My 03 Z-4's airbag light suddenly went on, for no reason and won't go off. I am told that this is a common problem with this vintage and that it takes a tool to check for any problems and to reset the code to turn it off. Does the club or any individual rent this tool out? I appreciate any advice. ( I am new to the club). Thank you, Jim Vacca
SRS Airbag light stays on Hi - I have the same issue with my 1999 323i - surfing the internet confirms that it is a common issue with a number of bmws owners - in my case and in all the posts that I've read, the light appears on one day, for no apparent reason and won't go off. The light came on a couple months ago with a fault code of either the seat-belt tensioner had an issue, etc, etc. and I ignored it, like many bimmwads are reportedly doing. EXCEPT, I learned recently that the airbags will not deploy without the light being reset -DUH I have not heard or found out what BMW North America's official policy is on rectifying this, i.e., whether or not they're charging to have this obvious manufacturing defect resolved. I intend to call BMW tomorrow to get an answer. Meanwhile, please email me or the forum with any info on this subject. Thanks!
Thank you for your return post. I have checked my car with a portable OBD2 and found no codes at all. One service station said that my air bag should deploy. I was hoping that my local BMW club might have a reset tool for this, but they only have a tool for older models. I have seen them on line for about $120.00. I am not sure which is worse..paying for one of them or paying the dealer a bunch just to reset it. Let me know if you get any answers from mother BMW. Thanks JV
The E30 requires a special tool that either lives at the dealer or may be available at your local club. All of the later (E36/38/39 on) can be reset with a variaety of scanners with BMW specific software (Snap-On MT2500, Launch X431, Autologic, GT1, etc.) Failure of a part out of warranty is just that, failure out of warranty. The seat belt latches are common failure items as are the seat occupancy sensors. The passenger airbag may not deploy, or (if BMW made them to be 2 stage bags) may only deploy at half strength if there is an error in either of those in the passenger seat. I believe that the bag will deploy regardless for the driver. I don't know for certain, but what I do know is that most states that require a safety inspection will fail you for an airbag light, so get those fixed.
