Retrofitting Airbag Switch on 2003

[Ruofdez]

I just assumed that all Z4's had the feature to disable the passenger airbag but I now realise that's not the case. While it's not a legal requirement (with a front facing car seat) I would prefer that the airbag is switched off when my son is in the car if possible, so I'm looking into options to retrofit the switch. I've found the switch itself on eBay but thinking I may also need the wiring (and perhaps the centre console light). Also seems that the older switches must be matched to the correct key to turn, so are no good, but newer BMW switches may also do the job and will work with any key.

Some people suggest the wiring for the Passenger Airbag Switch is only on pre-facelift cars 2004 on. Where mine is a 2003 I'm thinking it might not be there. If anyone can confirm to avoid me taking the dashboard apart that would be great.

Any advice on how best to tackle it? Apparently some of the parts are discontinued and therefore BMW dealers won't do it, nor am I keen to pay their labour if it's something that's not too daunting, however I obviously want to make sure it's done safely or it defeats the whole purpose.

Thanks.

[paulc_bkk]

These are the bits I ordered to do mine (I also retrofitted the sport button too)

83826A72-34CF-4915-97F2-94E1713BC840.png (1.05 MiB) Viewed 276 times

Mine is a late 2003 and the wires were there

Pull the gear lever gaitor and have a poke around to see if you can feel the plug on the left side.... or just remove the glove box and see if you have the wiring at the left.

To install, the center console really needs to be out or the car. You’ll also need to make the hole for the switch in the passenger side of the dashboard - which was the most daunting bit for me.

Not sure different switches from different years make a difference to functionality.

Once physically in place, the switch needs to be coded (I think using ncsexpert)

Mine is installed but I haven’t gotten around to the coding yet as my laptop with software on it recently got soaked.

I’ll see if I have any other pics that might help show/explain the install

Here are some pages with links you may find useful:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=111706&sid=926bd548 ... 137834ca10

http://muga-uk.co.uk/z4/

[Ruofdez]

Ah that’s brilliant, thank you for all of that info, huge help.