General Seatbelt passenger restraint question.

nashvillecat

nashvillecat

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Last week, I pressed the rear seats into service for the first time in 14+ years. The car is a Gray-market 73 Csi and any compliance with the DOT requirements was barely satisfied. The problem is the lack of rear seat belts. For obvious reasons, up until this past week, I never gave the issue a second thoughts.

To the best of my knowledge, they were never installed. Pulling the rear seats indicates 2 anchor points close to where the inside fender or wheel well meets the floor pan. I consulted the 2-notebook factory manual. Chapter 72 is listed as "Optional Extras" dealing with fitting 3-point safety belts on front seats. I can't find anything on rear seat belts. Does this mean that some e9's were not so equipped?

I did search the archives and noticed some terrific pictures of three point belts but the pics and posts did not really answer the question of necessity or whether the rear belts were supposed to be fitted when the car was new. I am somewhat curious as to whether local Osterich laws require these belts, or this is just an obvious accommodation to passenger safety. My limited understanding of the various state laws in the US where my car is driven, is that the car must only comply with laws in effect when the car was registered.

Appreciate any gratuitous wisdom on this area.

Thanks and happy new year to all.

Parenthetically, my front seat belts are no bargain. They appear to be three point belts from a 320 or similar model, but the attachment points are at only two places on both sides of the seats. You can take one part of the lap belt and hoist it over your shoulder, but it is uncomfortable and probably not that much safer than being used as a lap belt. As a concession to this afterthought of a design, I removed my Nardi wheel for a padded later model wheel.
 
Hi there,
I'll try and answer your questions, no guarentees but I'll try my best!

As far as I know any car imported into the USA must comply with the federal DOT requirements for the year of manufacture, So you 1973 car should of been modified for the 1973 rules. The only twist to this I believe is California which had and has (Am I correct?) different smog laws.

So I for arguements sake if you imported a 1986 M535 it would have to meet 1986 DOT rules.

As to rear seat belts:
These as far as I recall really only started to appear in cars in the UK and Europe at the tail end of the 80's especially in Saabs and Volvos.
They were "Optional Extras" for a long time and it is only in the last 10 years or so that they are standard.
Funnily enough my 1974 2002Tii does have rear belts but only two point belts which are shoulder belts ie run from the rear pillar to the centre of the rear seats.
In the Bucket (My E9) there are mounting points for 2 point belts. 1 on the rear pacel shelf and 1 down between the rear seats. I will probably modify the set up for modern 3 point ones.

If you car was imported it may of come from a country were belts were not required somebody could of fitted ones so that it "passed" the DOT inspection. However most European E9's have front belts which come over the back of the seat from a "hook" mounted just below window level behind the B-pillar and then down to the inertia reel mounted down near where the inner sill meets the rear wheel arch.
Now folk in the US can confirm this but I believe US delivered cars after a certain date have a mounting point up on the roof rails.
As you say rear belts have been discussed before and Orangerer in Austria has certainly done a fantastic job so it can be done.
You should be able to get the "correct" belts for your car and if we can help let us know
HTH
Malc
 
As i know all E9 (standard) were delivered without seatbelts in the rear (in Austria especially).
The austrian law allows all cars before 1968 to drive without front seatbelts and without headrests.
Cars before 1984 do not need seatbelts in the rear.
The installation of my rear-seatbelt i did because i had private motives, only for safety, my common wife has a 8 year old daughter, she enjoys to go for a ride with my Orange, especially on mountain roads. :lol:
I also have an E3, for the limousine BMW offered 2-point-automatic seatbelts for the rear, for the middle seat only 2-point without automatic.

This picture i found on www.bmw-coupeclub.de

Translation from BMW-prospekt-Zubehör underneath:

2.) BMW-Seatbelts:
From August 1973 Seatbelts are standard, also headrests.
You can choose the option for automatic-seatbelts for front and rear, the cars are prepared for the installation of seatbelts.
[Broken External Image]:http://www.bmw-coupeclub.de/Prospekte/BMW Zubehoer/Pos 3/Original BMW Zubehoer 1974_05.JPG
 
seat belts etc.

Thanks for the prompt replies. In effect, you answered my primary question regarding rear seat belts. It is pretty obvious mine never had them and to the extent there is a need to contain a rear passenger, I will bungee them to the seat/s :?

