Have not had to experience that but sounds very scary. I'd definitely engage a suit against BMW first thing Monday morning.

 

Sorry to hear about you and your son. Try grabbing upper portion of the driver side belt and pull it quickly. You can do this with the vehicle off. The belt should lock if you pull it hard and fast (mine do) as I believe the locks are mechanical in nature. The other safety system in play is the pre-tensioner. They are electronically activated and pull you back into your seat and add additional tension to the seat belt in an impact. The pre-tensioner is set off by some pretty fast acting (even explosive type) material http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVFqJ7yzS0&feature=related
I believe these would only kick in in an impact.

 

"diagnosed with whiplash"? please. That is not a medical diagnosis....

The seat belt lock is different than the pre-tensioner. When an impact is sensed, the airbags and pre-tensioners are detonated. (as described above)

You seat belts locks may be defective...have your attorney hire an expert. Or ....complain to your BMW dealer, asking that they check them AND DOCUMENT IN DETAIL HOW THEY WERE CHECKED FOR PROPER OPERATION.


It may be entirely possible that your 'deceleration curve' - initially abruptly slowing but both bodies moving forward at a medium speed but not too fast, then the final stop with very sharp decel but not much motion- was such that you did not move the belts fast enough to cause them to lock. The lock usually works based on a centrifugal pawl, and as the belt unfurls, the reel speeds up and this pawl 'locks' further belt travel.

Do have them checked, but this is not an electrical issue. IMO

A

 

ard, I did not mean to start a debate on medical diagnosis. Wanted to know if other BMW X5 owners have stopped "hard" and if they felt there seat belts stop them "feel it in the shoulders" or fail.

I am not sure what my 'deceleration curve' was, but when I first applied the brakes as hard as possible the tires did brake loose before the anti-locks took over, X5 has some serious braking with the Michelin Latitude Tour HP on dry pavement. Just needed the seat belts to help us inside! The 2011 X5d that I have as a loaner does engage the seat belts on a stop somewhat harder then normal, but I will not try a full out brake test just to see. If I had been in some of the other SUV including my past one I would have broad sided the car hard enough to deploy the air bags. They have had my X5d since Friday noon, not sure what the service guys have found. See what Monday has in store....

 

I know, you must realize 'whiplash'' has negative connotations- a BS diagnosis that costs many of us in our premiums!

I know you think braking is how to test this- but I think the test is simple- pull the belts out at a certain speed and make sure they latch when they are supposed to.

Frankly I stop really hard a lot and rarely notice the belts- my hands are holding me. I have a locking clip on the P car that mechanically locks the shoulder harness and thereby keeps you firmly held. This is more for cornering (ie when the belt would loosen but not abruptly and hence the built in locks would not activate)\\


Based on what you are writing, I would demand they test them carefully- and like I posted, tell you PRECISELY how they did this and what they found. Not the usual "working fine at this time"

GL

A

 

Wow, scary story and I hope your son is ok. I would be pretty worked up if it was my kid that slammed into the seat due to the seat belts not working.

I haven't had this X5 long enough to notice the belts locking up, but usually I drive it quite a bit more conservatively than my other car anyway. But in my other BMWs I've always noticed that the belts lock up fairly easily, almost to where it's annoying at times. Pulling them out too quickly to buckle up will lock them. Stopping at a stop sign while moving forward to open the glove box or grab a drink from the cupholder will lock them. Definitely hard braking well short of the ABS threshold, will lock them.

If the ABS was engaged, they really should've locked up. Best of luck with you and your son's recovery and figuring out what happened.

 

Agree with the chief here. I find the lock up to be almost annoying at times too. Hard to put them on when they lock up all the time and you have to let the belt slack then pull it slowly out to connect. Surprised your son came all that way forward with a belt on! There is something wrong with that system in your car that would allow that to happen IMHO. Since this is a safety issue there should be no question that the service center would take this seriously and replace the whole belt tensioning system if that is required. Let us know what the final outcome is please.:angel:

 

Dont you think it is a little strange all the belts have a problem? Not say one belt, so some how all the belts auto tensioner and mechanical lock failed?

Not sure, but maybe the braking was not substantial enough.

Easy to test, pull the belt out normally and lock. Then pull with ur hand quickly, does it lock?