Airbag Warning Light - MOT Failiure?

[E30M3SE]

jagracer said:

If you mean engine warning lights then no. Off the top of my head It's SRS, ABS, Tyre pressure monitors for anything used after 2012 and ESC lights.

EML is not a fail in itself, but may lead to a fail it the emissions are out, but can't fail for the EML light itself.

[jagdeepbmw]

Thanks for the advice, I better book it in to get fixed!!!!

[stevesuk]

I finally got around to fixing mine properly at the weekend (as opposed to just clearing the fault code every month or so).

Seatbelt pretensioner wiring under the drivers seat throwing resistance out of range (or something similar) errors. Quite a cheap fix in the end. £15 or so for a new connector/cable, and £30 for the USB cable/software to read/clear the fault code. The insulation on the wiring to the pretensioner was visibly damaged - so I guess that was the cause of the problem.

I did need to take the seat out to fit the replacement cable, and I noticed that a lot of the other cabling under the seat base looks like it needs some attention - split/damaged insulation basically - presumably caused by 11 years of the seat being folded/moved/adjusted. So when I've found some insulation tape, it needs to come out again.

[jagdeepbmw]

i just got a quote from my Indy who's charging £270 parts and labour to change the Occupancy Sensor Mat. I called BMW for a comparison and they were charging £580.... thats crazy!!!!! 168 quid an hour labour at 2.8 hours, what a rip off!!!

[E30M3SE]

Your other option is getting one of these,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-BMW-PASSENGER-SEAT-...

it will put a stop to your airbag light issue, but in the even of a collision big enough to fire the bags both bags will deploy regardless of whether the passenger seat is occupied or not.

If a collision is big enough to fire the drivers bag then the car will be declared a total loss so the fact that the passenger bag as deployed too will have no bearing on the 'survival' or not of your car. JMHO.

[stevesuk]

jagdeepbmw said:

i just got a quote from my Indy who's charging £270 parts and labour to change the Occupancy Sensor Mat. I called BMW for a comparison and they were charging £580.... thats crazy!!!!! 168 quid an hour labour at 2.8 hours, what a rip off!!!

I think its expensive because the entire seat base needs to come apart to fit the occupancy mat? Not sure if its any easy DIY job? Glad it was just the pretensioner loom on mine (for now of course!)

Another option could be to look for a matching seat on eBay/scrappy - and just swap them out. If its anything like the E46, there's just 4 bolts and 1 multiplug to content with. Although of course you might end up buying one which is no better, so a bit of a gamble.

[jagdeepbmw]

E30M3SE said:

Your other option is getting one of these,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-BMW-PASSENGER-SEAT-...

it will put a stop to your airbag light issue, but in the even of a collision big enough to fire the bags both bags will deploy regardless of whether the passenger seat is occupied or not.

If a collision is big enough to fire the drivers bag then the car will be declared a total loss so the fact that the passenger bag as deployed too will have no bearing on the 'survival' or not of your car. JMHO.

Funny enough I ordered one yesterday ,but, I have always been a bit reluctant to go down this path. I've heard forum chats where the bags don't fire. Oh well, lets see if it works for the time being anyway.

[MartinQ]

Just before anyone pays out big money to fix this, a colleage received a recall in the post this morning for the passenger side airbag. His is a 2002 325i Touring. Whether this applies to other models I don't yet.

[Rollcage]

An MOT tester I know has told me that if the SRS light doesn't illuminate at all, it's a pass and advise!

[4rephill]

Rollcage said:

An MOT tester I know has told me that if the SRS light doesn't illuminate at all, it's a pass and advise!

The actual wording in the MOT testers manual states (From: http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/index.htm ) :

METHOD OF INSPECTION:

"2. Check that the Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) does not indicate a fault in the system."



REASON FOR REJECTION:

"2. A Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) malfunction indicator lamp indicating a system malfunction."


This statement could be interpreted by an MOT tester to mean that the light failing to illuminate at all during the ignition switch-on phase indicates a fault with the system (the warning light being a part of the system), which would be a fail.

As with a lot of things concerning the MOT, it's open to the individual testers interpretation.

[Rollcage]

Thanks for the info - I'd say that's pretty clear myself. Fail if illuminated, pass if not. The absence of a light does not infer a fault with anything but a bulb.

[4rephill]

Rollcage said:

Thanks for the info - I'd say that's pretty clear myself. Fail if illuminated, pass if not. The absence of a light does not infer a fault with anything but a bulb.

But the warning bulb could be classed as part of the system, therefore, if it fails to illuminate, there is a fault in a part of the system, the warning light is fitted for a reason after all.

It's just a thought (and playing a bit of Devil's advocate! ) . I suspect most (if not all) MOT testers would see it the same way as you do - No light: No fault.

Interestingly, for the ABS and traction control systems, the manual actually stipulates that the warning light must illuminate during the initial ignition on stage and then extinguish, whereas for the SRS system, there's no mention that the warning light must illuminate.

[Rollcage]

Yup, and that's exactly why it's pass and advise. I actually spoke to my tester today about this, and he initially said that no light is a fail. When we got talking, I mentioned that another tester I knew is going with pass and advise, and he checked the wording and came to the same conclusion. As there is a doubt about it, pass and advise, not fail.