Could impact to bumper have cause vinyl separation?

[shertex]

As I mentioned in another thread, my son got in a minor accident in my 92 300D. He was stationary in a left turn lane; the other driver came on his right going the same direction, turned left, and clipped the front bumper, causing the right half of it to separate from the car. My initial thought was/is that this is the extent of the damage.

However, today I noticed something else. Picture the vertical piece to which the passenger seat belt is attached, i.e. the post between the doors. The vinyl which covers it has become separated. And, when I push on it from the inside, there's more give than there is when I press on the one on the driver side.

While, according to my son, there was not enough of an impact to result in a hard engagement of the seat belt, I wonder if there could be a connection between the impact to the bumper (specifically, it's being pulled forward) and what I've just noticed. Any thoughts?

I don't recall noticing this until today....but it is possible that this is something that's been there for a while that I simply haven't noticed.

[Yak]

Does the '92 have any interconnect between the seat belts and bumper or structure?

Don't laugh - at least not without reading - my '91 Audi 200 had something called the PROCONTEN system where cables were attached to structural components in the front and to the seatbelts. In the event of a severe collision the engine would rotate downwards, pulling back on the cables that connected to the steering and seatbelts and pulled you more upright.

procon-ten - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

System bezpicze The video is German overdubbed with Polish, I think. Click to about the 1:20 section to avoid the static.