I am the second owner of my 2017 F56S. When I bought it at around 74k miles, it had been twisted somewhere within the B pillar. I managed to untwist it (that was "fun"), but from then on it was constantly trying to twist back. To keep it from doing so successfully I had to be REALLY particular about handling it.

Recently I had my car in a (not mechanic) shop and when I got it back, it had twisted inside the B pillar again. Knowing how hard it was to keep the thing untwisted I don't blame the shop. But I am tired of fighting this, and I'm suspicious of whether I should be concerned about the seat belt in more general terms.

I have seen at least one thread about this that involved a couple of F56 owners, from a few years back. But no real resolution. I have the following questions:

(1) Anybody else dealt with this and have comments/insight?
(2) Anybody ever pop the trim panels covering the B pillar to see what was going on in there and/or fix it? Did you fix it successfully? Or at least get some insights? Do tell.
(3) If you popped the panels, how in blazes did you do it? The instruction set I was able to lay hands on is kinda... sparse.

I would take this to a shop for repair but as I'm decidedly DIY, I really want to understand what's happening in there rather than just handing it off.

Thanks for any assist!

 

Have you tried pulling it slowly to the full extent of its travel and the slowly guiding it back into the pillar? I've had to do that with various cars but can't help you with your F56.

 

Yeah, been there done that got several T-shirts may have enough to open an eBay store and sell a few

The issue isn't that it can't be flipped and fed through in the guide at the B pillar pivot point (takes a lot more than casual effort, BTW -- it is far from easy). The issue is that that doesn't fix the problem. For whatever reason, it will "mess up" (twist) far more easily than it can be "untwisted," so it's a constant back-forth-back-forth-back-forth. I'm looking to resolve the issue permanently.

 

For anyone looking for an answer on this, my problem was that the seat belt was twisted between the lower mount (the automatic reel at floor level) and a guide about halfway between it and the upper pivot point. Both the lower mount and the halfway-up guide are behind vehicle trim inside the B pillar, so no way to see that twist, much less untwist it, without popping that trim open.

Once I got it open, the problem was visually obvious. Getting the full belt untwisted was easy to do *and* it has worked wonders.