Hello,
I have a 2006 Cooper S and I currently have an airbag light on. Unfortunately, the SRS system is not covered under my extended warranty, and Mini does not have an extended SRS system warranty like some othe makes. I know it has something to do with the passenger system, know it is a occupancy sensor or the belt buckle due to it used to only come on when passenger would get into the seat, no is on all the time. The dealership wanted to charge a whole hour to pull the code for me, and I know there is nothing to it, just hook up the scanner and pull the code. I just wanted to get an idea of price range. I love my car, and want everything to be perfect so I would probably break down and by a new seat bottom if needed (not sure how the occupancy sensor comes in Minis, still need to contact parts for prices). If I paid the dealer the diag fee and did not approve the repair, it would just be a waste of money if I can not afford a whole seat bottom.
Been reading the forum that it seems to be a common issue with the passenger side, just not sure what code is stored. Just wondering if any body knew of a scanner that will pull the SRS system codes as well, because I know those are usually dealer only scanner functions.
It would be much appreciated if anyone had knowledge of any, even if a Snap-On scanner will work.

Thank you

 

Here is the problem. The SRS light never goes out even if you fix the cause. For example, if you unplug the sensor with the battery in the car, it will stay lit until reset with the dealer program.

You can get the dealer program on ebay with a cable to hook up yourself. I just did this myself. Once I hooked the cable, it was 3 mins to turn out the light (seat was unplugged with battery in). The only downside was it took literally 10 hours to get the laptop setup to work. Lots of the time was extracting, downloading, then trouble shooting. Moving partitions, etc. It would take less time now that I understand I need 30 gigs in the C drive and have all the programs on disks.

The point is, you have to have the software just to check and see if it was a loose wire (which is fairly common). I never tried to read the code with my scanguage since I knew I needed INPA (software) to turn the light off and why it was lit in the first place. You can give a code reader a try, but I think you need to consider getting the factory software or other options that cost a couple hundred bucks (can't think of name).

 

Thanks. Maybe will look into it. I think it is a loose pin, it went off last week when I folded the seat forward. Then a few days later, it came back on. I checked all the wires before I even took it to a dealer, common problem with any vehicle that uses seat air bags, but to no avail. Held every single one in also. I might just break down and let the dealer diagnose it, not really worried about safety, the light just annoys me.

Oh well, if I do get in an accident (knock on wood), at least I do not have to worry about my dash getting damaged from the bag since it is turned off.

I was hoping for a slightly more economical way, don't want to spend that much on a single system reader. Does it do more than just the SRS system?

 

If you find a nice shop that has the proper diagnostic tool and you ask nicely, they might turn it off for you. It only takes a couple of minutes. That is what I did before I upgraded my Enginuity software to include SRS capability. Now I can diagnose and turn off those lights myself.

Good Luck,
Mike

 

Wish it could just be turned off, there is an issue with the system that causes it to come back on. I really think it is the occupancy sensor in the seat cushion, but it may be the pre-tensioner on the buckle itself (looks like it deploys, not sure if it is a pre-tensioner or not) The hook ups I had at BMW moved to Porsche, so kinda SOL to find out the code without the diag fee.