yeah, if you have an auto seat belt, it will happen to you...
anyway, iv heard theres a permanent recall on them. im going to take it to the dealer (shudder) and i want to make sure.

 

yes.

just make sure they understand and tell you before they start. don't just go in asuming. you might get a bill at the end.

 

i don't want to take my car to the dealer. i have heard of guys ending up with their interior plastics cracked and broken etc. my belts were starting to stick in the tracks, so i just pulled the fuse when they were both in the locked back position. i might see about switching to normal belts like the S4s had and go pick some up in an auto wreching yard.

 

I had my gauge cluster clear plastic broken by the dealership before. It just costs them more money cuz they replaced it to me for free.

 

If you are that freakin scared of just some dealership mechanics, simply take pictures of your interior or whatnot.

Bingoboy has a good point, you could just bolt up S4 seatbelt components, and be much more practical.

 

They can be rebuilt if you are better at handling interior plastic than the dealer.
Pull the whole unit.
clean out the old grease & debris.
Pinch the track just enough to adjust for wear. I use vise grips since you can set the gap very acurately & not over-pinch the track.
Regrease & reinstall.

If you're not up to all that, I like bingoboy's approach - roll it back & pull the fuse.

 

my passenger side seatbelt is stuck somewhere in the middle of the track.......upon running the loom and ecu during my engine swap it was discovered that the car was hit near the passenger side fender and door(you can see the repair job on the inside) and then i also discovered that the passenger side window doesnt work....anyone have any ideas on that??

 

I keep a small motorcycle/lawn tractor battery for testing window & sholder belt motors etc.
That way I can pull the connector & apply power directly.
I just counted 20 electric motors in my 91. (would be 21, but the power antenna is removed)

 

Anybody switch to S4 style seatbelts in a S5. I hate the motorized belts even if they work. I imagne they are heavier too.

 

I would love to see a write up for that

 

How do the auto seatbelts hold up in an accident compared to regular seatbelts?

 

The same IF you use the lap belt.

The sholder belt used alone can cause serious internal injuries in a head-on.

 

good to know.

 

I am alive today because of a seat belt!

 

I just took out my entire S5 auto seatbelt system, and damn, there sure is a lot of crap that goes to it. About 30 lbs or so. I put S4 belts in. They bolted right up. You do have to drill a hole in the top bpillar panel for the bolt to thread, and you have to cut a slot out of the lower panel for the belt to come out from under the plastic. If you want it to look clean, you also want to keep the plastic panel down near the floor where the lower bolt threads, and have the manual belt come out of that plastic panel.

I am in the process of trying to locate canadian spec S5 black interior parts so I can complete this project. It looks okay right now, but I would rather have the matching panels. The S5 American panels are not designed to match the manual belts, and the top panel that sits under the seatbelt bolt is compressed because the bolt cinches it against the body, where the rest of the panel protrudes more (to make room for the auto belt track). Also, the A pillar now has a big emtpy slot where the track used to be. It isn't noticable to the untrained eye, but I want my car to be as clean as possible. It is SO much nicer without that stupid mouse belt system.

I was told that the only S4 with black interior is the 10AE, but I was also told the S4 panels will not match the S5 because of a different structural design between the two. Can anyone confirm or disconfirm this?

Kurt G.

 

i already took off the interior panels and looked at it, its really f-ed up. its not jsut stuck, it pulled the cable out and everything and the cord seems jamed up.
i wonder if mazda will still fix it if i take the interior out for them. its not hard to do, just dont rush.

 

So the bolts are still there for the maual belts to bolt to? Just issues with the plastic? Did you change the seat belt catch in the center console?

I imagine you could get plastic pannels and have them painted black to match. I've seen some impressive stuff done with that. How'd you get black seat belts?

 

Yea the bolt holes are all there, all you have to do is cut holes in the plastic. I took that whole seat belt catch in the center out. The female part of the seat belt fastener is compatible with the older S4 manual belts.

The only S4 car with black belts is the 10AE. I got grey instead. Still looks really good, they blend right into the interior.

You could paint the interior panels black, but again, I am not sure the S4 panels will work on an S5.

Kurt

 

I have all the pieces to an S5 manual seatbelt that works fine, I'll sell like cheap, just to get rid of it. let me know...myky55@aol.com