Seat Belts - poor retraction

[CRJ343]

I have an E220 Cabriolet (W124).
Both front seats belts suffer from poor retraction (when unoccupied)

I've heard that a "dry wax" lubricant is one solution .
What about a silicone spray?
What have other people tried ?

Brgds
Chris - London

 

[rees_A]

I'm interested in this as mine are the same

 

[petermansell]

I'm interested in this as mine are the same

Me also

 

[rees_A]

Nobody has a solution???

 

[cplnoonoo]

Its a common fault. Mines has already put a hole in the speaker grill in the door as it didnt retract fully, wasnt paying attention and shut the door on it. My solution so far anyway is just to check and twist it round a bit so that it pulls the rest of the slack all the way in.

Bit of a pain in the neck as its easier to just get out and not have to worry about it but just one of these things. Never really understood the plastic bracket that extends the seatbelt out from the door pillar. Always gets in the way of the handle for lifting the front seats up to get into the back (i have the c coupe btw lol)

 

[tsktsk]

I had the same problem and fixed it to a great extent by simply cleaning the seatbelts in hot soapy water with a soft nailbrush. If you have light coloured belts, I've also seen it suggested that putting a very light dusting of baby/talcum powder on them will reduce friction.

Do not use a harsh detergents as they may have an adverse effect on the integrity of the belts.

 

[duncanh]

I used silicone spray

I had this problem on the driver's seatbelt on my Mercedes and the front passenger one on my wifes's VW.

I fully retracted the seatbelts and liberally sprayed silicone lubricant in the gap where the seatbelt enters the door pillar.

I then pulled the belts out a few times and after a couple of pulls they retracted fully, and have continued to do so ever since.

It worked for me!

 

[bolide]

There's a foam guide in the B pillar trim that can come adrift and jam the belt. But it's more likely that the belt mechanism is old & tired and the belt & mechanism needs replacing

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists