Belts BMW 540i 2000 E39 Owner's Manual

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330-5
Rear Suspension
REAR STRUTS AND SPRINGS
(SEDAN MODELS)
Rear strut assembly, removing and
installing
Replace struts and coil springs in pairs only.
- Raise car and remove rear wheels.
WARNING -
Male sure the car is firmly supported on jack stands de-
signed for the purpose. Place jack stands underneath struc-
tural chassis points. Do not place jack stands under
suspension parts.
- Remove rear parcel shelf:
Remove rear seat headrests by pulling straight up.
Remove both rear roof pillar (C-pillar) trim panels.
Unbolt rear seat
belt anchors. See 720 Seat Belts.
Models with fixed rear seat: Remove rear seat backrest.
See 520 Seats.
* Models with fold-down rear seat: Remove rear seat back-
rest side sections. See 520 Seats. Fold down backrest.
* Working inside trunk, remove roller blind mounting nuts
and bolts, if applicable. Also disconnect roller blind har-
ness connector at right edge of rear seat backrest.
Gently pry rear speaker cover grilles and rear window defog-
ger grilles
(A) out of parcel shelf.
Carefully remove seat belt and headrest mount finisher
strips (B).
Remove
middle seat headrest anchor bolts (C). Remove
headrest anchor.
Remove expansion rivets (arrows) and lift out parcel shelf.
- Remove rear speakers.
- Remove rear wheels. Remove wheel arch trim
- Support rear wheel bearing carrier.
CAUTION-
The strutassembly prevents the drive axle and wheel bearing
carrier
from dropping too far. Supporting the wheel bearing
carrierbefore disconnecting the strut mounting fasteners pre-
vents damage to the brake hose, parking brake cable and
drive axle
CV joints.

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400 Body-General
........................ General ........................... .40 0.2 Roof paddin~ 400-7
Body Assembly ................... .40 0.2
Body dimensions (in inches)
............ .40 0.2
Bodyshell
........................... 400-3
Exterior and aerodynamics
............. .40 0.3
Sport Wagon ...................... .40 0.4
Tailgate
............................ .40 0.5
Tailgate lock system
.................. .40 0.5
Rear wiper system ................... .40 0.6
Antenna and sound system ............ .40 0.6
Safety and Security Features ....... .40 0.7
Safety cage
......................... .40 0.7
Door locks and door handles
........... .40 0.7
.
........................... Seat belts 400-7
Airbags ............................ 400-8
Battery safety terminal (BST)
........... 400-9
Security
............................ 400-9
Interior Features ................... 400-9
............................. Seats 400-10
Instruments and controls .............. 400-10
Central body electronics
.............. 400-1 1
Heating and Air
Conditioning (IHKA)
............... 400-12

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Body-General
SAFETY AND SECURITY FEATURES
A number of new or improved safety and security features are
incorporated in
E39 cars.
Safety cage
4 The body safety cage is a continuation of an established
BMW concept for passenger protection. Tubular impact
structures built into the body provide protection against pas-
senger injury during front or rear impacts.
Door locks and door handles
4 The door handles allow easy door opening, but are secure in
accidents.
Electrical components in the locks are fully encapsulated and
cannot be picked easily. The door handles, latches and
loclc
assemblies offer reliability and security against theft.
Door position and
loclc condition are detected by hall sensors.
Roof padding
In addition to the side and head protection airbags, there is
supplementary padding at the roof pillars and along the roof
above the doors. This is positioned to present energy absorb-
ing
surlaces to passengers thrown around by side impact
forces.
Seat belts
Each front seat belt assembly has a height-adjustable anchor
at the 8-pillar.
An automatic pyrotechnic (explosive charge) tensioner tight-
ens the front belt at the buckle upon impact, snugging up lap
and shoulder segments of the belt. The tensioners are de-
signed to automatically tension the belts by about
2 inches
(55 mm) in the event ofa collision.
A force limiter puts an upper limit on the amount of iorce each
belt can exert on the passenger.

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l Seats
Seat repair and component replacement is possible once the
seat has been removed from the vehicle.
Before servicing front seats read safety regulations on han-
dling
airbag modules and pyrotechnic seatbelt tensioners.
See
720 Seat belts and 721 Airbag system (SRS).
WARNING-
. The front seats are equipped with pyrotechnic seat belt
tensioners. These tensioners are powerful devices and
should be handled with exfreme care. Incorrect handling
can trigger off the tensioner and cause injury.
BMW recommends that all repair or replacement
worlc
on pyrotechnic devices must be carried out by a quali-
fied
BMW technician.
Be sure to disconnect the battery and wait
5 seconds
before attempting to work on pyrotechnic devices.
During body straightening and welding with an electric
arc welder, always disconnect the battery and the con-
nection to the pyrotechnic gas generators.
Seat switch and memory module, removing
and installing
- Remove front seat. See Front seats, removing and install-
ing.
- Carefully pull seat adjusting ltnobs straight out to remove.
Remove screw fastener
(A) and trim clips (B), turn side panel
downward to remove.
Disconnect electrical harness connector
(arrow).

