Looking through the records of my 06 MCS the passenger seat airbag sensor was replaced around 25,000 miles under warranty.

Over a grand for the part is highway robbery.

 

I agree, my 06 barely has 36,000 miles on it. I think it should be covered anyway, it's a safety issue! I'm still looking into other options thanks for the info.

 

I thought I would chime back in on this thread since it is active again.

I reported the problem with my 06 to the NHTSA. I encourage everyone else with this problem to do the same (even if you have used the work-around fix for it by disabling the sensor).

My airbag light is no longer coming on intermittantly - it comes on every time a passenger rides in the seat. It then stays on for several vehicle start cycles and then shuts off if no one rides in the seat for a while.

I have not contacted my local dealer or MINI USA yet, because I have other priorities at the moment and the passenger seat is not used often. However, once my other priorities pass I will be investigating further. I want to have properly operating airbags for my passengers, regardless of how often I have passengers riding with me.

 

yep, I have an 06' MCS with the same problem. I was also told the same thing from the dealer.

 

I have an '06 R50 and this issue has cropped up for me. It was intermittent at first with my girlfriend in the passenger seat, the dash/overhead lights would briefly come on, and then go out after a few minutes of driving. Today on my solo commute to work, both lights were on the whole way. I parked the car and was able to get the light to go off by shifting my weight to the rear of the seat, and get it back on by sliding my butt towards the front.

I called MINI Victoria and made an appointment to have it diagnosed, which will cost me $107.20 (oddly specific.) and the worst case scenario will be $1500 to fix (seat pan.)

Of course, after I'd made the appointment, the light stayed off the whole drive home. This was after pressing my weight down on my hands in various parts of the seat bottom, presumably pressing whatever was disconnected back together. If the light stays out I will put it off for awhile, as I don't have $1500 to blow and I very rarely have a passenger. If the light comes back on, my girl is taking the bus until I can afford to get it sorted :/

 

I also have this on an early 06 MCS, I've had it for quite some time now.

Local dealer told me $187 to diagnose then they'll see what they can do.

I have this problem and the power steering pump won't stop running and killed my battery...sigh my poor MINI why won't they just fix it

 

My wife and I just bought a 2012 Cooper Coupe that we absolutely love. Great car that is a blast to drive. One issue is that when she sits in the passenger seat, the "passenger airbag off" light flickers on and off - and she is ~110 pounds. Not really comforting to see, and it makes her uneasy about being a passenger. Obviously, I'll take it back to the dealership for this to be corrected, but it does concern me that this problem may still exist... in brand new Minis!

 

I have an MCS -03 ; recently the airbag light came on and stayed on. The dealer claims that the problem is a defective or faulty Battery Safety Cable that will need to be replaced to solve the issue. Estimated cost is $1,400.00!!!!!!!!

I prodded a little, and the answer I got was probably due to moisture or an accumulation of water in the rear battery compartment.

Sometime ago, before I had the airbag light come on, I had noticed some accumulation of WATER IN THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT, Although I got rid of the water, it seems that some corrosion took place and damaged the battery safety cable.


My questions:

1. Does anyone else have or have had such a problem? The cost seems very unreasonable - any ideas?
2. Is there a way to bypass this and turn-off the light?
3. A larger question: Should MINI bear some responsibility for a product that leaks water into the battery compatment?

Ideas are welcome please - it's just way too expensive a proposition!

 

I looked though the records again and the sensor was repalced a second time arounf 55,000 miles.

Do you have another shop that can take a look?

 

Here is a bulliton I found here for the 05 and 06

It may be covered:

Component Description:
20. AIR BAGS
Bulletin Number: SI M-65-02-0
Bulletin Date: Jun 2008
Vehicle: 2,005 MINI Cooper
Summary:
MINI: AIRBAG WARNING ILLUMINATED, FC55: VEHICLES PRODUCED FROM AUGUST 31, 2005 TO APRIL 25, 2006. ( NHTSA ITEM NUMBER - 10026024 )



Component Description:
24. AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE
Bulletin Number: 720106
Bulletin Date: Apr 2006
Vehicle: 2,005 MINI Cooper
Summary:
AIRBAG WARNING LAMP FOR OC3 SEAT MAT FAULT. AIRBAG WARNING LAMP (AWL) ILLUMINATES, TOGETHER WITH THE PASSENGER AIRBAG STATUS LAMP (POL). THE PROBLEM MAY BE INTERMITTENT. ( NHTSA ITEM NUMBER - 10019981 )

 

[QUOTE=jeffreysole;3445053]I have an MCS -03 ; recently the airbag light came on and stayed on. The dealer claims that the problem is a defective or faulty Battery Safety Cable that will need to be replaced to solve the issue. Estimated cost is $1,400.00!!!!!!!!

