Rain and Airbag light?

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Mon 30 Dec, 2013 20:36

Hello again.

Last night, it rained very hard, and the corner post has started leaking again.The passenger seat and foot well were soaked. Also, suddenly the red Airbag light has come on.

Typical just after xmas, when I have no £££. I know how to fix the leak, but is the airbag light problem this going to be costly?

Thanks for any advice.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 08:24

I got my z cheap as it had an airbag light on, at some point the passenger seat had run over the cables going to the seatbelt clip, the owner then decided to unplug the drivers seat to see if it would get rid of the light, it didn't. so he then proceeded to remove the airbag warning bulb, however this isn't enough as there is also an led in there too, as a back-up should the bulb fail, so he filled the bulb channel with paper

. he hadn't realised that once lit the airbag light would stay on even if you fix the problem as the airbag error is still in the airbag error log, this needs to be cleared before it will go out. this I discovered after plugging back in the leads under the seats and replacing the bulb. I used my impa to clear the codes

im sure I just saw a post by yourself in the members with diagnostics thread, if so try clearing the error memory first (see what it says first) my thoughts are - it was water under the passenger seat, maybe at some point your cables have also been run over, I had to recover mine as there were bare wires. if you don't have a reset tool then have a look at the members with diagnostic software map and see who is closest to you

is it the post that's leaking or is it the usual area (the part where the fold down roof meets the top of the A post) quite often there is a small gap here, have a look around the forum as its quite common, most usual fix is to add a bicycle inner tube repair patch to the end of the rubber seal.

we had horrendous rain here a few days ago, my boot was wet for the first time

it rained sideways

hey you appear to have the same wheels as me, were these std fitment on some Z?

michiganstar · Post by **michiganstar** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 09:05

If it is the sensor under the seat that's gone then its circa £150 to fix - its not difficult but its a little fiddly.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 09:20

mine didn't cost anything, I needed a new bulb but I didn't want to pay bmw £8 for a new one, so I brought an e36 clockset off ebay for £25, removed all the bulbs and relisted the clocks, guess what - it sold for £25

so now I have a pile of spare bulbs, if anyone need any just let me know

oh yeh forgot to mention - be carefull with airbag wires as airbags can kill, it does happen

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 09:35

It depends what fault has brought the airbag light on. A momentary break in connection is all it takes - perhaps you moved the seat to check on the damp - or perhaps the water has got into the connector or worse the pre-tensioner. Whatever the cause, the light latches on and you need to clear the codes to reset the light. If it comes straight back on, the fault is still there.

I think the sensor michiganstar is referring to is the yaw sensor, but that is part of the DSC system and is only fitted to cars with DSC.

Cheers R.

Sent from my Galaxy SII using Tapatalk 2

gookah · Post by **gookah** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 12:05

I had the problem on mine after leaving the roof down and it rained. I felt under the seat to see if the carpet was wet and disturbed the connector whilst the ignition was on, and the airbag light came on.....that's really all it takes.
I bought a reset tool off eBay and it resets the light fine,

one on now:
Airbag Reset Tool eBay

One of the best £30's I have spent. I have done loads of job's involving removing my seats and now I am not worried if I forget to switch off the ignition first.. otherwise BMW want £45 and my indy wanted £25, just for one reset.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 13:12

if your gona spend £30 on a reset tool you may as well spend the extra £10 for impa, assuming you have a laptop to run it on. these reset tools do pay for themselves quite quickly though

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 14:45

Thanks for all the replies.

I think the wet may have been the cause then, unless it it a huge coinsidence.

I looked at the reset tool, but im sure my car has the large round diagnostic socket on left side of endine. (the one on ebay has a smaller square connector?)

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the 'impa' device?

I think I may invest in some kind of device because I hope to keep this car for a few more years before getting a Z4. Its MOT is in 2 months, so hopefully I should be able to at least have a go at it, before being fleeced by my steeler.

Btw, you guys already saved me a packet in the past. My passenger seat stopped going up and down, BMW wanted £600+ to fix it. I was given advice here and had it working for nothing. Really was a great moment, and was much appreiciated.

Thank you all and a happy new year!

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 15:06

I have no idea what 'impa' is, but littlefeller seems convinced that is what he has. I suspect he means INPA, which is the BMW diagnostic system - and can work with either a USB or Serial Port adapter. See http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... 18&t=35789

To reset the airbag light, I am pretty sure you will have to connect to the round 20-pin underbonnet connector on all Z3's, even for those that have later cars with the under-dash OBDII connector, this only seems to have access to the engine module and nothing else.

