Recurring airbag light- solved

[bigwinn]

Evening all

My German is rubbish

Help me understand what this recurring airbag light issue is please?

Stuart

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[bigwinn]

If it helps- there has been a leak into the passenger footwell which I've now resolved and dried out...

[bigwinn]

google is helping-

98C9 - Resistance,firing circuit,front airbag,right(E85),or passenger airbag(E6x),stage 1,too low

Now is that right as in drivers, or right as in passenger- I think I recall left and right orientated by looking at the front of the car?

[DashingDaryl]

Did the water hit any of the airbag harnesses connectors? Those should be yellow.

It sounds like there is resistance in the circuit, as if the connector got corroded. It may mean you need to use some contact cleaner on the harness, or actually replace the damaged airbag.

Since driver side is dependent on the region, left & right is more universal. Right is right when you are sitting in the Driver's seat.

[colb]

Plugging the car into INPA and looking at the airbag module you should be able to see the status of each of the componants in the system which may narrow your problem down if the right airbag is not showing as connected. Good call earlier to check and clean the underseat connections as well.

[Zulu4]

Going by wiring kits that I've bought from BMW, I'd take "drivers side" to mean German driver's side i.e. Left hand seat side. Similarly, "passenger side" as Right hand seat side.

[bigwinn]

Plugging the car into INPA and looking at the airbag module you should be able to see the status of each of the componants in the system which may narrow your problem down if the right airbag is not showing as connected. Good call earlier to check and clean the underseat connections as well.

Good shout Colb

I’m still learning inpa so I didn’t think to do that

[bigwinn]

Did the water hit any of the airbag harnesses connectors? Those should be yellow.

It sounds like there is resistance in the circuit, as if the connector got corroded. It may mean you need to use some contact cleaner on the harness, or actually replace the damaged airbag.

Since driver side is dependent on the region, left & right is more universal. Right is right when you are sitting in the Driver's seat.

Just picked up some contact cleaner to give it a blast with

Hopefully I can get the resistance out!!

[bigwinn]

Going by wiring kits that I've bought from BMW, I'd take "drivers side" to mean German driver's side i.e. Left hand seat side. Similarly, "passenger side" as Right hand seat side.

Good steer- thank you!

[bigwinn]

Plugging the car into INPA and looking at the airbag module you should be able to see the status of each of the componants in the system which may narrow your problem down if the right airbag is not showing as connected. Good call earlier to check and clean the underseat connections as well.

Colb can you read into these and give me some insight?

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[colb]

Looks like you have 1 fault of low resistance on the right airbag according to the fault code you got in INPA, this is highlighted in the Status screen shot in the fourth screenshot where it shows up with a black dot, the rest are ok.
I would start looking at the wiring to that right airbag behind the door card, disconnect the battery negative terminal before you start taking the card off. Disconnect the plug from the airbag and check the condition of the pins for cleanliness, spray some electric contact cleaner in and allow to dry, same for the socket on the airbag. Check the wiring that runs back through the door to where it exits the door and into the body of the car. Possible broken wire inside thats setting the code now and then. Not sure what resistance that airbag should be but I do know that the belt pretensioners must be less than 1ohm when checked on a test meter. Typicial pretensioner resistance is around 0.4 - 0.5ohms on good units, would expect similar on the airbag unit.
Screen shot 3 showing the acceleration sensor Y direction all seem to be good except for the top two readings, offset and current readings, not got knowledge of this section but would suppose that they should also be at zero like the other readings with the car stationary or stillstand as the Germans say at the bottom of the screen.
Thats what I deduce from those screenshots, not an expert by any means, maybe someone else will chip in with their interpretation would like to see how this gets resolved.

[bigwinn]

Looks like you have 1 fault of low resistance on the right airbag according to the fault code you got in INPA, this is highlighted in the Status screen shot in the fourth screenshot where it shows up with a black dot, the rest are ok.
I would start looking at the wiring to that right airbag behind the door card, disconnect the battery negative terminal before you start taking the card off. Disconnect the plug from the airbag and check the condition of the pins for cleanliness, spray some electric contact cleaner in and allow to dry, same for the socket on the airbag. Check the wiring that runs back through the door to where it exits the door and into the body of the car. Possible broken wire inside thats setting the code now and then. Not sure what resistance that airbag should be but I do know that the belt pretensioners must be less than 1ohm when checked on a test meter. Typicial pretensioner resistance is around 0.4 - 0.5ohms on good units, would expect similar on the airbag unit.
Screen shot 3 showing the acceleration sensor Y direction all seem to be good except for the top two readings, offset and current readings, not got knowledge of this section but would suppose that they should also be at zero like the other readings with the car stationary or stillstand as the Germans say at the bottom of the screen.
Thats what I deduce from those screenshots, not an expert by any means, maybe someone else will chip in with their interpretation would like to see how this gets resolved.

Cheers Col- that saves me ferreting in the carpet areas where I’d have started

Do you think that’s drivers door?

[colb]

Pretty sure its pointing to Drivers door airbag and wiring as it states Right side.

[bigwinn]

Thanks

Will feed back if I get it resolved

[bigwinn]

Right

Drivers door card off
Airbag checked, wiring checked, contact cleaner used etc
Loom checked back to the door

Did the passengers side just in case

Still fault shows

Do we think this could be an airbag fault and is worth swapping out?

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