airbag warning light [Archive] - bimmerfest

stu

02-07-2005, 11:41 AM

my airbag warning light is staying on /I have not hit anything can someone let me know if I can make it reset or do I have to take it to a garage?
thanks in anticipation.

BMW528i_Bilal

02-10-2005, 06:01 AM

My Airbag light began to stay on since the past 3 years, i don't know what the problem is, nor have any difference and feel of the car, and i don't what i might have done to make it go on.

AussiGeoff

12-16-2005, 07:16 PM

Have had the same on my 99 M3 Convertable... the message is from the passengers seat occupancy contact pad...apparently its the contacts in the plug under the seat. What is does is if the seat is occupied when you have an accident it deploys the airbag....no one in the seat...no air bag. :bigpimp:

Andemac33

12-18-2005, 06:38 PM

My air bag light came, they said it was a sensor in the seat belt... Replaced it.. Went off

timpa

12-21-2005, 12:34 AM

My airbag light started flickering after i replaced some bulbs in the instrument panel. I later foudn out that you shouldnt start your car with the panel disconnected, which i did. The airbag system detects that the airbag lamp is not working.
I had to reset the errorlog at a local BMW service, they did it for $10 and it took them 1 minute.

Ronnaferd

01-23-2006, 07:43 PM

alright my airbag light just came on in my car...absolutely nothing different to any other drive but for some reason it felt like turning on. WTF? Anyone have detailed instructions on how to fix this? Thanks for any help

fredo328

01-24-2006, 04:16 AM

JAYCYN28

01-24-2006, 09:40 AM

i had the same problem i toook it to a guy who only deals with bimmers and he just reset the computer airbag sensor for 60 bucks .if you can live with the light being on so be it if not get ready to cash a couple bucks to reset the sensor

fredo328

01-24-2006, 09:45 AM

I dont know about this forum but there are guys out there on some other forums (BFC) that rent out the reset tool among other things. Should check it out. Also ask in your regional forums if there is someone that would loan or rent it to you for a day or two.

Ronnaferd

01-25-2006, 09:35 PM

it can go off either because of a bad seat belt sensor or if you were messing around with something in the dash and of course if there is something wrong with the airbag. Doing stuff like installing new stereo, taking off the steering wheel possibly anything around the dash can trigger the warning if you dont disconnect the battery.

Well I haven't changed ANYTHING on my car and the airbag light is on. :mad: Any other ideas that it might be?? or should I just get the sensor reset? :dunno: Thanks

DancenNH

01-25-2006, 09:50 PM

The owners man in the glove box should tell you. I came across it the other day as my light has been on for a bit. Id relay the info but I am spent. Basicly the bag will not function right to that effect.

96318i

12-01-2006, 07:41 AM

Nick_uk

07-19-2007, 05:34 AM

Hi, i have just changed the seats in my car. The "new" seats do not have the connection for the seatbelt / airbag connection so the light on my dash stays on.
Anyone any recomendations on how to get around this?

Thanks
--Nick

suntex01

07-19-2007, 05:47 AM

Well...first of, if you didn't do anything to your car and the lights just came on then two most likely possibilities: seatbelt sensor or the passenger occupancy sensor. Get them replaced (not cheap for the occupancy sensor) because your airbags won't deploy.

Second off, supposedly there's a way to possibly short the connect for the sensors so that it will always think that someone is in passenger seat...How you do it? I have no F*ckin clue at this time as I am trying to find out myself. But you can always buy a salvaged sensor for $50 and put it in your seat yourself.

07-19-2007, 05:53 AM

airbag light was on my 1996 318ic...guy at dealer turned it off the first time for free...turned on and off a few times on its own the month after...took it to dealer and replaced passenger seat belt buckle...(button side)..no problems for several years..you must have special tool to turn it off...peak research makes one or look in the bavarian auto catalog. best deal is to locate someone who owns one..

Nick_uk

07-19-2007, 06:04 AM

its not that its broken, the "new" seats that i put in just dont have the connection.
So can i just terminate the loose ends?

suntex01

07-19-2007, 08:15 AM

I don't see any reason why you can't...But if I were you, I'd put like a resistor across it just so that it doesn't short out as quickly. Or you can put it your own sensor....But let me know how it goes...

