Red airbag light.

[konas]

cj10jeeper, it had happend to me to the E46 that I had previously. At the BMW shop they recconected it and set the light off, by the OBD computer they have, and since then no problem again.
I was not sure if the same way are the cables to the Z4 ....

[MP40MAN]

I picked up an 05 yesterday and the damn air bag light is on. I tried to turn it off and on with the key inside the passenger door but it did not do anything. When I bring it in for service I will have them look at it and in the meantime try not to prang it.

Sounds like a regular issue with these things. Still a fun drive though.

[Shipkiller]

To determine if it is your passenger seat causing this, you have to do a couple of things first....

Start the car.
Plugin the drivers seatbelt. This will make the seatbelt light go out.

Now sit down in your seat. Does the seatbelt light come back on? You may have to drive the car over 15kph to get it to light up...
If the seatbelt light comes back on,then the passenger seat sensor is OK.

Now lets check the seat belt sensor.
With the seat belt light ON, plug in your passenger seat belt. If the light goes OUT then the seat electronics is OK and the problem lies somewhere else.
If the light stays on with the belt connected, then the belt sensor is faulty....
Cruising around the other boards, I have found out that the belt sensor is a common failure on BMW's, but is not replaceable. You have to replace the complete seat belt assemble that is bolted to the seat..

Also things to look for under the seat is frayed or cut wires.... This can happen.

I have a SRS light also. I have narrowed it down to the passenger seat sensor mat or the small connector box attached to the underside of the seat. It's the A113 module also called the 'Seat Occupancy Recognition Module'. If it is not raining here tomorrow, I will remove my seat and check out the circuit...

In later years of production, not sure what year, the A113 model as been removed and the electronics have been moved to the rear of the seat sensor mat itself...

[WaZZZZman]

I don't know if the Zeds on that side of the pond have a OBDII port or not, but here I just get an inexpensive OBDII reader and it tells me what the problem is and instead of taking the negative side of the battery off, I just do a reset with the device. I keep seeing posts about codes that are easy to fix and wonder why you don't use an OBDII reader to find the problems. In the US all vehicles sold here after 1996 must have a port for those devices and all codes can be found either in the documentation with the device or anywhere on the Internet including BMW specific. Should be error code B1876 or so. But then again maybe you don't have them there and have to depend on the dealer.

[Shipkiller]

I don't know if the Zeds on that side of the pond have a OBDII port or not, but here I just get an inexpensive OBDII reader and it tells me what the problem is and instead of taking the negative side of the battery off, I just do a reset with the device. I keep seeing posts about codes that are easy to fix and wonder why you don't use an OBDII reader to find the problems.

That would work for an engine problem but not for a SRS (Safety and Information Module) problem.
Those codes are not part of the mandated ODB-II specification and can be anything the manufactured wants them to be and most cheapo ODB readers will not go out and interrogate the extra modules on the car... Thats why they are cheap...

In the US all vehicles sold here after 1996 must have a port for those devices and all codes can be found either in the documentation with the device or anywhere on the Internet including BMW specific. Should be error code B1876 or so.

You need a code reader that will read everything the car has. There are several that will do this but most are expensive... >$300
Peake Reasearch sells a specific ODB-II reader and reset tool. They also sell a specific SRS code reader/reset tool. Each specific one is approx. $140.00 each...

Oh, to make matters worse, on BMW cars, you can read the ODB codes through the ODB port, but you cannot reset them unless you have a special diagnostic cable that fits between your code scanner and your car....AND the Z4 DME will not let you reset a fault code with the engine running. Only with Ignition On, Engine off will they reset. This took me a while to figure out...

I use the AutoEnginuity software and reader with the BMW extended codes...

I have heard that the best software for the BMW is the Carsoft products. I have not personnely used them...

As for searching the internet, yes the codes for ODB-II are on the internet, but NOT the BMW SRS specific codes. I have only found the SRS codes up to model year 2000. I THINK they are the same as ours but I am not sure..... and I have tried....

[cj10jeeper]

Thanks for raising the counter argument specifically re the SRS Shipkiller. I have been unable to find a way of personally resetting SRS code.

I purchased a carsoft link/interface and the software and it would not connect correctly to the Z4. My local Indy swore he could do it but it turned out on his expensive set up that he has codes for everything except the Z4 SRS system.

Incedentally Carsoft would only read the chassis number and LCM mileage on mine (both Z4 and X5)

If anyone really does have a SRS reset tool or method available to the UK and at a reasonable price I'm all ears...