Special complements to Orangener and his interior. Looks elegant, modern and comfortable. I am curious about what I think is your front lapbelt retractor/inertia reel that appears mounted above the rear passenger arm rest. Was there a preexisting mounting point or did you create one there? Also, it appears that part of the belt/strap is supported by a hook that fits into the rear window channel. Can I assume that every time a passenger needs to access the rear seating area you need to retract the rear lap belt? And does not rear retractor interfere with the passenger's arm room? Or is it merely designed to handle your younger passengers?

The picture that you posted that mentions available seat belts for 1973 appears to be for the 4-door E3 model. Although, it seems only reasonable that the 2-door "flagship" model e-9 would also benefit from them. Either way, it seems to this layman that BMW must have "outsourced" the design and fitment of passenger restraints to persons who were never going to personally use them or never used cars.
 
I was not able to mount the retractor for the front seat on the place where he belongs to be.
Underneath the top of the rear armrest the place was too small, cause the housings of the aftermarket i bought were too large.
I made a special mounting console from 3mm and 5mm sheet iron.
The 3mm i bend and hammered so that it fits smooth to the wheelhouse and i can use the original upper mounting point.
I welded the 3mm to the 5mm and also made a threaded connector for the mounting screw.
This adapter plate disapears completely under the the rear side panels and is oversized from dimension, you can hangup an elephant.
But i didnt like the look of the housing of the retractors, so i made covers for all of the retractors from sheet metal and leathered them.
In case, the mounting-point is not elegant, but usefull.
And little Katharina made no bad feedback about the mounting point, either her favorite position is to lean on the middle arm rest, to have a good view to the road.
And to say "Faster, faster" . :lol:

The selfmade aluminium hook for the front seatbelts on the picture in the thread "shift knob" is painted in black now
I fixed them with the screw of the inner upper window trim.
Because everytime you had put the lug from the hook, the hook falled down. :x

And your right, the mounting points for the rear seatbelts are very uncomfortable and only prepared for mounting of 2-point-belts.
For the mounting of my 3-points from 530i E39 i made a big plate of sheet metal in the middle to connect with the retractors housing.
I had to mounted them in the middle cause the external mounting place is occupied by my 3-way "Quart" loudspeakers. 8)

Besides, my "Orange" is blessed by Holy Christophorus latterly: http://www.i-i.at/gallery/showpic.p...Ausfahrt 09 2007_067.jpg&width=800&height=531
I´m not catholic, but that will not hurt... :lol: safety first

Wow, my 100 posting, a nice way to learn english
 
I just installed 3 point non retractable belts in the rear of my 72 3.0cs. I found threaded plates welded to the underside of the trunk right behind the hinges. I also used the lap belt mounting points. The hardware that came with the belts made the installation very easy. The only hard part was adjusting the belts to get the right lengths. I used retro chrome buckles all around (the fronts are retractable) and they look terrific.
 
To see the difference between aftermarket and original:

I have found one original retractable "Autoflug"-seatbelt for the passenger-side on friday, when i dismantled this rusty E9:

http://cgi.ebay.at/BMW-E9-3-0-COUPE...ryZ14769QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Unfortunaltely it is without seatbelt-lock . But he has the thin red stripe in the middle and the "leathericed hook" ending ....
(Notice:You cannot change it to driver-side because of the steel pin on the rectractor-housing and the hook):

55a76da356a007ccf53e6f6670f4bcda.jpg


And i have found one aftermarket (also from Autoflug) for optional use on driver-side and passenger-side, with seatbelt-lock.
But it is not an original, the housing of the retractor is too big, you cannot mount it underneath the armrest.
The same i have mounted in my coupe.

3f75bafe04955eec1f18d36fceeaa493.jpg

http://www.siteupload.de/p389983-sicherheitsgurtvornemitjpg.html
 
My 2800CS has "original" rear lap belts. The car had the fixed 3-point front belts (aka German Death Spaghetti) when I bought it. I tossed them and replaced with locking retractable lap belts from Andover.

Wrecking my coupe would kill me emotionally, so I drive in such a way as to produce the same result biologically. The seat belts are just there to avoid tickets.
 
Death Belts--aka the original spaghetti belts

I have kept the original belts in the BLUMAX--they are a powerful incentive to taking a very pro-active role in "accident avioidance" and maintaiing a high level of focus as a driver--especially on what is going on when engaged in spirited driving--it also reminds me of the restraints used in commercial aviation.

For reasons unknown--in spite of the primitive design of these restraints no one has refused to go for a ride in the BLUMAX.
 
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