I prodded a little, and the answer I got was probably due to moisture or an accumulation of water in the rear battery compartment.

Sometime ago, before I had the airbag light come on, I had noticed some accumulation of WATER IN THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT, Although I got rid of the water, it seems that some corrosion took place and damaged the battery safety cable.


Does anyone else have or have had such a problem? The cost seems very unreasonable - any ideas?
Since you are already aware of the Battery Safety Terminal Self Destruct thread, I assume you have read most of what has been written about others problems. The expensive replacement cost is due to the cable running through the car from the boot up to the engine compartment. Make the dealer prove that hooking up an external connection outside of the car will resolve the issue before, doing any expensive replacement work. If the issues disappear than you know it is really the cause of your problem.
Is there a way to bypass this and turn-off the light?
See my post on 11/21/2011 and this thread
A larger question: Should MINI bear some responsibility for a product that leaks water into the battery compatment?
Many MINIs have had issues with the boot(hatch) door bending/warping due to rusted hinges. This may have been the source of water entering the compartment. As the hinges are a maintenance issue, MINI is probably not going to cover the cost of any associated repairs. Just my speculation/thoughts on this last one.

 

Short story......... I just bought a beautiful red 2006 Mini Convertible for my daughter and its not going well. It only has 24K on it and looks fabulous but right after we bought it I noticed the passenger side airbag stayed on no matter who was sitting in the seat.

We'll I dropped it off last week at Cincinnati Mini and it ended up costing me over $ 1,600 to repair a seat sensor. I have the old seat and will post pics later.

As detailed above there was a an extended warrenty issued for 2002-2003 for a similar issue but not one for later models. I have submitted a complaint on this at NHTSA.

In searching their website a majority of the (40) Cooper and (11) Cooper convertible 2006 complaints revolve around this very common problem.

I urge everyone that has had this issue or dealing with it now to lodge a complaint, as this is how goverment recalls start.

http://nhthqnwas700.nhtsa.dot.gov/co...ts/results.cfm

(As an observation, there are a lot of threads posted on the Forum dealing with this very same issue. The moderators should combine them all into one.)

 

i just registered my complaint.

i have a 2006 mini cooper s with the same issue.

does anyone know if we pay to have it repaired and then a recall is issued, can we get a refund if the work was done at an independant repair shop?

 

Just bought a 2006 MC and it came with the light already on. I am taking the car in to the Mini dealer this weekend and I hope I do not have much trouble using the bulletin info that GoThingNC posted above. Will post with update then and in the meantime I will submit a complaint as well.

 

We lemoned our 2008 Cooper for this problem, but our '06 S oddly still has not had this problem; but your are spot on, this has been a well known problem for MINI/BMW.

I kid you not, but when we went to trade our lemon for a replacement '09 Cooper, the airbag light came on before we finalized the deal, so...no deal.

Greg

 

I have an '05 MCS that recently illuminated the airbag lights (red-dash and yellow-near rv mirror) sproadically for about a week, then constant for the last month. I have filed the issue at safercar.gov.

It would be nice to be able to at least defeat the sensor temporarily when no passenger occupant and at least easily revert if a passenger rides along.

 

Filed my complaint to NHTSA.
My local MINI dealership, MINI of Sterling (MOS). MOS suggested I call MINIUSA. I did and they said the car was out of warrenty and my responsiblity. They would not comment on the saftey issue. After hanging up with the MINI rep I filed the NHTSA report.
The problem started in 09 at about 55k miles. It would clear for a few months then come back. For the last year it was on more than off. If the car received a lot of abuse I could understand paying for a "ware item". This part is not a "ware item" it is just poorly made. What burns me most is I the fear the replacement part may be the same (just don't know).

