z3 airbag sensors

Seems that my driver's side airbag seat belt sensor and passenger side seat pad airbag sensor have stopped working correctly. This caused my airbag light to come on. When I took my car to the service dealer they told me that both sensor parts had been modified and that the modification are approximately 289.00 for each sensor. I find it intersting that both parts had major modifications and both parts failed on my car. It makes me wonder why these parts weren't recall items. I am very upset that BMW had defective parts and they did not warn the consumer and also let me find the problem through part failure and now I pay for their defective parts mistakes. I wrote a letter to BMW and am getting some reply from the server dealer, but am not sure what they are going to do. Both sensors will now cost me over 900.00 to replace. I find that incredible. Has anyone else had problems with these or other BMW sensors.

Bee careful! My friend's airbag went of in his face while driving on the freeway..not a good experience. :disappoin

My 97 Z3 has the same problem with the passengar side seat belt sensor. The tension lock works on the seat belt as does the air bag (I hope). I brought it to several professional BMW repair shops and they all told me the same thing as your dilema. $289.00 to replace it, I will live with the airbag light on and save the cash. No one will disconnect it as they are liable if something happens. I also looked into the aftermarket sensor light control panel that attaches to the computer port under the hood and have been told that it does not work either. I have had a friend use the handheld sensor computer that the mechanics use to isolate the faulty sensor and he shut it off but it only lasted for a week or so.

Bottom Line:
Pay the money or live with the light on
Enjoy the spring weather with the top down


Seems that my driver's side airbag seat belt sensor and passenger side seat pad airbag sensor have stopped working correctly. This caused my airbag light to come on. When I took my car to the service dealer they told me that both sensor parts had been modified and that the modification are approximately 289.00 for each sensor. I find it intersting that both parts had major modifications and both parts failed on my car. It makes me wonder why these parts weren't recall items. I am very upset that BMW had defective parts and they did not warn the consumer and also let me find the problem through part failure and now I pay for their defective parts mistakes. I wrote a letter to BMW and am getting some reply from the server dealer, but am not sure what they are going to do. Both sensors will now cost me over 900.00 to replace. I find that incredible. Has anyone else had problems with these or other BMW sensors.

I have a related problem as I would like to replace the steering wheel with a racing one. The stock one is quite large and, being tall, I would like as much leg room as possible. A small radius wheel will allow this. However, my issue is how to install the race wheel without tampering with the passenger airbag. I reckon that i can switch wheels no prob but the SRS light will come on. I intend on simply removing the bulb that ignites that warning light to eliminate the annoyance of driving with a warning light constantly on.

Fascinating. I just bought a mint condition 1997 Z3 with 50,000 miles and the only thing that seems tom be wrong with it (knock on wood) is that the airbag light seems to be on all the time. I can live with it, and might consider paying the $289 to fix it, but I wonder - how do I know the airbag works properly? Is there any way to tell? I wonder how prevalent this problem was - it probably should have been a recall item, since having the light on all the time might mean that it is not working properly, or at least we can't be sure. T





My 97 Z3 has the same problem with the passengar side seat belt sensor. The tension lock works on the seat belt as does the air bag (I hope). I brought it to several professional BMW repair shops and they all told me the same thing as your dilema. $289.00 to replace it, I will live with the airbag light on and save the cash. No one will disconnect it as they are liable if something happens. I also looked into the aftermarket sensor light control panel that attaches to the computer port under the hood and have been told that it does not work either. I have had a friend use the handheld sensor computer that the mechanics use to isolate the faulty sensor and he shut it off but it only lasted for a week or so.

Bottom Line:
Pay the money or live with the light on
Enjoy the spring weather with the top down

Airbag light may come on because of faulty belt pre-tensioner, or the harness. I suggest you use a diagnostic tool (available at the dealer, or any independent BMW shop) and check the codes. If it is a pre-tensioner, disconnect and re-connect all the wire-connectors under the seat that lead to the pre-tensioner. After that, clear the code, and re-set the light. If it comes on again - pre-tensioner needs to be changed ($85).

Btw, if your airbag light is on, your airbag will not deply, and your pre-tensioner will not function either - so, living with the light on, its like driving without an airbag.

Speaking of air bags...my turn signal did not go back off after making a right turn so I took my Z3 in to have this fixed...long story short..the mechanic called and said after replacing the turn signal, the air bag light now was on. After looking into that problem, he said "some little plastic thing" that hooks into the air bag sensor is broke...probably broke during installation. This part is now on order and it's been 7 days thus far waiting for this part to come in...I live on an outer Island in Hawaii...

Has any one had any experience with this item...? Out here we are stuck with just one person to take the car to..no second opinions available.

Mahalo,

Never heard about this, but I'm sure it is possible. Airbag light goes on every time the connection somewhere is lost, and turn signal or whatever might be easily the cause.

Hey Guys... I also have the same problem. I own a '98 2.8 Z3. When the car was under warranty the light came on 2 times, both times it got repaired. After the warranty had expired, it came on again and had to pay $240 for a new seat belt buckle. And, now its on again. The garage that I take my car to says, this time I need to go back to BMW since the code that comes on states it needs to go back there.

I had a problem with my airbag warning light. It's fixed now though. The industry leaders for this are www.bimtronics.com (http://www.bimtronics.com)
They offer an affordable solution. Better then the quote from my local garage...around 400!! DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY AT THE GARAGES WHEN YOU CAN FIX IT YOURSELF!! :grinyes:

I have a 2000 Z3 roady and replaced the Molex connectors from the seat belt and set pad sensors, with a waterproof connector set. Problem solved!
You can clean the existing connectors, this will work for a time but I got tired of removing the seats to service them.