Nick_uk

07-19-2007, 08:28 AM

thanks, i'll keep you posted

--Nick

playahsofly

07-19-2007, 09:55 AM

go to the dealer when there's not custumer... they will reset your airbag light for free... thats what i did..

Nick_uk

07-26-2007, 05:56 AM

Hi Suntex01, FYI i ended up removing the bulb from the instument cluster

suntex01

07-26-2007, 08:35 AM

well, i guess thats' one way to solve the problem...
ha

downhillmaniac1

07-26-2007, 09:12 AM

I went to the dealer cause earlier on there was a post that said they would do it for free, and another that said it cost them $10, but when I went, they said that the min fee was $110. AI want it fixed, but I have other things that come first at that price. They also said when I went in that when the srs light is on, the car bypasses the airbag in the case of an accident. Is this true or are they just trying to get me to pay.

320what?

07-26-2007, 09:23 AM

remember you drive with the SRS warning light on, the airbags won't deploy. driving with it for 3 years is may be ok if you don't care but if you do, i'd say sort it out, usually it's just some sensors.

E36 Phantom

07-26-2007, 12:50 PM

It is true, if the SRS warning light on your dash is on, it means the SRS circuit is broken somewhere (any part that fails will break the circuit), and your airbags *WILL NOT* deploy.

Nick, put the bulb back in and have any indy mechanic clear the codes for you. It takes all of 30 seconds, dead serious. And yes, I'm sure it would be easy enough to simply terminate the wires and that should fix your problem, and you'd have working airbags.

320what?

07-26-2007, 01:10 PM

like i said somewhere else, i have this exact problem where i have to replace the whole tape of wires in drivers bag. ****ty.

alexburnett

06-21-2009, 02:34 PM

I had the same problem with my BMW Airbag Warning Light and got a quote from a local garage which ran me in to hundreds of pounds to fix! Did a bit more research and found out that you can fix the problem yourself for very cheap!!

I bought a device called the Seat Occupancy Sensor from http://www.bimtronics.com which are by far your best choice for quality and reliability for an affordable price.

Again, check out http://www.bimtronics.com and order the Seat Occupancy Sensor; very easy to install.

Hope this helps and happy driving!!!

fresaUKBM

06-24-2009, 08:42 AM

My airbag light came on on my compact 318ti and i had no idea why. One day whilst cleaning the interior i noticed a wire that was hanging from undeneath the passangers seat i checked it out closely and i asumed it was conection to the seatbelt sensor that had snaped when pushing the seat forward. Anyways I attached back together, the light didnt go off, But i can tell you that both airbags deployed as I had quite a bad accident and wrotte the car off about a month after fixing it. VERY VERY Lucky as the passanger wasnt wearing his seatbelt and the only thing that stopped him flying out through the windscreen was the airback.

ln69bt

07-17-2009, 02:35 PM

Hello iv had my bmw 318 convetible 1995 about 3 months. Iv noticed the air bag light never comes on so i looked on the back of the clocks and someone has taken the bulb out. I have tryed a new bulb in and the light just stays on all the time. I want to know what could be the fault and what sensors will a 1995 one have iv had the drivers seat out before and there was no wires on it. Will it have seat belt pretentioners with sensors. The only thing i can see that someone has changed is the front as its had fog lights added could they be a sensor on the front bumper thats been left.

Any help please

PeteDawg

11-09-2009, 02:54 PM

I have spoken with two or three technicians, they all indicate that if the light is on and the peak test indicates that the only error is with the passenger occupancy sensor, the default is that the airbags will deploy.

This is contrary to what other have posted here, but my thought is that perhaps others were not qualifying their statement with the above facts.

The conclusion I am gleaning here is this: Obviously the advice is, if the light is on, have a tech look at it otherwise your airbags may not deploy. If you have had a test run, and you know where the error is, and it is only with the occupancy sensor, the default setting is that if a crash occurrs, both the driver and passenger seat will deploy.

Is there anyone out there willing to confirm or deny this? Thanks in advance.

dc_wright

11-09-2009, 06:46 PM

Air bag systems are designed to always try to deploy regardless of any fault indications. Whether the bags actually deploy or not is a function of the fault. For E36s if there is a constant fault the SRS light comes on as soon as you turn the ignition to the on positions and it stays on. If there was an intermittent fault, the fault code is stored and the SRS light comes on for 3 minutes every time you start the car.