Originally posted in R55 forum, but thought some JCW guys might not read there
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Finished a job over the weekend I was hoping to have done a while back.

Ever since I placed the order for the Clubman back in July and seeing the GP2 in the showroom, I'd wanted the GP2 red seat belts in it to compliment the Chili Red color line. I'd also love the red stitching on the Dash and Recaro seats, but that's only available on the GP2's (boo!) and way too mucho dinero!!!

So anyway, I'd set about the task of getting Red seat belts and here's the rough how-to-do-it for the Clubman.

I'd bought the US GP2 red belts from OutMotoring - and at the time it did say they'd fit for the R56,R55 and another model (I forget which). Anyway - it turns out that the GP2 belts really only fit into the Coupe version - the Clubman door uses a different reel arrangement than the Coupe - though the drivers door is a straight swap. Aaron has since updated the site to remove references to the R55 fitment.

When I say straight swap - there is a whole raft of stuff to take off to even get to the drivers side seat belt reels, as they are hidden in the door frame behind a large side panel. Basically you have to dismantle the whole interior side of the car to get to them. It's not a quick job!

So, the drivers door is easy - ish!, just disconnect explosive pre-tensioner connector, unbolt, remove and replace.

The Club door is different altogether. Getting the panels off was easy, but seeing the reel used in the door I came to a screeching halt. I was going to give up at this point, as the reeling systems are very different, no way to make it fit as the explosive pre-tensioner charge system is totally different, reel frame is different etc etc - but then struck on the idea of re-webbing the reels from one to another (the coupe version reel to the existing Clubman one).

It's possible, but you have to pull out the whole webbing off the reel, stop the reel from spinning back (it's tightly wound by now), lever out the locking pin and webbing from the reel, and then re-insert the new red webbing onto the reel. Really some time and effort, but going slowly and carefully, it can be done.

You also have to cut the lower mount (the Coupe is bolted) off the webbing where it mounts to the floor, as the Clubman has a steel "J" shaped mounting arrangement to allow the webbing to slide back to the rear seats when using the club door.

So, after getting that sorted out - and looking at two nice front GP2 seat belts in the car - I still had two black rear belts to tackle. Half way there!

Taking my cue from the re-webbing exercise, I purchased the European GP2 belts (which don't have the explosive tensioners - and are therefore a little cheaper to buy) and tackled the rears.

There isn't much to remove to get to them thankfully! Two screws and pop a couple of panels in the rear - but then I hit snag number 2 - The rear seat belt webs are shorter than the fronts by roughly 26" - and so there would be more webbing on the reels (which are mounted in a smaller frame in the rear than the fronts) - and they wouldn't fully retract as a result. Not a good look - and a chance of fraying the webbing on the reel frame over time.

Out came the wife's sewing machine and heavy duty polypropylene thread - reducing the length of the webbing by said 26" using a hot knife the seal the ends - sewing/creating a new loop for the locking pins - and remounted the webbing to the old rear reels. The lower bolted mount is a little different (the rears have a bent mount, the fronts use a straight mount) - but the things bolt in and look the same with the rear seat re-fitted.

So here's what it looks like after all is said and done! Not the best pictures, but I now have a matching set of GP2 belts in the clubman both front and rear. You-ified just that bit more

 

Looks really nice! Great job

 

Very cool . Nice job !

 

Outstanding job! I came upon your thread while searching for a way to purchase and install red seat belts in my R53. Thanks for the further inspiration. Looks great!