I removed a seatbelt i needed from another 300 the other week and havent got round to fitting it yet. When i picked it up again today i can't get it to uncoil at all. It has wound itself in up to the label on the actual belt but won't uncoil whatsoever. Has anyone had this trouble before? Is there a 'knack' to uncoil it? Help!!

the seatbelt reel needs to be held at exactly the right angle for the latch to release from the belt properly. I had this driving down a steep hill. It was so steep that the seatbelt locked and I couldn't lean forwards in the seat!

Once I got onto level ground it unlocked itself

I'd try it in the car on level ground, only problem being that because the belt is wound in, i cant get to the mounting bolt. I'll just have to keep trying to get the correct angle as it is then!

I'll give it a go, cheers Pettaw!

I remember on our old Mk2, it would sometimes be a real (geddit, reel ) pain to pull it out to belt up

They can become tetchy with age...but...I was convinced that Nessy's one was broken, but in fact I wasn't holding it at the right angle. The 'correct' angle is far from intuitive, so compare with the mounting on the car.

cheers

James

If the belt is out of the car,the method I use is to hold the reel between your feet at the correct angle and gently pull the belt out, once its fully out clamp the belt near the reel with something like mole grips (with something on the grips to protect the webbing from damage) that way it will not roll back in while you are fitting it, when taking a belt out of the car , I always pull it out to the full extent and wrap it around the headrest so it dosent reel back in ,then use the clamping method above , ( I have done it four or five times now and the little bit of preperation time saves ages in the long run )