The rear belts (left and right side) on my new Countryman are supposed to be "inertia driven" (I think that's the term). IOW, they are supposed to be "loose" until strong braking occurs.

I find it works correctly *unless* you are above average height. I'm 5'11" and the inertia mechanism fails to keep loose. As a result, the seat belt is very tight at all times (and it gets tighter if there is any slack).

The dealer wrote in to corporate, which says it has to do with the angle of the belt mechanism with respect to where the belt passes over the passenger's shoulder. Okay, but, for me, this means I can't have tall people in the back seats and it's a defect.

Can you all please check your Mini's and tell me if you are experiencing the same in yours? I've done a search and couldn't find this reported before, so maybe it's something new???

 

Oh man, no one??

All you need to do is, if you are 5-11ish or above, sit in the rear seat and tell me if the seat belt (one of the two that have the reels on the side, not the one from the roof) is "loose" or if it "constricts".

Mine constricts and slowly squeezes the life force out of me. :-(

2016 Countryman.

 

they will do that if you pull them out all the way before letting it tighten on you.

let it retract completely, then get in and without reeling too much out, put it on and see if it does the same thing.

 

Yup, you figured it out. Thank you. You are much better than the guy they had at Mini/BMW tech support, who couldn't be bothered to respond.

If you did like me and my other tall passengers and pull out the seat belt to "full extent", you will hear a click. That click apparently puts the belt into "life sucking mode". ;-)

So, pull as much as you need but if you hear the click, then restart.

 

The hard part is getting out from under it after it has ratcheted to a tiny size.

This is a pretty standard mode of operation for just about any car, by the way.