I was wondering if all 997's have a twist in their seat belts? Every German car I have owned has the seat belts flat when retracted, but my 08 997 has a twist when retracted. I wasn't sure if mine were installed wrong or if this is just a Porsche thing.

2008 997 - has a twist


BMW 750Li - lays flat

 

Yes it's weird but I just swapped out to deviated yellow seatbelts spent 30 mins realizing that as well left one side flat and when you use the seatbelt the lap portion is twisted in the lap if you lay the chest flat and then makes it uncomfortable. Switching it back to twisted later this weekend.

 

Thanks good to know. I thought about flipping the belts so they lay flat and then turning the clip around on the belt so it sits flat on the lap when buckled.

 

You might call it twisted, some of us call it normal.

My '83 SC has the same seatbelt layout. Once you belt yourself, the lap piece and the chest piece will lay flat (which in my opinion, the way it should be).

 

If you have the male portion (on the belt) pointing towards the inside of the car, the belt could lay flat (see your bimmer). On the Porsche, the buckle points towards the body of the car; thus, the twist is needed.

 

I'm missing something. How does the buckle point towards the body? The twist has always bugged me, both on my 997 and in a prior 996.

 

Let me try another way: on the Porsche, the buckle points to the door panel while on the other cars (like his Bimmer) the buckle points to the seat.

3rd try: see his pics for visual.

Hope these help.

 

It took me a while to realize you were describing the male buckle piece as it hangs on the belt, fully retracted. I know, it's late. The broader question is why. I've never driven another car that made me wonder if the belt was installed improperly. There must be a reason, but I can't see it.

 

This is going to be harder to explain as it is about ergonomics which needs to be personally demonstrated or "felt."

On a high level, with the Porsche you sit and with your right hand you grab the buckle and you just pull the buckle into the female buckle receptacle. (You are the driver in this sample).
On the non-Porsche, you sit down, with your right hand you grab the buckle THEN YOU TWIST YOUR HAND A LITTLE while you pull the male buckle into the female receptacle.



Disclaimer: one man's ergonomics is like the glass being half full or half empty. Some like it and some don't.

 

Here is my issue, I am a short guy at 5'5" so even setting the belt adjuster on the lowest setting the belt digs into my neck over the left shoulder as the twist in the belt lifts the belt just slightly enough over my left shoulder to dig into my neck. With other cars (similar to the BMW) it lays flat over my left shoulder. The other issue is the sound of the clip constantly banging against the door/side panel because it faces outward instead of laying flat against the belt on the passenger side (blue tape helps).

 

Can you take a pic of your driver belt? Perhaps a 2nd pic with you with the belt digging into your neck?

 

With twist, notice the top of the belt has a twist and digs into my neck:


Without twist, notice the top of the belt doesn't have the twist in it and sits on my shoulder. All I did was just flip the belt over on my chest while it was still buckled in:

 

Here is mine with the twist (as intended by factory)

 

Try adjusting the height of the belt. You should be able to lower or raise it from the pillar.

Maybe raising it is what you need.

 

I would be great with that kind of fitment, I will keep trying to mess with the height adjustments to see if that makes things better. I know if I move the seat back the belt sits better but then I can't reach the pedals, maybe I should add blocks to the bottom of my shoes like short round form Indian Jones..lol.