Air Bag light went on and stayed on for about 15 minutes today.

Problem? Probably nothing. Or is it a bit of Lucas humor thrown in for free?

Regards,
Red

 

Air bag light on full time now. Scheduled visit at dealer Wed for glove box latch.

Lets see what they accomplish. Will keep you posted, but it looks like I am the only one with this issue.

Regards,
red

 

I've been in 3 times for the same reason. Mine was because a connector in the seatbelt buckle had gotten dirty. The second time it was the other front seat.The last time it was a dirty connection in the front airbag sensor. Its on now and I'm waiting to take it in again (275 mile drive). They've told me not to worry.

 

3 times for me too.
1 dirty contact
1 bad connector
1 replacement passenger seat belt

 

only one time for me...bad passenger seat belt connector

 

When the dealer replaced my glove box lock they ran a test. Stated that there was an "incomplete latching of the seat belt" which sure is possible because I was moving the cars around the driveway the day before it went off. All seems well now.

Those computers record everything. Don't dare pick your nose in it...not that you would of course , BMW has ways of finding out.

(My Service Advisor's card states "BMW", not MINI)

Regards,
Red

 

Twice for us
1 driver side seat belt buckle - solved it for a while
2 wiring harness - no more problems

 

Well, lets make it 4. The &*^%#$% light came on coming from work today. But I have developed a theory. Every time it has happened someone has been in and out of the back seat. As I looked under the front seats I see a wiring harness that I assume is for the airbags and heated seats. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with it because it has happened right after I've had someone in the back every time!'

Looks like another road trip to get it fixed (275 miles)

 

I rarely have passengers in the back. Are the wires near where their feet go?

Regards,
Red

 

You are correct!

MINI have acknowledged that their are some issues with the wiring loom under the seat.

Moving the seat to allow access to the back seats, can 'strain' the wiring loom, causing poor connection on the airbag circuit.

I had my loom replaced in an 02 MCS, and that sorted the problem.

My new 03 MCS now has the issue, after I vacuumed the car and moved the seats backwards and forwards!!!

Seems like a poor design, and poor quality components.

The same issue has plagued the 3 Series, so it's a BMW feature that's jumped across to the MINI.

Chris.

 

Sorry, I actually had posted a lengthy response on this thread on 9/10...and of course this was lost on the site crash.

The problem most likely IS the wiring under the seat. In rare cases, there are also problems with the connectors to the individual seat air bag modules and/or the sensor in the seat belt. But as someone who had all of these changed out in an effort to hunt down the problem...and in the end, a nickle's worth of cable ties finally solved the problem....I want to urge you to urge your dealer to forget the stablant and other ineffective solutions and just tie down the underseat connectors.

There are pictures here somewhere on MCO (and quite a few airbag light threads, btw...if you search)...but if you go to Gabe Bridger's site and search for "airbag light" you'll get pointed to an article about the fix.

As always, please don't assume that your service dept has any clue about what the real problem is, whether it's been happening on other MINIs, or how to fix it. Unfortunate but true...

Arrrrrrr! (In honor of TLPD of course )

 

Checked my 03 MCS today, and MINI have applied suitable ti ewraps to the under-seat wiring looms at manufacture.

Obvious improvement over the earlier construction, and it's good to se they've taken notice of issues in the field.

Leaves me thinking that my current isue may be with the seat belt engagement sensor...

Oh well, back to the Disco Airbag Light

Chris.

 

I had an increasingly frequent airbag light. It would go out at first, then just stayed on. I took it in to Alexander in L.A., and they replace a loom somewhere. FIXED.

BUT! Look out! When that airbag light is on, YOU HAVE NO SAFETY SYSTEMS! THEY ALL SHUT DOWN!!!

That is not good.

 

Mine has made it almost 13K miles before coming on. But yesterday I was moving the passenger seat back after some people were riding in the back and next time I started it up the airbag light was on. I check the 3 (blue, yellow, and black) plugs underneath the passenger seat and they are all connected well but light still comes on and stays on. I've made an appt to take it in.
Cross my fingers that this isn't the start of a repetative problem like some of you are having.

 

>>When the dealer replaced my glove box lock they ran a test. Stated that there was an "incomplete latching of the seat belt" which sure is possible because I was moving the cars around the driveway the day before it went off. All seems well now.
>>
>>Those computers record everything. Don't dare pick your nose in it...not that you would of course , BMW has ways of finding out.
>>
>>(My Service Advisor's card states "BMW", not MINI)
>>
>>Regards,
>>Red



So I am back at the dealer this week because the light still goes on. They have a great service, free pick up and delivery. I preferred that no one make the 130 mile round trip so they flat bedded it.

On the 23rd they replaced the harness under the seat. The next day, when they were loading the car, it went on again. Joe Lucas?

So they then replaced the "memory seat belt latch and lock switch, new harness".

So far, after two days, it has not gone back on!

Best regards
Red


_________________

The meek shall inherit the passenger seat.
CWFAC 03