E36 Air Bag Warning Light

[davec1957]

The Air Bag Warning Light has been activated in my 323is. While the car was at the dealer for unrelated service, they ran a diagnostic on the air bag system and reported that there was a problem with a passenger side seat belt sensor and that the passenger side air bag would remain deactivated unless fixed. Anyone have any experience with the E36 air bag/seat belt restraint system?

[Jeron]

There is a pressure sensor in the seat cushion that will sometimes short. This happened to me and I cleared the code and it did not reappear.

There is probably one in the seat belt latch too. Either way they should have cleared the code to see if it reappears because sometimes, especially with the seat cushion sensor, it will short randomly when hitting a pothole for instance.

You can get a Peake Reader that will pull and clear the codes. It might be worth it since the dealer will likely charge $50 to reset the light and they will also want to replace the part which may not be "bad".

Your local BMWCCA should have a Peake Tool to borrow.