We just had the drivers front door torn apart to replace the window regulator, and now the famous "man blowing a bubble" light is on. Is it possible this is linked to the repair we just did? I am heading out to try to reset it, but I don't know if my reset tool has that capability and would like to know the initial cause that brought this on. Any thoughts?
If I remember correctly, I think you have a 540i. If this is the same car we're talking about, then it's possible that the light came on because of the side passenger airbags. Methinks a reset should be logical for it to go away, but hopefully you didn't mess with anything while putting it back.
If you had the key on at anytime the airbag was disconnected then you may have set the light. Before I bought a GT1 system I purchased a Peake Research BMW Airbag Engine Scan/Reset~Tool on e-bay for about $119. It worked pretty good. At the time I figured it was cheeper than paying the dealer $120 for a one time reset. If it comes back after the reset then look at the connector for the airbag and see if a pin got bent on the reinstall. Hope this helps.
Similar "Air Bag" problem I purchased my '89 635CSi in May '08 and started the process of fixing years of neglect. First thing, repalce the dash and in doing so had to remove steering wheel with air bag. Everthing went fine and looks great, but know when I hit the horn, the next time I start the car the SRS indicator stays on. Only way to turn it off is to disconect the battery. Have inspected and everything is hooked up properly, but do I need to have the dealer do an SRS reset or just not blow my horn when an idiot pulls infront of me?
Most likely faults from the side airbags when the regulators were replaced. If the shop did the repairs then bring it back for them to clear the faults. We've had 5 series where the SRS light is dimmed and turned out to be either a bad ignition switch or airbag control unit.
Late addition (had the same problem in the past, now the window regulator is gone again and I'm looking for more clues, stumbled upon this) Airbag fault (hence, the light) is necessarily triggered if the window regulator replacement routine is done according to TIS (have to adjust the regulator with the airbag off the door). It is probably possible to put the airbag onto the door and connect it to avoid tripping the fault, but a) I don't know whether it would be possible to reach the regulator to adjust it b) that's definitely not a safe way to work. Corollary, obvious in a hindsight, not so obvious upon first encounter: airbag light on means THE WHOLE AIRBAG SYSTEM IS DISABLED. You don't want to be looking at that bubble blowing man for too long.
Problem solved! Thanks for the input folks. I had a "non-BMW" shop repair the window motor, so I'm sure the airbag was the problem. My solution was to sell the car for thousands less than what it was worth with the warning it has electrical gremlins and an auto trans that will need replacing! I much prefer my "new" '89 325iX.
