stuff in WIS/EPC.

 

Folks, since it is seat belt dedicated thread I'm going to ask here - why there is a difference within the front seat belts anchoring points based on the picture I saw?
On my 04 W209 I have this (just a loop on the end of the best). Obviously the loop is sliding on the rail in the bottom.


While I did see some other examples with the anchor plate and a wire:


So why there is a difference? Is it different model years? Or different body style - coupe and cabriolet versions? Or what?

Update. I Think I found the difference - 03-05 are using loop style, while 06-09 anchor style.

 

Both my previous 2005, and current UK 2007 car use just loops. Both had face-lifted interiors, the 2005 did not have the external face-lift- my current does.