[NormanHomes]

Just fitted a set of m sport seats to my SE model and got an airbag light/seat restraint light come up

upon closer inspection turns out couple of pins in the plug on the seat were bent thus not making a connection

just wondering if i recify this problem will the error go or will i have to have it reset on a computer?

55plate with i drive if that helps

cheers
dez

[mistryn]

Most likely you will need to hook it up to a computer to reset the light.

When a MF cloth got stuck under my seat and I moved it back, it got caught up with the connector and slightly nudged it causing the seat belt/aitbag warning light to come up

£20 later and my indi he reset the light for me. Considering to buy a the cable and software myself by what th indi charges

[NormanHomes]

Did they simply reset the light on the comp or did they fiddle with the connection as well? cheers

[mistryn]

Originally Posted by NormanHomes

Did they simply reset the light on the comp or did they fiddle with the connection as well? cheers

The light came on when I moved the seat back so when I went to the mechanic, he looked underneath the seat and pushed the connections back in and then plugged in his autologic laptop and re set it

when he was looking under the seat he could not see any signs of anything come apart/loose so he said he wasnt sure why it threw up the light

[onetwentie]

I've had the same issue on mine this weekend (2006 330d MSport, Touring).

Was meddling with the interior and disconnected and removed the centre console..(carputer install) now the seatbelt and airbag light are on, and the idrive has a message telling me to take it to the nearest dealership.

Strange thing is, I didn't do anything with the airbag module, didn't disconnect the battery, so why is the light on?

Where on the seats is the pretensioner/cable? might I have knocked it? are they that fragile?

any help would be grately appreciated.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by NormanHomes

Just fitted a set of m sport seats to my SE model and got an airbag light/seat restraint light come up

upon closer inspection turns out couple of pins in the plug on the seat were bent thus not making a connection

just wondering if i recify this problem will the error go or will i have to have it reset on a computer?

55plate with i drive if that helps

cheers
dez

Always change the seats with the battery terminal taken off to avoid this happening, unless you have equipment to reset the codes.
Now check the connections below the passenger seat.
I can assure you, that if connection is good, it will go away without reseting it.
Here is the action plan and see how it goes.
1- Make sure all the connections are good and the connector and connected to its hook under your passenger seat.
2- Once you are satisfied with step1, start the car and you will get the signal of airbag and seat belt. Drive it for couple of miles, and they will disappear. If not stop it at some place, turn it off, get out of the car and lock your car.
Two minutes later, get in the car and start it again. you may still have the error and drive it for couple of miles.
It goes away automatically unless there is problem with pretensioner or seat occupancy mat.

3- If it does not go away, take it to local indi, and ask him to reset (dont forget to take the code from him, so you know what it was). Or take out the battery wires for 15 minutes to reset whole ecu and mpg figure. See which is convenient for you.
The error should go away.

4- Once the error is gone, insert the key and go and sit in the passenger seat. Move little bit in the chair, and if you get the error again, then your occupancy mat is gone or broken (very common). However if no error, ask your friend to sit in passenger seat, put the seat belt on and drive. If error re-appears, then possible pretensioner error.
If no error, go to nearest pub, and have few drinks

All the best.

[foxy-stoat]

The air bag/seat tensioners pins look bent any way.

Did you disconnect the battery first before removing connectors.

Do you know if the seat airbags/seat belt tensioners working properly before you swopped them?

[onetwentie]

Originally Posted by foxy-stoat

The air bag/seat tensioners pins look bent any way.

Did you disconnect the battery first before removing connectors.

Do you know if the seat airbags/seat belt tensioners working properly before you swopped them?

I didn't disconnect the battery before removing the connectors, but from memory these are the ones i removed:

Cigarette Lighter connector
Gearbox light indicator connector
idrive connector
rear console connectors
fakra connector (Bluetooth I believe)
one other connector that resides under the centre console which is similar to the two connectors on the back of the climate control unit.

The tensioners were working fine previously as far as i'm aware as the light had never come on previously.

I knew about removing the battery before messing with anything airbag related, but didn't realise it was necessary for the centre console. The only think i can think of is that it was necessary to slight the seats all the way forward (electric seats) in order to remove the rear console (the one with the heater vents for rear passengers). could this have caused a connector to come loose? - I will check later when I finish work.

[foxy-stoat]

Originally Posted by onetwentie

I didn't disconnect the battery before removing the connectors, but from memory these are the ones i removed:

Cigarette Lighter connector
Gearbox light indicator connector
idrive connector
rear console connectors
fakra connector (Bluetooth I believe)
one other connector that resides under the centre console which is similar to the two connectors on the back of the climate control unit.

The tensioners were working fine previously as far as i'm aware as the light had never come on previously.

I knew about removing the battery before messing with anything airbag related, but didn't realise it was necessary for the centre console. The only think i can think of is that it was necessary to slight the seats all the way forward (electric seats) in order to remove the rear console (the one with the heater vents for rear passengers). could this have caused a connector to come loose? - I will check later when I finish work.

Sorry dude, was aimed at the OP.

Not sure what you have done with your problem. I guess disconnect your battery, check all connectors and tensioners and re-connect.

Moving the seats forward wouldnt of disconnected seat plugs as you need to pull a black slidey tab out. Could of broken a wire but unlikely.

I dont have i drive so dont know what extra gubbins you have.

[onetwentie]

Foxy-Stoat no worries mate, I figured you had aimed at OP soon after I posted and re-read.

Is it given that if it is a connector/tensioner (btw what does one of them look like?) and the problem is rectified, that the error will go away on its own accord, or is a visit to the indy/dealership inevitable?

