Anybody else have the big red airbag light come on in their R56 and stay on indefinately?

 

Sounds like a problem that only the dealer could address under warrenty.

 

I am in complete agreement, appointment has been made, etc. etc.

Anybody else have this issue?

 

Yup, mine is on....I had the seat out and reconnected the battery to check voltages....stupid me. Did you have your seat disconnected or anything similar before the airbag light came on?

 

I haven't had the seat out -- I will check the connectors though -- do you know where they are (underneath I assume)?

 

Yes, underneath....although the way they are connected, it is unlikely that they would have worked themselves out, unless they weren't connected properly to start with. The unit that has the connection is approximately in the center of the seat underneath it.

 

Ours does it intermittently ONLY while someone is sitting in the seat.

Doesn't give the passenger a warm fuzzy feeling knowing the airbag is disabled.

The dealer said it was a small sensor in the seat that should, by design, be bigger and then he tried to say one must sit correctly in the seat! What the hell does that mean?

Anyway it is still doing it and one day I will return so they can address it again.

 

You're getting the big red person getting punched in the face light too then? Or do you mean the light up overhead?

 

Overhead. Which means the air bag is "disabled".

It is in the shop now and they state that you have to sit in the seat a certain way. I disagree as EVERY car my passenger sits in has an active airbag. This is a safety issue and must be repaired in my opinion.

I am open to advice on this to help the dealer along. I will post any solutions here as I learn them.

 

Just heard from SA. MiniUSA got involved and said to replace seat sensor which is on national backorder, but they happen to have one in stock. Plan to pick up on Monday...keeping our fingers crossed.

 

I have the same promblem on my 07 MC, but not always. It seems that when it's warm 85+ it works ok. I was going to call it in. By the by, do they do free tire rotations?

 

OK, I took it in to my MINI dealer on Wednesday, on Thursday they told me that it was a seat sensor and that it was on backorder. The place from which I bought lets me have a free BMW loaner car. They cannot return the car to me in this condition, so I'll be driving the 328i for 2-3 weeks! I would have really rather had another MINI, but it beats a Taurus!

 

Three weeks for a sensor? I wonder if I can track it's progress? Perhaps they'll tell me when it enters the assembly line. Do you think it will come to the States by boat or plane?

I guess it's good that I'm not a MINI dealer, because I think that I would just yank a sensor out of a new car, install it on mine and get that loaner car back! Especially from a guy who lives in the mountains and has chewed through his set of front tires in just 11k!

 

i'll be making an appt at Prestige Mini on the morn. My overhead light came on intermittantly, now it stays on. I also noticed that the sunroof doesn't open when the unlock button is held. It sorta chirps open a bit the closes. I have no problem opening the sunroof with the toggle switch.. is this my own personal electro-gremlin?

 

You know, I had the same thing happen a couple of times... I wonder if they are somehow related?

I should be getting my MINI back early next week, so I'll let you know.

 

"we cant give it back to you in this condition"

WTF with that? When its weeks to get the part (?)
Or longer.....

It seems more reasonable, have hans make the part,
fedex it from germany, then call me when you have it
I'll swing by.....

 

Yeah, so whoever is taking their car in, see if you can arrange for a loaner...


PS- Condor, I had a CRX as well, I wonder what is the highest percentage of former cars owned by current MINI owners?

 

My 05 had the same issue, dealer changed the sensor under warranty.

 

ya my 07 msc has that problem x2. they fixed it in november and it is bad again again in may. the wires that goto the set sensor rub on the rails and ground out. you would think that bmw would fix it. fyi i took my dealer 4 times to get the part right.

 

My airbag light came on 2 days ago. I drove to LA area and it is so hot. I wonder if the heat did it. It is the red light with the big red ball in front of the guy sitting. Is there different lights signifying different air bags? I wonder if I can disconnect it and reconnect it to see if that helps.

 

I wondered about the heat as well, and now that it's really hot sometimes my sunroofs balks a little before opening.

But they replaced my sensor and all is well with the seatbelt warning light.

 

so yours was the seatbelt warning light and not the airbag light.

 

Well, airbag off light is doing it again warning us that when a passenger is sitting in the passenger seat, the airbag is disabled. It is intermittent (same passenger always).

Guess I gotta get back to dealer...

 

guys,

I switched seats.... now there are 2lights on... 1airbag and 1 light that warns me that the seatbelt is not on?!

anyone?!

 

I did the same thing yesterday. I pulled the seat out to run an extension wire from the factory satellite antenna to my XM Xpress RC. I didn't realize I was suppose to disconnect the battery first though.

Is there any other fix for this besides going to the dealer? It's kind of a haul.