My airbag light turned on and the local dealer and my indy read the code, which says the seat sensor is not functioning properly. I had it reset and the airbag light didn't come back on until last weekend. The dealer is charging over $1000 to replace the seat sensor on my '99 323i (135K miles). The way the s.a. described it was that the seat cover had to be removed to get to the seat sensor. Has anybody had to replace the passenger seat sensor? Has anybody had success on the overall outcome such as the appearance of the passenger seat after the repair? My indy says that he can do it but it is a pain and tedious to do.
It turns out it is pretty easy to do the upholstery to replace the sensor. Tell your indy that the seat back comes off very easily, then it is just a matter of getting the cover pulled. It will look just like before when finished, the indy will charge you less, plus you get to support your local indy shop.
Isn't the sensor located where the passenger sits and not on the seat back? I'm in the Bay Area where the dealer charges $175 for labor and labor (I think) was going to be at least 4 hours. My indy has told me he's done this before but not that often.
