The invention relates to a belt retractor (10) for automotive vehicles, comprising a housing frame (12) including two opposed side walls (14, 16) each having a wall opening (18, 20), a belt reel (22) being rotatable about a reel axis (A) and extending in the axial direction from a sensor-side reel end (24) through the wall openings (18, 20) of the housing frame (12) to an opposite spring-side reel end (26), as well as a housing cover (28) being tightly connected to the housing frame (12), wherein the housing cover (28) forms a radially elastic pivot bearing (30) for the spring-side reel end (26) and wherein the spring-side reel end (26) of the belt reel (22) is fixed in the radial direction in a guiding-free manner and, resp., without any further guideway on the housing cover (28).