[androidtopp]

Question is, do the initial releases of it (for me at least) show it as standard? Mine was a very early 22 xDrive build, so I would think the 6/24 revision noted on page 2 would have applied my car? Maybe?

[r32e90]

Originally Posted by androidtopp

Question is, do the initial releases of it (for me at least) show it as standard? Mine was a very early 22 xDrive build, so I would think the 6/24 revision noted on page 2 would have applied my car? Maybe?

Thanks for posting the most current ordering guide. Not sure what to make of it it does show Change notes but all that is stated is re-release With the one exception being the 50 years emblem change.
So basically does the support the theory that the active safety should be a standard feature and always has been on the M3?

Talked to the dealer today. The only recourse they would offer is to order a new one. And as everybody in this forum knows it would be approximately one year away. And I guess my ultimate question is how do I know what features will be missing on the re-ordered car? What are the current parts shortages?

[m.dreamin]

Originally Posted by Limegrntaln

22 xDrive M4 Comp. Built 24 August 21. Standard seats. My car does this. Back out of the driveway, put it in drive, roll 10-20 feet forward, seatbelt pulls you back in the seat, fairly aggressively. Enough for passengers to ask me, "what the hell was that?"

Am I crazy for liking this feature? It's like an anthropomorphic hug. The car is like "hey, I got you". My wife as well doesn't mind it, so that's good. I took a neighbor for a drive and when he felt it, he remarked "Oh, ok, the car is telling me to sit back and experience this!"

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by kjx

Since cars in the same generation and even the same model year have/had the feature, they could retrofit it if they wanted to.

Federal Law prohibits Manufacturers, their distributors, dealers, and authorized agents from modifying or altering Passenger Vehicle Airbags and SRS components after delivery (initial registration).

[kjx]

Originally Posted by lemetier

Federal Law prohibits Manufacturers, their distributors, dealers, and authorized agents from modifying or altering Passenger Vehicle Airbags and SRS components after delivery (initial registration).

I don't think that is what the law says based on this excerpt from the NHTSA:

"After the first retail purchase of a vehicle, a provision in Federal law that affects a vehicle's continuing compliance with an applicable safety standard is the "render inoperative" provision of the Safety Act which provides that:

No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or in part, any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle ... in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard.

In the case of a vehicle equipped with air bags pursuant to Standard No. 208, this section would prohibit any manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business from removing, disabling, or otherwise "rendering inoperative" the air bags."


Retrofitting what is being discussed here should not affect anything either in the spirit or the letter of the law. Granted I've not read much further than what I've quoted, so there could be a better, more relevant excerpt supporting what you stated.

Also based on what you've stated, if there weren't exceptions written into the law (which would also be interesting to read), fixing things like defective airbags (Takata) or faulty seatbelt mechanisms could be illegal in one interpretation.

[TJR_///M3]

My 2022 G80 M3Comp had a production date of 7/26/2021.

S5AL is not listed in the VIN decode, but S5AV - Active Guard is and appears from a Google search to be effectively the same thing (can anyone confirm?)

From the Owner's Manual:
Active Protection
Function
When the safety belt is fastened, the driver's and front passenger's belt straps are automatically tightened once after driving away

I've been driving my wife's 2021 X3 M40i and it definitely 'hugs'. I think my G80 does too, but am not trusting my own memory! I will update this post if it doesn't when I drive it next week.

[LukeM15]

Originally Posted by TJR_M3

My 2022 G80 M3Comp had a production date of 7/26/2021.

S5AL is not listed in the VIN decode, but S5AV - Active Guard is and appears from a Google search to be effectively the same thing (can anyone confirm?)

From the Owner's Manual:
Active Protection
Function
When the safety belt is fastened, the driver's and front passenger's belt straps are automatically tightened once after driving away

I've been driving my wife's 2021 X3 M40i and it definitely 'hugs'. I think my G80 does too, but am not trusting my own memory! I will update this post if it doesn't when I drive it next week.

