Dog Sat on Passenger Seat, = Airbag Light.

[Pabby1980]

Hi all,

Ever since my 25kg dog sat on the passenger seat for a short journey, the airbag warning light has come on.

After some research I've found I can buy a blue cable and box thingy to plug into the ECU that will reset the light, but I'm not particularly tech savvy and don't have a laptop other than the wife's Macbook so I'd rather a professional did it.

Any idea what I should expect to pay for this? It has to be done as an RAC guy informed me its an MOT fail.

I'm certain it was the dog and not an actual fault with the airbags.

Thanks in advance.

Paul.

[Silverstar]

Depends on your garage and how well you know them but I wouldn't be paying more than £20 for resetting the light. However I can't see how a dog sitting on the seat should cause the airbag light to come on, there has to be a fault for it to be triggered. The RAC guy is right about the MOT.

[BTZ461]

In the same way leaning into the car and putting weight on the seat squab with one hand, the uneven weight application can be enough. Easy to fix if you have a Carly or similar.

[colb]

Doubt if the dog sitting on the seat has brought the airbag light on, the occupancy pad in the seat just senses if the seat is occupied so in the event of a collission the passenger airbag would fire. If the seat is empty the airbag wouldn't/shouldn't fire. Best option is to code read it with a code reader that can read the airbag module, not all code readers can do that. BMW INPA and BMW Scanner 1.4 on laptops will read it, think Creator 110 and 310 handheld readers will also read the module and clear codes. Carly should also do it but that system requires an ongoing subscription where the others do not. I also have a B800 airbag system code reader I use on my Z3 not checked it out on my Z4 but thats a cheap option to equip yourself with an airbag code reader, available on ebay.
If you put your location in on your post or add it into your ID that appears on the left of your posts, its in your user settings then maybe someone near you with suitable code reader will offer to scan it and clear the code so the light resets. Bear in mind if when reset it comes back it will do so until the fault is corrected.

[Pabby1980]

In the same way leaning into the car and putting weight on the seat squab with one hand, the uneven weight application can be enough. Easy to fix if you have a Carly or similar.

This.

It's a fairly common thing if you look into it.

Sounds very strange that uneven weight on the passenger seat would set off an airbag light, but it does.

FYI I have the sports seats. Not sure what they're called officially but they're the coveted, side hugging, heated, leather ones with the multi settings functions.

Paul.

[BTZ461]

Ah yes. The style of seat much loved by dogs