[mitchellinman]

Hi, Just in the process of swapping my orginal seats for some half leather ones-after about 2 hours off getting all the subframe bolts off the original seats and then onto the pretensioners and what a nightmare-the torx bolt will just not undo! t45 is what is advised from previous thread but its on that tight that its now completely rounded off!!! looks like it will be getting drilled out and replaced-even tried an impact driver on it (what they remove alloy wheel nuts with) and no luck. Anyone else have problems removing this?
Does anyone know the code and price and whether mini will have this bolt instock tommorow? or will they most likely have to order one?
Cheers

[mitchellinman]

how much are new seatbelt holders and pre tensioners-cannot get the bolt out atall! drilled it and now no luck what so ever-anyone got any advice.

[MARK TAYLOR]

hi mate,
if my memory serves me right it is a t50 bolt.no wonder you rounded it off a t45 is smaller.probably your best bet now would be using a chisel very carefully to get them off then buying some new bolts at the dealers part number 52107058419 x2. got the part numbers from realoem.com.good luck mark

[mitchellinman]

Thanks-just looked in this months mini magazine and it is indeed a T50 torx! I thought i was safe following someones guide on here -though even though it rounded off we cut a channel in and used a flat bar to turn it and no luck what so ever so i dont think it would have budged anyway! and drilling it had no success.
Off to spend more money with mini and a tool supplier!
Thanks again

[..Blackadder..]

Mate that sucks i think the pre tensioners are about £60 that price seems to stick in my head when i had to have one fo mine fixed.

[mitchellinman]

Tell me about it! The things are obviously ment to not come out-Its been covered in blue loctite, its got so much on its seeped out underneath when it was first put it. They are a special order item apparantly as mini throw the seat away alltogether if they have any problem with them (williams in manchester-so get looking in there skip haha) Yeh £60.41 plus the T50 M10 bolt and no doubt it will be 2 as the other side will be the same! havent had the heart to try that yet

[..Blackadder..]

Ha ha i wonder if there's any JCW seats in there gets me coat off for a rumage lol.

[Randall Raines]

As stated the bolts for the pre-tensioners are TX50's, how I read it it sounds like you stripped the seats down and then tried to get the tensioner bolt off, your better undoing that 1st, as you can kneel on / or hold & steady the seat if needed, the bolts have lock-thread on them, some come out quite easy & some don't, normally if you feel them tightening up once they're out a little, put WD40 etc... etc... tighten the bolt back up & then undo it again you should be OK (thats next time though), or they can sometimes tighten up & seize.

I don't know haw bad you've butchered it, if it started to undo and then you chewed the bolt you may be able to get some WD40 in the thread (avoiding the bolt head) wind it back in (with mole grips / vise grips) and then undo it again, or grind / dremel the head of trying not to do much damage (covering the seat) get the tensioner off & then you can work on the exposed thread as above with WD40 & grips .

Otherwise you may need a new runner .

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by mitchellinman (original)

so get looking in there skip haha

I'd bet my bottom dollar the pre-tensioners don't hit the skip .

[mitchellinman]

Cheers randall-I dont even think that would budge them, they wont budge even a mm-totally locked up.We cant even drill it out get halfway down and wont get any further! once it rounded off we cut a groove into it and tried various implements to turn it! however these all bent or snapped.
Anyone got any advice?

[MARK TAYLOR]

Hi Mate,
Can You Get Any Large Mole Grips On It As This Would Be Good If You Can.use The Largest Poss Ones You Can Get In There And Grip And Lock Them Very Very Tight.hope You Have Not Tried Your Other Seat Yet Because You Need The T50 On That Side And It Should Come Off With A Bit Of Effort.good Luck.mark

[Bonnie Scotland]

Weld a bolt onto what's left of the torx head, that's what i did

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bonnie Scotland (original)

Weld a bolt onto what's left of the torx head, that's what i did

But be careful not to set the car on fire in the process...

If all else fails, this sounds like a pretty extreme solution - but sounds like it would work.

But I'm a pretty poor authority on DIY, so I'll pipe down again...

All the best,
Andrew.

[Bonnie Scotland]

Quote: Originally Posted by ARCrawford (original)

[indent]But be careful not to set the car on fire in the process...

Not a bad point, and as the seats were the expensive Recaros i actually placed asbestos matting around the bolt hole so no sparks fro the tig welder damaged the seats.
Worked a treat, especially with a 17mm hex head on the bolt
Bought a new bolt from BMW, took 2 days, cheap as chips