Unfortunately BMTechnic, who supplied my cable and software, no longer seem to be trading. If you can find a second-hand one of their kits, I'd go for that, as it definitely works, however there are quite a number of other possibilities.

Cheers R.

Jonco · Post by **Jonco** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 15:34

`impa' is typo - littlefeller has INPA.

If you can access someone with kit then what Robert says is correct - you connect the 20pin and on INPA go to Body - Airbag and clear error codes. If all is well they will stay out.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 17:08

its just me

I keep typing impa for some daft reason

its not the first time either

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 17:32

Is this the right one for my 1.9 8v m43?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Diagnosti ... 258716abe9

Rafolian · Post by **Rafolian** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 17:56

Also stop typing in "brought" instead of bought Mr Littlefeller or I'll put you in the corner of the classroom!!!!

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 18:37

Sorry, I missed the winky of my jest about littlefeller early - I'm sure he knows I was joking.

TAV, the cable above looks pretty much identical to the BMTechnic one, and looking at the label, it comes from bmcables.com (see http://bcables.com), which seems to specialise in BMW diagnostic cables.

I am speculating here, but I think there is a distinct possibility that the company was forced to stop selling copies of the software and has now reverted to selling cables only, so it might in fact be the same people supplying them. If so, then this is great news for us, as it means we once again have a reliable supply of cables. You will of course need to source some software from somewhere, and I would discourage you all from using this site to advertise sources of anything which is not legitimate.

Cheers R.

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 18:45

Robert T wrote:Sorry, I missed the winky of my jest about littlefeller early - I'm sure he knows I was joking.

TAV, the cable above looks pretty much identical to the BMTechnic one, and looking at the label, it comes from bmcables.com (see http://bcables.com), which seems to specialise in BMW diagnostic cables.

I am speculating here, but I think there is a distinct possibility that the company was forced to stop selling copies of the software and has now reverted to selling cables only, so it might in fact be the same people supplying them. If so, then this is great news for us, as it means we once again have a reliable supply of cables. You will of course need to source some software from somewhere, and I would discourage you all from using this site to advertise sources of anything which is not legitimate.

Cheers R.

Oh, I thought it came with the software. Maybe I will just get the simple B800 gadget instead as money is tight atm.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Tue 31 Dec, 2013 23:36

anything is better than than nowt, but its even cheaper to find someone close to you to help out

after all that's the point of the diagnostics map and thread

BladeRunner919 · Post by **BladeRunner919** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 11:55

TAV wrote: Oh, I thought it came with the software. Maybe I will just get the simple B800 gadget instead as money is tight atm.

There's no point buying the B800 - it costs about the same as the diagnostic cables but only does one thing. I'm sure the software is easily come by as plenty of members here have the BMTechnic.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 12:13

not sure you can do anything illegitimate with the bmtechnics, I may be wrong but I am fairly sure I had to activate my copy via email or something like that, maybe it came with a code of some kind, or it was an online activation maybe

Post by **Robert T** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 14:11

TAV wrote:Oh, I thought it came with the software. Maybe I will just get the simple B800 gadget instead as money is tight atm.

Sorry, TAV, I only skim read the associated pages - it looks like the cable does indeed come with 2 DVDs and includes INPA. The price is almost down to half of what I paid about 12 months ago! Buy it and tell us what you think!!!

Cheers R.

colb · Post by **colb** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 16:25

I bought the BMCables package via ebay, it comes with the round plug adaptor and 2 x CD's
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Diagnosti ... 1465088%26

The programmes take up a lot of space on your Hard drive on a Laptop took ages to load all the component parts but finally got it all working.

Colb

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 17:37

Well. I just got the BMcables + DVD for best offer of £25!!

Hope it works. But worth the cost, as my indie would charge that for one go on theirs, so makes sense.

Will dry out area. Un-engage battery, clean yellow connector under seat, then try and reset and see if airbag light comes on again. Worth a try. Will wait however for this horrible weather to pass. Roof cover going on tonight.

Thanks again for fantastic advice!