Same with mines. I have the same S5AV-Active Guard. 22’ M3 I have it.

[lemetier]

[QUOTE=kjx;28841576]

Originally Posted by lemetier

I don't think that is what the law says based on this excerpt from the NHTSA:

"After the first retail purchase of a vehicle, a provision in Federal law that affects a vehicle's continuing compliance with an applicable safety standard is the "render inoperative" provision of the Safety Act which provides that:

No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or in part, any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle ... in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard.

In the case of a vehicle equipped with air bags pursuant to Standard No. 208, this section would prohibit any manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business from removing, disabling, or otherwise "rendering inoperative" the air bags."


Retrofitting what is being discussed here should not affect anything either in the spirit or the letter of the law. Granted I've not read much further than what I've quoted, so there could be a better, more relevant excerpt supporting what you stated.

Also based on what you've stated, if there weren't exceptions written into the law (which would also be interesting to read), fixing things like defective airbags (Takata) or faulty seatbelt mechanisms could be illegal in one interpretation.

Yes there is more not only from FMVSS 208, but also other relevant standards under which 208 addresses.
That excerpt does have the most important phrase included however; "vehicle's continuing compliance". Maintenance, repair, replacement, and even recalls are specifically addressed. One key point is that for a replacement component it must be like for like (fitness of purpose), and the assembly, fittings, attachment, and positioning cannot deviate from the type it replaces. The standard belt and the REMA belt do not share the same assembly and the attachment is different (image attached). The inverse is also true. It would be prohibited to replace a REMA Belt with a Standard belt.

It would be no different as switching an installed dual-stage airbag with a single stage. As you said, spirit of the law. This is not exclusive to the US either and applies to every jurisdiction that is a party to the 1998 UN GTR agreement.

I am intimately aware of several cases where 5AL - Active Protection was missing, not discovered until after delivery, and retrofit was sought as a solution; this includes 2 instances where it was an additional charge and not adjusted. The response was and will be it cannot be accommodated.

With that said, a DIY retrofit is theoretically possible as far as legality is concerned if the owner holds title freely and no technical assistance from BMW is required.

Originally Posted by TJR_M3

My 2022 G80 M3Comp had a production date of 7/26/2021.

S5AL is not listed in the VIN decode, but S5AV - Active Guard is and appears from a Google search to be effectively the same thing (can anyone confirm?)

From the Owner's Manual:
Active Protection
Function
When the safety belt is fastened, the driver's and front passenger's belt straps are automatically tightened once after driving away

I've been driving my wife's 2021 X3 M40i and it definitely 'hugs'. I think my G80 does too, but am not trusting my own memory! I will update this post if it doesn't when I drive it next week.

Active Guard is different (Forward Collision warning with Daytime Pedestrian Detection and AEB).

[TJR_///M3]

I've tracked my vehicle spec back to order placement (see pic) and it never showed 5AL, although curiously it didn't show 5AV either, but that is in the VIN decode and is on the window sticker.

Other than the seat belt 'hug', do we know what else is in 5AL?
Reading the manual, it defines the following (including the 'hug') and note the blue highlight:

General information
Depending on the equipment and national-market version, Active Protection consists of various PreCrash functions.
The system is used to detect certain critical driving situations that might lead to an accident. This includes the following critical driving situations:
▷ Emergency stop.
▷ Severe understeering.
▷ Severe oversteering.

Function
When the safety belt is fastened, the driver's and front passenger's belt straps are automatically tightened once after driving away.
In accident-critical situations, the following individual functions become active as needed:
▷ Automatic pretensioning of the front safety belts.
▷ Automatic window closing up to a narrow gap.
▷ Automatic closing of the glass sunroof, in‐ cluding sun protection.
▷ For vehicles equipped with comfort seats in the front: automatic positioning of the back‐ rest for the front passenger seat.

