Anybody have a BMW air bag light reset tool?

I need one.

I do! What kind of connector, the round one or OBD-II port? I'm not sure if it does both.

Electrical tape.

Keith Tanner wrote: I do! What kind of connector, the round one or OBD-II port? I'm not sure if it does both.

I don't even know, as I've only owned the car a short time and don't know much about it yet. Where is the connector located to find out? It's a '01 330 if that makes a difference.

There's an OBD-II port by your left foot, that is what you need...unless your E46 was built pre-1996

Gotta be more specific, man! BMW has been making cars for a long time, and with airbags since 1990.

In reply to SlickDizzy:

I said it was a '01 330. What other information do you need?

If I were you I would just go ahead and buy the Peake tool that everyone talks about...much like a Bentley manual, you can survive without it, but ownership is so much easier if you have one.

I have the peake air bag tool that I bought for my X5. Send me your address and I will send it to you and you can send it back when you are done.

Chris

Besides the 47 airbags, there are other crash-related systems that will trip that light as well. If you don't know what's causing the airbag fault, the light may come right back on after you reset it.

In reply to 02Pilot:

The peake reader will scan the system and tell you what is wrong and reset it.

Chris

I know it will scan the system. All I'm saying is that there may be a persistent fault that all the resetting in the world won't fix, and unless the OP already knows what's causing the light, there's no telling if it can simply be reset or not.

In reply to 02Pilot:

I don't know what, if anything is wrong with it. But since this is the first time it's come on, and for no apparent reason, attempting to reset it seems like an easy first try. If it doesn't reset I'll have to look into it further.

In the E36, it seemed to be the passenger seat belt sensor - about once a month. After the 3rd time paying the dealer $300+ to fix it, the Peake tool was introduced (this was back around 2002) and she bought one. She could pretty much count on resetting the SRS code every-other week. On the off-weeks, it was an EVAP code...

I agree with biting the bullet and buying one. It's unlikely this will be the first time...

most of the current air bag lights in modern BMWs are from the passenger seat occupancy sensor mat. The light will go on when you have a passenger. They make a by pass that makes the seat think someone is always in it. or you can replace the mat. could be other things but that would be my guess.

Scan tools are always useful. I've used both my Peake and an OBD-II logger to track down a weird problem caused by a bad O2 sensor - weird because all the codes were for other things. The Peake airbag tool didn't seem as useful at first, as it just said it couldn't talk to the central airbag ECU. But then again, neither could the dealer tool - the central ECU was dead, that was the problem!

Knowledge is power. Without the scan tool, you have neither.

'01 should talk through the OBD-II port. If you don't use Chris', drop me a line and I'll ship mine out to you.

Unplugging seat wiring with the battery connected will also launch an airbag light

Thanks to all for the information. Chris is sending his tool, so I'll try that first. The only thing I did that I can think of being related is pull up on the driver's seat back release to get something out of the back seat. The next time I started the car the air bag light came on and stayed on. Does that spark any ideas?

I would check the connection for the plug for the occupancy sensor mat. On my car it ir right at the bottom of the back of the seat. It could be loose and just enough to set it off. With the airbag light if it goes on it does not turn itself off light a check engine.

If it's the mat/occupancy sensor in the seat, I believe they sell bypass kits via ebay that basically tricks the car into thinking someone is in the seat. Not sure how safe that sort of bypass is (will the bags still go off?). Apparently this is common enough to warrant this sort of kit to have been created.

Besides the warning light being annoying, I understand the system is deactivated until the code/issue is cleared.

Also the seatbelt tensioner can cause the same issue. Though, you did mention it popped up after doing something with the seat.

redhookfern wrote: Besides the warning light being annoying, I understand the system is deactivated until the code/issue is cleared.

This is the opposite of what I'd heard. Do you have a source for this? It would seem sort of risky from a litigation standpoint for BMW to say "well, the passenger occupancy mat (or whatever other subsystem) was non-functional, so we just disabled the whole supplemental restraint system."

Under normal circumstances, should the air bag light be on when there is someone seated in the passenger seat?

bravenrace wrote: Under normal circumstances, should the air bag light be on when there is someone seated in the passenger seat?

No.

I've heard more opinion on it being deactivated. Perhaps a BMW Tech can weigh in if there is one on here. It would make sense if were deactivated, but I definitely see your point from a legal/logic standpoint. Anyone want to try?

I'd say run the codes, see what the issue is, and if you're holding on to the car, you can decide whether or not you want the system fixed. Personally, I've been blasted in the face by 2 air bags, the one in my IS300 resulting in a broken nose, so I'm a bit opposed to their functionality and I'm okay with the belts and other safety systems instead.

Thanks to Chris (cdowd) for allowing me to borrow his reset tool. It was the passenger seat connector that was faulty. Thanks again, Chris! It will be on it's way back soon.

I'm glad you found the problem. Those connectors like to act up, its always good to check them before spending money elsewhere.