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Seats
Remove left and right side bacltrest mounting fasteners (ar-
row).
Pull up on backrest to detach from top retainers. Slide back-
rest to side to clear seat belts while removing.
NOTE-
If the car is equipped with heatedrearseats, detach electrical
harness
connector(s) as you remove the seat components.
4 When reinstalling, be sure to pull seat belts and buckles (ar-
rows) up through appropriate slots in seat cushion.
Headrest, removing and installing
- Slide headrest as far up as possible.
Press guides (arrows)
back and
Installation is reverse of removal pull
upward to remove

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........... General ........................... .72 0.2 Rear Seat Belt Assembly 720-8
......... Troubleshooting ..................... .72 0.2 Rear seat belt assembly (sedan) 720-8
................ Rear seat belts (sedan) 720-9
... .......... Front Seat Assembly '720-4 Rear seat belt assembly (Sport Wagon) 720-9
Front seat belt tensioner,
......... Rear seat belts (Sport Wagon) 720-10
removing and installing ................ .72 0.4
Front seat belt assembly
.............. .72 0.6
Front seat belt reel. removing and
installing (sedan and Sport Wagon models)
.72 0.6

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I Seat Belts
This section covers repairs to the following seat belts sys-
tems. See the table below.
IMultIple Restraint Systems I
Years
311 996 - 811 997
Multiple Restraint System electronics integrate seat belt op-
erations and
airbag deployment. Airbag repair information is
covered
in 721 Airbag System (SRS).
Troubleshooting
The seat belt reel should lock when driving quicltly through
curves,
during severe braking or in case of a collision. The au-
tomatic reel does not require any servicing and should never
be opened.
- In case of an accident, follow the seat belt troubleshooting
procedures presented
in the table below.
Troubleshooting procedures
Belt creased, unraveled, pinched, cut or
melted. Belt buckle or belt loclt plastic casing Repairs
Replace complete automatic
seat belt.
Also
checlt and replace, if necessary, seat
Problem
Damage to seat
belt.
worn, damaged or missing.
Seat belt bucltle is not ejected with spring
pressure when red button on seat belt loclt is
>--- I I
Automatic belt soueaks when fastened or I~xcessive friction in belt guides. I Replace reel assembly.
Probable
cause
Accident in which bumper impact absorbers
were permanently deformed.
Seat belts aged or worn.
pressed.
Seat belt automatic reel does not lock when
pulled out suddenly.
Seat belt automatic reel jams when pulled
out.
Seat belt does not retract automatically
(see note below).
Automatic reel loose. Return sorino broken inside reel. belt mounting on car body and
seat belt
mounting on seat runner.
Replace complete automatic seat belt.
Seat belt
loclt mechanism worn or
damaged.
Tighten reel mounting bolt Replace reel assembly.
Replace seat belt lock.
Automatic reel defective.
Automatic reel loose. Return spring
broken inside reel.
Automatic reel loose.
Return spring brolten inside reel. Replace reel
assembly.
Tighten reel mounting
bolt.
Replace reel assembly.
Tighten reel mounting bolt. Replace reel assembly.
~ ~-~~ , - I'
Replace complete automatic seat belt.
Also check retaining bracket of belt
Seat belt
pyrotechnic tensioner triggered. Accident triggered pyrotechnic deployment.

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Seat Belts
NOTE-
The rear bench seat belt strap may not retract fully due to in-
creased friction between strap and seat cover.
A small re-
maining loop in belt strap when fully retracted is acceptable.
WARNING-
* For maximum protection from injury, seat bells should be
replaced as a set (including all hardware), if they are sub-
ject to occupant loading in a collision.
Seat belts should not be modified or repaired. The seat
belt mounting points should not be changed or modi-
fied.
Do not bleach or dye seat belt webbing. Webbing that
is severely faded or
redyed will not meet the strength
requirements of a collision and must be replaced.
Clean belts with a luke-warm soap solution only:
Seat belts should be periodically inspected for webbing
defects such as cuts or pulled threads.
* Immediately after replacing a damaged or worn seat
belt, destroy the old belt to prevent it from being used
again.

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- -
Seat Belts
Front seat belt tensioner, removing and
installing
- Disconnect battery negative (-) cable in trunk.
The
front seat belt loclts are equipped with pyrotechnic (ex-
plosive charge) automatic tensioners. These tensioners are
designed to automatically retract and tension the seat belt by
55 mm (approximately 2 inches) in the event of an accident.
CAUTION-
Prior to disconnecting the battery, read the battery discon-
nection cautions given in
001 General Warnings and Cau-
tions.
WARNING-
Pyrotechnic seat belt tensioners are powerful devices and
should be handled with extreme care. Incorrect handling
can trigger the tensioner and cause injury
BMW recommends that all repair or replacement work
on pyrotechnic devices must be carried out by a quali-
fied BMW technician.
Be sure to disconnect the battery and wait
5 seconds
before attempting to work on pyrotechnic devices.
Pyrotechnic devices cannot be repaired. Always re-
place them.
Never treat pyrotechnic components with cleaning
agents or grease.
- Do not expose pyrotechnic components to tempera-
tures above
75% (167°F).
Pyrotechnic components can only be tested electrically
when installedusing the
BMWService Tester (DISplus,
GTI, or MoDiC).
Do not fire a pyrotechnic gas generatorprior to dispos-
al. It must be fired by a special disposal company or
shipped
back to BMW in the packaging of the new com-
ponent.
During body straightening and welding with an electric
arc welder, always disconnect the battery and the con-
nection to the pyrotechnic gas generators.
- Remove front seat as described in 520 Seats.
-

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I Seat Belts
a
Front seat belt assembly
1. Seat belt buckle
2. Seat belt stop button
3. Seat belt
4. Seat belt height adjuster
5.
6-pillar cross brace
6. Seat belt reel mounting bolt
7. Seat belt anchor mounting bolt
8. Seat belt lock with pyrotechnic
tensioner
9. Tensioner mounting bolt
Front seat belt reel, removing and installing
(sedan and Sport Wagon models)
- Detach battery negative (-) cable in trunk.
~~-~
Prior to disconnecting the battery, read the battery discon-
nection cautions given in
001 General Warnings and Cau-
l tions. I
- Remove front seat as described in 520 Seats
4 Gently pry up front and rear plastic door sill protector strips
to remove.