[Shipkiller]

Maybe this will work. I am not sure.

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/de ... _ID=R5/SRS

My autoenginuity will reset the SRS but since I still have the fault, the light will stay on...

[cj10jeeper]

OK so $130 plus no doubt say another $30 to ship it is not cheap, but less than 2 trips to a dealer.

I'd like to hear from someone who has actually used this tool with success on a Z4..

(I'm still smarting from having to book my X5 in for new rear suspension bushes at £620 ($1250) having just failed it's annual MOT)

[BlackSapphireZ]

I purchased a carsoft link/interface and the software and it would not connect correctly to the Z4. My local Indy swore he could do it but it turned out on his expensive set up that he has codes for everything except the Z4 SRS system.

crap i just bought one of these CarSoft deals...

[cj10jeeper]

I purchased a carsoft link/interface and the software and it would not connect correctly to the Z4. My local Indy swore he could do it but it turned out on his expensive set up that he has codes for everything except the Z4 SRS system.

crap i just bought one of these CarSoft deals...

That was my take and it went back for a 100% refund

[WaZZZZman]

ShipKiller are you sure that a code like B1876 would not even show up on the reader? I have never had anything other then a O2 sensor show up. But understood that any code would show on the screen.

I would not recommend clearing a code without finding and fixing the problem but was not aware that the reset would not do it.

I am going to have to fine what I need to do the work myself, because I will be damned if I am just going to take the dealers word for problems that I could diagnose myself. If you find something that does work for less than 1K let me know. That was what I was referring to as inexpensive not 20K. And still aside from this particular problem, there have been a lot of other faults reported here that a simple code reader would have lessened some of the worry at times.

[Shipkiller]

Waz, a B1876 is NOT an ODB-II code. It is a BODY specific code from the manufacturer. All generic ODB-II codes are PXXXX codes...

Pulling the battery terminal for 10 min. WILL reset ODB-II codes because they are engine/performance/emissions related. Depending on how the manufacturer designs the system, determines whether the other codes stored in the other modules gets cleared....

You have to remember, there is NO rule on HOW the manufacture designs his system. The only rule is that if a car/truck is sold in the US, it must at a bare minimum, conform to the DOT/EPA mandated coding.
Example:
On my Ford F-150, ALL codes (emissions/SRS/body etc) are stored in the main computer..... so pulling the battery cable will reset ALL codes, no matter what.
BMW goes a different route. They have a different module for each function that it requires. So, when you pull a ODB code, that DTC code is coming from the DME. When you have the proper equipment, and pull the SRS code, it is coming from the Safety and Information Module (SIM). There is a separate module for your soft top...

Any simple ODB-II code reader will read the genaric ODB codes....

Here is a site I sometimes go to for info.
http://www.obd-codes.com/

[WaZZZZman]

Boy they are sure locking you in then. Well at least the engine specific codes should show up. I still don't think disconnecting the battery is a good idea. I have not done that on the BMW, but my O2 was out of my Chev S-10. I did the battery thing and sure enough it cleared, I drove it and it came back in a few miles, did it again and same thing. Put on the reader said top O2 was out, got one, 15 minutes later started the truck, the computer sensed the problem was fixed, the check engine light went out and all has been well ever sense. Now if I took it into the dealer, it would have been $100 to diagnose the problem and $250.00 to fix it. With the BMW it would be more like $750.00. I just don't want to play that game when a $45.00 part and 15 minutes work by me can do the same thing. You are probably correct on body stuff, and some other modules, I remember reading about the BMW architecture. But at least for the engine stuff which I have seen on this forum, can be diagnosed and fixed by anyone who can swing a wrench and I think investing in a code reader is a wise thing to do. Thanks for all your great expertise and help, if you find anything useful on this subject I am sure you will inform us all.

[Shipkiller]

How the computer in the car clears the CEL (check engine light or service engine soon) light differs from one manufacture to the next.

On Ford, you must have three consecutive drive cycles (Key on, start, run, off) without a fault to clear the CEL.
Not sure about BMW yet......but I think it is similar.

It's not a bad thing to pull power to clear the codes. If you pull the code and keep it, then pull power to clear it, that would be alright. You now have a data point for the future to see if the code was a spurious code or a hard fault....
The computer will generate fault codes that do not light the CEL lamp... but are stored. The only way to see those codes is to use a code scanner....

Any AutoZone or AdvancedAuto will scan your ODB-II codes for free.....