 

[QUOTE=MadisonKobalt;3447107]
Hello everyone, I just wanted to chime in and say that I have a new 2011 Cooper and this EXACT thing has happened to me. Yesterday evening the passenger airbag light came on, after some troubleshooting, I noticed WATER UNDER THE BACK OF THE SEAT. This was the first time I have seen that light come on, but I am ALARMED after reading what you found. Its really unfortunate that this issue is occurring on new models...shame on them. I will report back after speaking with my local dealership tomorrow (closed Sundays). Thanks for the info, I for one greatly appreciate it.

 

I have the floor mat sensor out, is this even worth getting fixed??? They want $1,400-1,600 to put a new seat in my car, complete ********. I'd like to just get the light turned off...if I can't I guess I will smack a piece of duct-tape over it....

Obviously I am not going to pay $1,400 for some light that turned on 2 days after I got home from living out of state for 4 months, AND no one ever even drove it! I refuse to throw that much money down the drain for something that is clearly a manufacturers defect. Middle finger to BMW on this one

 

Does anyone here know if this model will work for a 2006 R53 (Cooper S Hardtop)

http://www.airbagmodul.eu/gb/mini/r53.html

Thanks,
Brad

 

You can fool your seat airbag light w/ a 3.9ohm resistor.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...g-resistor.jpg

 

It's my understanding that on the 2005+ models where the US required the more advanced occupancy sensor the simple resister trick won't work. I was hopeful that the device I posted above was a little more 'advanced' than a simple resister but I doubt it is... Thanks for the reply just the same. Maybe I'll grab a resister from Radio Shack and give it a try. Hopefully the resister won't make the airbag deploy

 

Per rkw in another thread, the 2005+ models are 'too smart' to be tricked. Dang!

 

Just wanted to chime in and say that I have been having this problem as well with our 2005. In the past couple months the light/airbag off comes on about 99% of the time. Not a good thing as we have a passenger in this car about 90% of the time. I have filed a complaint as well.

I had a 350Z that was out of warranty that had an air bag light issue and I found out that the "safety equipment" including airbag and seat belts, was covered under the power train warranty (which was close to expiring but had not yet thankfully). Of course when I took it to the dealer to fix, they told me it wasn't covered . I had to insist the service writer look it up, and sure enough...he admitted that he was covered and he was not aware of it.

 

How can I report a safety problem to NHTSA?

If you think your vehicle or equipment may have a safety defect, reporting it to NHTSA is an important first step to take to get the situation remedied and make our roads safer. If the agency receives similar reports from a number of people about the same product, this could indicate that a safety-related defect may exist that would warrant the opening of an investigation. In order to make it convenient for consumers to report any suspected safety defects to NHTSA, the agency offers three ways to file such complaints.

Vehicle Safety Hotline
NHTSA operates the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Vehicle Safety Hotline telephone service to collect accurate and timely information from consumers on vehicle safety problems. You can call 1-888-327-4236 or 1-800-424-9393 toll free from anywhere in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to register complaints or receive recall information about a vehicle. The Hotline also has Spanish-speaking representatives and offers a dedicated number, 1-800-424-9153, for use by persons with hearing impairments.
When you call the Hotline to report a vehicle-related safety issue, you will be asked to provide certain critical information that agency technical staff needs to evaluate the problem. The information you provide is filed on a Vehicle Owner’s Questionnaire (VOQ), entered into the agency’s consumer-complaint database, and forwarded to NHTSA technical staff for evaluation.
VOQs filed through the Hotline will be mailed to you for verification of data. In addition, you will receive an explanation of how your report will be used, as well as a request for written authorization allowing NHTSA to provide your personal identifiers (e.g., name, address and telephone number) to the manufacturer of the alleged defective product you own. Note that you are not required to provide such authorization. However, sometimes sharing this information with the manufacturer can help facilitate the recall process.

Safercar.gov
You can also report a vehicle safety issue to NHTSA online at our vehicle safety Web site: www.safercar.gov. Select “File a Complaint” within the Defects and Recalls section of the home page. The information you submit via the Web site is recorded in VOQ format, entered into our consumer complaint database, and provided to our technical staff for evaluation.
When you fill out a VOQ online, you will be given the option of checking a box to authorize or not authorize the release of your personal identifiers to the manufacturer of the alleged defective product you own. Again, while you are not required to provide such authorization, doing so can sometimes help facilitate the recall process.
Actual Link - https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

U.S. Mail
To report a safety complaint to NHTSA by mail, send your letter to:
U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Defects Investigation (NVS-210)
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590