Is there a way to disable the passenger side seat-belt chime without doing any heavy modifications?

Now, before people go on and on about telling me about how dangerous no seat-belt is and I'm next in line for the Darwin Award, I completely agree that not wearing your seat-belt is absolutely stupid and everyone absolutely should wear it whether they're going 10 feet or 10 miles. I won't start my car unless everyone is wearing their seat-belt.

So why do I want to disable it? Because every now and then I place something in my front seat and even things that weigh less than five pounds set off the sensor. This morning I had a small box with several bags of tea in it that couldn't have weighed more than two pounds and the sensor went off. It's simply a massive pain.

If there isn't a way to turn off the sensor, can I just adjust the sensitivity so that it goes off at even something still small like 10 pounds?

 

Unfortunately, the lawyers at BMW/MINI have artfully seen to it that the answer to all of your questions is "No, that's not possible."

You'll need to seek out a more direct, after-market solution like this little gizmo.

 

That works for me, thanks!

 

How about setting your small parcel on the floor in front of the passenger seat. No sensor there.

 

It's much harder to watch **** with your laptop on the floor.

 

I set my gym bag and other random things on the passenger seat and have never had the seatbelt chime go off. The only thing that happens is the passenger air bag off light illuminates. Maybe the sensor in your passenger seat is defective (or maybe mine is!)

 

I've noticed that along with the weight, the shape of the object has a lot to do with whether or not it will activate the "airbag off" light, the warning chime, or both. There are individual pressure sensors scattered across the seating surface, so the entire surface of the seat doesn't sense pressure equally. I've had a five-pound laptop in a sleeve set off the warning chime because I had it propped up against the seatback and one of the bottom corners of the sleeve was resting right on top of a seat sensor. But I've had boxes that were much heavier that didn't set off any warnings at all because the weight was spread evenly over the entire seat cushion.

If you have relatively lightweight objects setting off the warnings, try placing a folded towel on the seat under the object in order to spread the weight around a little more evenly.

 

Can't you just buckle the seat belt

 

That would be too easy! Haha. You could always order one of these: http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...top_chime.html

 

Way at Way Motor Works took care of mine. As well as adding the ability to open the sunroof/windows with the key fob.

Annette

 

Having the sunroof/windows open using the keyfob is a *standard* feature. *Closing* them is not a standard feature, but it can be activated using the NCS Expert software. I really like this capability, it comes in handy when it's pouring outside and you forgot to close your windows and/or sunroof - doh!

You can also enable 1 touch sunroof open/close using NCS Expert...You can also disable the seatbelt chime using NCS Expert. The chime *does* sound (4 times) at startup, but after that the chime will no longer, uhhhh, chime regardless of the status of the seatbelt buckle. It also does not chime if the door is open with the key in the ignition with accessories pwoered-up. I really like this because it allows me to work on the car with the door(s) open without having to listen to that annoying chiming...

 

And back to the original question of the passenger seat belt chime. I also can be disabled using NCS Expert.

 

The cheapest solution. My passenger side seat belt is always buckled. I originally started doing this because the buckle would rattle against the side pillar and annoy the %$#& out of me.

 

Sorry, meant one touch auto close.

Annette

 

That's a great idea. But, $20!!!! Geez, that's some serious BMW tax for that part.

 

I tend to agree. Personally, I'd try the approach of using the seatbelt buckle out of a MINI in one of those "U-Wrench-It" places...

 

Considering what people spend on mods, $20 is FREE

I would imagine that there's some way to disable the chime through NCS Expert programming.

 

My seatbelt chime goes off when I put my cell phone on the center of the passenger seat, so I doubt it is only pressure sensors that trigger it, or else it's REALLY sensitive.

 

That must be one heavy cell phone the "minimum weight" to set the chime off is supposed to be around 11 pounds. In many cases it is closer to 8 pounds but just a cell phone should not set it off.

But yes the seat has more than just a single pressure sensor in it. It is actually a set of 5 sensors that also monitor where the pressure is to tell what size the object is that is sitting in the seat.

 

It's not an isolated incident, either, so I'm suspecting the antenna or some part of the phone is messing with the system. Kind of like how my old Nextel phone used to trip the GFCI in the kitchen when I left it too close.

 

+1. The buckled seatbelt can also be used to hold something upright, like a briefcase or 44 oz of soda.
For me, it's my old 20 lb dog that sets it off. My other dogs aren't allowed up front, but it's where he's entitled to be.

 

Apparently the sensor is sensitive to any of the following: weight, heat and electric currents, thus a phone could trigger it.

 

i have my phone on my passenger seat on an almost daily basis, never had the chime go off. also i put my work bags on that seat daily as well, and it never goes off. i mean yesterday i had one text with me that weighed probably 4-5lbs on its own, and all i got was the airbag off light going on and off the whole trip.

 

Apparently they changed the sensor in recent (?) models to be more sensitive. Not sure what the year of your vehicle is?

 

Funny enough that this thread got res'ed, I just got a new Countryman and my phone with my GPS app was setting it off last night.

When I use Waze (GPS) my iPhone gets incredibly hot so no idea if it was the heat or electric current from the phone but either way it was annoying. Old Mini was a 2008 (I think) Clubman, this one is a 2013 Countryman.