[foxy-stoat]

Originally Posted by onetwentie

Foxy-Stoat no worries mate, I figured you had aimed at OP soon after I posted and re-read.

Is it given that if it is a connector/tensioner (btw what does one of them look like?) and the problem is rectified, that the error will go away on its own accord, or is a visit to the indy/dealership inevitable?

I thought it was a dealer/indy fix but try Makkan's way.

Tensioner connectors are in with the yellow seat plugs.

[onetwentie]

Originally Posted by foxy-stoat

I thought it was a dealer/indy fix but try Makkan's way.

Tensioner connectors are in with the yellow seat plugs.

Out of interest foxy-stoat do you happen to know what an indy would charge for this?

[onetwentie]

Originally Posted by onetwentie

Out of interest foxy-stoat do you happen to know what an indy would charge for this?

Sorry I meant to add ".. in the UK, as compared to say the states?"

[foxy-stoat]

Originally Posted by onetwentie

Sorry I meant to add ".. in the UK, as compared to say the states?"

No idea, many be worth a call to your local Indy and find out......assuming that the "fault" has been rectified before you pay them to delete the code, if not they will certainly tell you what the fault is.

Never been to the States.

[onetwentie]

Originally Posted by foxy-stoat

No idea, many be worth a call to your local Indy and find out......assuming that the "fault" has been rectified before you pay them to delete the code, if not they will certainly tell you what the fault is.

Never been to the States.

There's a point - how would I know that the fault has actually been rectified? - eg, I could check the connectors, and the pretensioners etc, and then go to the indy, they could clear the code, and the 'fault' could actually still be there - could it not?... or is it the assumption that in this kind of scenario; the light would come back on, indicating that the actual fault still exists?

[foxy-stoat]

Indy/Dealer would plug their code reader in, brings up the fault code and what the fault is.

You would either get them to rectify or do it yourself then take it back to clear the code.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by onetwentie

Sorry I meant to add ".. in the UK, as compared to say the states?"

Depends on where you go. If you always go to them, they may charge £15-20.
However if you go to a garage, where you have never been, expect anything b/w £35-50.

[NormanHomes]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Always change the seats with the battery terminal taken off to avoid this happening, unless you have equipment to reset the codes.
Now check the connections below the passenger seat.
I can assure you, that if connection is good, it will go away without reseting it.
Here is the action plan and see how it goes.
1- Make sure all the connections are good and the connector and connected to its hook under your passenger seat.
2- Once you are satisfied with step1, start the car and you will get the signal of airbag and seat belt. Drive it for couple of miles, and they will disappear. If not stop it at some place, turn it off, get out of the car and lock your car.
Two minutes later, get in the car and start it again. you may still have the error and drive it for couple of miles.
It goes away automatically unless there is problem with pretensioner or seat occupancy mat.

3- If it does not go away, take it to local indi, and ask him to reset (dont forget to take the code from him, so you know what it was). Or take out the battery wires for 15 minutes to reset whole ecu and mpg figure. See which is convenient for you.
The error should go away.

4- Once the error is gone, insert the key and go and sit in the passenger seat. Move little bit in the chair, and if you get the error again, then your occupancy mat is gone or broken (very common). However if no error, ask your friend to sit in passenger seat, put the seat belt on and drive. If error re-appears, then possible pretensioner error.
If no error, go to nearest pub, and have few drinks

All the best.

cheers for the advice. are you positive that if the connections/circuit is complete the light will turn itself off? i know on vag cars you HAVE to clear the light via vag com or it will never go off. but havent had any experience with these

i bought a cable off ebay to wipe it but the ****ing installation for the software is a good 8 hour job and i wasnt successful installing it

Originally Posted by foxy-stoat

The air bag/seat tensioners pins look bent any way.

Did you disconnect the battery first before removing connectors.

Do you know if the seat airbags/seat belt tensioners working properly before you swopped them?

i didnt dissconect the battery. Ive had the old seats out a few times when i was cleaning it. But then i bought an m sport interior and thats when the problem arose due to the bent pin

the interior was mint and i used my belt tensioners so yeah im pretty sure they are fine

[makkan00]

Best thing, get your cable and software sorted, read the code, and you will get the answer.
If it is passenger sensor mat fault (not broken circuit), the message will go away.
Same with pre-tensioner, unless the circuit is broken.

As said earlier, get your software on the track, and get it sorted that way.

[Statler]

My Coupe has been back twice for this. Just moving the seats has caused this twice. Second time, they replaced cabling in the seats under warranty. It's come on again for no reason so it's back to the Dealer.

This is the third time in a year it's happened. My kids are in/out of the back seats regularly and the wee one uses the height adjuster on the passenger seat every day.

You'd think BMW could design a wiring loom that would cope with this...

[nik patel]

I got the same issue today, checked the connections etc and they seem fine, was going to try disconnecting the battery, is taking just the negative enough or take both of the terminals off?

Once I reconnect does anything need to reset? like the ecu or will the engine reprogram itself?

[Statler]

I believe that, because this is a safety issue, the dealer is the only one that can reset it.

Negative would do but be careful disconnecting the battery. There was some chatter on the forum about the car thinking you've put a new battery in and needing it coded to get the max capacity out of it. This would just compound your problems.

My last foray to the dealer was over a year ago and involved two complete harnesses, a Master Tech from BMW Uk and two days of time. Thankfully under warranty as the bill was well over £2.5k...

I'd suggest a diagnostic first so you can find out what is really wrong rather than mask the underlying problem.

Nothing is cheap on a modern car!