I bought an 03 MCS used about a month ago. One concern for me was the passenger side front airbag because as my kids get older I wanted them to be able to ride in the front seat. The best the Mini dealers could tell me was that the airbag would automatically turn off if the weight sensor in the passenger seat detected less than 80 lbs. of weight in the seat. There is no way to tell that the air bag is off though unless you add an aftermarket kit which provides an LED fixture near the roofline and rearview mirror that illuminates when the airbag is off. This is apparently a 4 hour job and requires quite a bit of unassembly and reassembly.

Anyway, this past weekend I was driving my oldest with me and he was in the front seat. We were at a red light and for some reason he unlatched his seat belt. I thougth the seat belt warning light on the speedo would illuminate, but it didn't. He buckled his belt and then I unbuckled mine. Now the warning light was illuminated. So, I thought maybe the light did not illuminate when he unbuckled because it was sensing less than 80 lbs of weight in the front seat and thus it also meant that the air bag was off. Well, I did a test in my drive. With the car running. I moved into the passenger seat and buckled both the driver side seat belt and my seat belt now that I was in the passenger seat. I weigh more than 80 lbs. so I figured that when I unbuckled the seat belt warning light would illuminate, but it did not.

So, my question is why doesn't the seat belt warning light illuminate when someone is in the passenger seat, the car is running, and then they unbuckle their seat belt?

Thanks!

 

If your MINI doesn't have the factory airbag light already (mid to late '05 builds) then there is no sensor in the passenger seat to know if someone is there or not. The air bag will go off whether there is someone there or not.