Hopefully I never find out if it has pre-tensioning in an accident situation but based on the previous post from 'lemetier' showing the 'standard' configuration I assume it does (and as the air bag performance would have been certified with it, I can't imagine the car could be built without it).

Not certain, but reading through the thread, it would seem the 'hug' was deleted from G80 (or at least some build configurations of it) for 22MY

[modat]

My 21 g80 had it. My 22 g80 does not

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by modat

My 21 g80 had it. My 22 g80 does not

Same.

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by TJR_M3

I've tracked my vehicle spec back to order placement (see pic) and it never showed 5AL, although curiously it didn't show 5AV either, but that is in the VIN decode and is on the window sticker.

Other than the seat belt 'hug', do we know what else is in 5AL?
Reading the manual, it defines the following (including the 'hug') and note the blue highlight:

General information
[COLOR="Blue"]Depending on the equipment and national-market version[/COLOR], Active Protection consists of various PreCrash functions.
The system is used to detect certain critical driving situations that might lead to an accident. This includes the following critical driving situations:
▷ Emergency stop.
▷ Severe understeering.
▷ Severe oversteering.

Function
When the safety belt is fastened, the driver's and front passenger's belt straps are automatically tightened once after driving away.
In accident-critical situations, the following individual functions become active as needed:
▷ Automatic pretensioning of the front safety belts.
▷ Automatic window closing up to a narrow gap.
▷ Automatic closing of the glass sunroof, in‐ cluding sun protection.
▷ For vehicles equipped with comfort seats in the front: automatic positioning of the back‐ rest for the front passenger seat.

Hopefully I never find out if it has pre-tensioning in an accident situation but based on the previous post from 'lemetier' showing the 'standard' configuration I assume it does (and as the air bag performance would have been certified with it, I can't imagine the car could be built without it).

Not certain, but reading through the thread, it would seem the 'hug' was deleted from G80 (or at least some build configurations of it) for 22MY

The standard belt does have have a Pretensioner (squib) with Linear Mechanical Belt Force Limiter. The REMA (Reversible Electro-Motor Actuator) Belt has what's sometimes called a Pre-Pretensioner and Adaptive Belt Force Limiter. The Pre-Pretensioner activates before a "potential crash" to remove any belt slack and pull the occupant snug into the seat and releases if no crash occurs.

Some of the other functions outlined in the various descriptions of Active Protection should still be active. Oddly enough, a popular "coding change" for previous Gen M Cars actually disables some of these functions.

[BLKSAPPE92]

I do not notice this either on my 22 g80 I have the carbon buckets. So my sitting position seems to be more upright without a lot of leaning forward to reach anything.

[r32e90]

Originally Posted by BLKSAPPE92

I do not notice this either on my 22 g80 I have the carbon buckets. So my sitting position seems to be more upright without a lot of leaning forward to reach anything.

Just a quick update. I took the car in on Saturday and had the shop foreman looked at it. He was able to verify that the feature was not installed. The hardware is missing and it seems as though BMW just left out the standard feature on the M3.
I also have a call into BMW customer relations my case has been escalated twice and I hope to hear back from them Monday.

[AventurinG26]

Originally Posted by r32e90

Just a quick update. I took the car in on Saturday and had the shop foreman looked at it. He was able to verify that the feature was not installed. The hardware is missing and it seems as though BMW just left out the standard feature on the M3.
I also have a call into BMW customer relations my case has been escalated twice and I hope to hear back from them Monday.

Did you ever get anywhere with this? My G26 M440i is also missing 5AL. It was built 1/22. Really weird because other 3/4/i4 I’ve driven built around same time have had the seatbelt tug.

[MassComp]

"5AL Active Protection, N/C" is listed on my 2023 M3 Comp xDrive build sheet with the standard M Sport seats....

[madpistol]

My '21 M340i had "the hug", while my '22 M440i GC does not.

[TJR_///M3]

I realized I never did update my earlier post. My 22MY G80 M3 Comp with carbon buckets does not 'hug'.