Red airbag light.

D

davidpfitz

Member
 London, UK
Hi folks - hoping for some assistence ...

The red light for the airbag came on the other day. No rhyme or reason to it - the car hasn't been in a crash, prang, nor have I been at it with a screwdriver trying any mods! Just out of the blue.

Before I bring it to the dealer, is there anything I can try myself? Is there a common cause of setting the light off (blown fuses, or something simple?)

Thanks for any help you can give!

David.
 
Only thing you can try is to disconnect the battery (negative lead) for about 15 minutes.

If that does not work, it might be a faulty sensor which would require replacement. Dealer can read that out though.
 
It is the "-" one, the NON red one. It will be on the right hand side when you lean into the boot.
 
Hello David,
I dunno what year is yours but there has been some recall and service bulletin from BMW about issues with the airbag light going off. You might wanna check with them. I just found out and I was going through them for my recently purchased 2003.
You can check here: http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/MaintenanceServlet
Cheers
 
ZetaTre said:
Hello David,
I dunno what year is yours but there has been some recall and service bulletin from BMW about issues with the airbag light going off. You might wanna check with them. I just found out and I was going through them for my recently purchased 2003.
You can check here: http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/MaintenanceServlet
Cheers
Click to expand...
Thanks a million for that, I'll give the dealer a call in the morning.

As for trying to remove the battery for 15 minutes (or the connection!) my dad reckons this is a bad idea - on his Merc, if the battery connection goes he says it requires a dealer visit... is this true? (for BMW, not Merc).

Cheers,
D.
 
Nope you can disconnect the battery on the Zed without any worries at all. Mine's only been off about 30 times in the last year of ownership with all the project work :)

You will just need to reset your various clocks, date, etc. Cumulative MPG readings and the like will be lost.

As an aside it is highly unlikley that disconnecting the battery will remove the airbag error code. I know I've screwed up twice now in my project creating error codes and it's a dealer or specialised indy trip.
 
My red airbag light is on too. I just ignore it. It has been set off before by Stratsone BMW Derby on some of the 4 visits it took for them to fix the puddle in the passenger footwell. As there is now increased road noise from the passenger side door area (but not wind noise), and a passenger window that "goes down dry, comes up wet", I guess they failed to secure the internal door sound insilatuion which has now fallen off within the door and knocked out the airbag connector once again...
And the warranty has now expired.
I should have bought a higher quality car, like a Trabant!
 
edderby said:
My red airbag light is on too. I just ignore it. It has been set off before by Stratsone BMW Derby on some of the 4 visits it took for them to fix the puddle in the passenger footwell. As there is now increased road noise from the passenger side door area (but not wind noise), and a passenger window that "goes down dry, comes up wet", I guess they failed to secure the internal door sound insilatuion which has now fallen off within the door and knocked out the airbag connector once again...
And the warranty has now expired.
I should have bought a higher quality car, like a Trabant!
Click to expand...

What a sorry story by a stealership

Just remember that when the light is on the complete airbag system is deactivated and int he event of an accident no part of it will deploy :thumbsdown:
 
edderby said:
My red airbag light is on too. I just ignore it. It has been set off before by Stratsone BMW Derby on some of the 4 visits it took for them to fix the puddle in the passenger footwell. As there is now increased road noise from the passenger side door area (but not wind noise), and a passenger window that "goes down dry, comes up wet", I guess they failed to secure the internal door sound insilatuion which has now fallen off within the door and knocked out the airbag connector once again...
And the warranty has now expired.
I should have bought a higher quality car, like a Trabant!
Click to expand...
I should also have typed "insulation" properly...
 
cj10jeeper said:
edderby said:
My red airbag light is on too. I just ignore it. It has been set off before by Stratsone BMW Derby on some of the 4 visits it took for them to fix the puddle in the passenger footwell. As there is now increased road noise from the passenger side door area (but not wind noise), and a passenger window that "goes down dry, comes up wet", I guess they failed to secure the internal door sound insilatuion which has now fallen off within the door and knocked out the airbag connector once again...
And the warranty has now expired.
I should have bought a higher quality car, like a Trabant!
Click to expand...

What a sorry story by a stealership

Just remember that when the light is on the complete airbag system is deactivated and int he event of an accident no part of it will deploy :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

Hmm, I shall just have to try not to crash... It's worth remembering that cars never used to have airbags (or any of the electro gimicks that take your control away like ABS, DSC, DTC, CBC, etc) and we still drove like crazy. My motorbike doesn't have airbags either, and it goes far faster than my Z4 and is so much more fun.
 
edderby said:
cj10jeeper said:
edderby said:
My red airbag light is on too. I just ignore it. It has been set off before by Stratsone BMW Derby on some of the 4 visits it took for them to fix the puddle in the passenger footwell. As there is now increased road noise from the passenger side door area (but not wind noise), and a passenger window that "goes down dry, comes up wet", I guess they failed to secure the internal door sound insilatuion which has now fallen off within the door and knocked out the airbag connector once again...
And the warranty has now expired.
I should have bought a higher quality car, like a Trabant!
Click to expand...

What a sorry story by a stealership

Just remember that when the light is on the complete airbag system is deactivated and int he event of an accident no part of it will deploy :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

Hmm, I shall just have to try not to crash... It's worth remembering that cars never used to have airbags (or any of the electro gimicks that take your control away like ABS, DSC, DTC, CBC, etc) and we still drove like crazy. My motorbike doesn't have airbags either, and it goes far faster than my Z4 and is so much more fun.
Click to expand...

Have to agree there. My old Cooper S with me behind the wheel was a fairly volatile combination and any half decent crash would have seen me off to see St Peter, but soooo much fun.
 
Another cause for the aibag light it might be a furious move of a seat back/forth. If I remember well, under the seat there is a cable connection (jack?) of the airbags cable and sometimes it gets loose.

But even re-conecting it, for the light to set it off, it has to go to the shop. I think its one of the lights that cannot be off by us.

Removing the negative pole of the battery might help, but besides the clock it will also be needed re-initialization of the windows on/off. This is very easy to do it youself and the procedure it is into the DIY threads.
 
konas said:
Another cause for the aibag light it might be a furious move of a seat back/forth. If I remember well, under the seat there is a cable connection (jack?) of the airbags cable and sometimes it gets loose.

But even re-conecting it, for the light to set it off, it has to go to the shop. I think its one of the lights that cannot be off by us.

Removing the negative pole of the battery might help, but besides the clock it will also be needed re-initialization of the windows on/off. This is very easy to do it youself and the procedure it is into the DIY threads.
Click to expand...

konas - that's correct - there is indeed an airbag sensor built into the seat connection loom of the passenger seat. If this is disconnected then the ignition turned on it will create an airbag error/fault warning.

I'd be very surprised if this ever came off unless it was not previously connected correctly as it plugs together and then has a sliding lock mechanism that itself locks closed to prevent it ever undoing.
 
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 ....
 
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.
 
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...
 
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.
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But then again maybe you don't have them there and have to depend on the dealer.
mecry.gif
 
WaZZZZman said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...


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....
 
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