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 21:16

£25, bargain, cheaper than most reset tools that just reset airbags

guess you will be going onto the diagnostics map

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 21:22

Hmmm, i wont poke around to much. Don't want to stuff anything up!

spurs fan in a coupe · Post by **spurs fan in a coupe** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 21:29

Can't comment on the leak, I've only ever had the coupe, but....

My coupe had the airbag light on for a while, failed the MOT as a result, went through a number of the solutions above and ended up replacing the airbag control module.

Bit of a pain, but not rocket science.

Some photos about half way down here

http://zroadster.org/forum/threads/spur ... 370/page-4

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Wed 01 Jan, 2014 22:33

spurs fan in a coupe wrote:went through a number of the solutions above and ended up replacing the airbag control module.

Well, hope it doesn't turn out to be that. Think it will be farewell Z3. Cannot afford anything expensive atm.

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 12:39

UPDATE

Ok, running INPA at last.

Here is error message from airbag area. (1st one before, 2nd one after reset)

I've reset but it comes straight back. There was another error saying intermittent short circuit, but that has cleared and not come back.

1st code before reseting:

2nd code after resetting:

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 13:03

im not certain, but would that be your seat occupied mat (inside the seat, or does it rely on the seat belt clip?

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 13:27

Cheers, going to have a look behind seat at all connectors. Will disconect minus battery lead first, then unplug and inspect, hopefully without having to take seat out.

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 15:14

Well, Its almost imposible to get at he leads behind the seat even if fully forward, but I felt blindly and found what seems like a disconnection.

I took a blind photo. This is the best I could get.

Anyone knowif it might be a clue?

colb · Post by **colb** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 15:24

First socket on the plug looks crusty, try cleaning them all to ensure good contact same for the other end.

Colb

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 15:35

I have no idea where it connects too, as I can only feel hehind seat. Think I will take the seat out to see better ......

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 18:32

Well,

took out seat, arggghhh! lowered roof to llow space for seat to move and the back window split

Looked under seat. The connector above was just an unused molox (probably for better specced models with heated seats).

Disconnected the SBE1 little sensor box and cleaned the connectors in both connections. Put all back together, reset the airbag light, .......and it came back one

So now I have the the question of whether its the little box, or the matt sensor in the seat. Im not sure if the error code put up by INPA in the above posts says which looks more likely.

... and I need a new back window!!

this could be the end of my Z experience

... (I did find 10p and a biro under the seat though)

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 18:39

yes that plug plugs into a socket hiding behind the seat runner, this is exactly what had happened to mine, the plug is hard to spot, I had to use feeley feeley

mine had a plug that looked exactly the same as the one you have there, I eventualy found a plug to put it into running behind and cable tied to the seat runner

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 18:44

littlefeller wrote:yes that plug plugs into a socket hiding behind the seat runner, this is exactly what had happened to mine, the plug is hard to spot, I had to use feeley feeley mine had a plug that looked exactly the same as the one you have there, I eventualy found a plug to put it into running behind and cable tied to the seat runner

Which plug are you talking about? That plug in the photo didn't plug into anything as far as I could see. It was just a spare molex for some feature (like heated seats) that my car didn't have.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 18:51

mine doesn't have heated seats either, now im looking at yours again, I think this is the socket that my plug went into, rather than the plug I found hanging, if you see what I mean ~(the plug I found, im fairly sure it was a male plug, where as yours appears to be female, but it is the plug that was attached to the runner, so the question is - where is your male sided plug?

is there anything attached to the seat runner on the seat?

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 18:53

littlefeller wrote:mine doesn't have heated seats either, now im looking at yours again, I think this is the socket that my plug went into, rather than the plug I found hanging, if you see what I mean ~(the plug I found, im fairly sure it was a male plug, where as yours appears to be female, but it is the plug that was attached to the runner, so the question is - where is your male sided plug?

Was it anything to do with the airbag light with yours?

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 18:54

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 18:55

im sure this has something to do with the seat belt tensioner

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:00

Well, the error codes didn't point that way.

I did notice a lead that had a black male 'dummy' type of connector that it could connect to, but I figured that was just a blanking port that didn't connect to anything. (it was ontop of another clear connector).

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:04

yes im sure there where more than one plug stuck hiding up behind the runner, have a looksee at the dummy plug, are the any contacts in there?
your error codes suggests a short in the seat mat, though if something is unplugged under the seat it cant be a good thing

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:06

Just found this pic. Looks like it is an unused plug for cars with heated seats.

Back to square one

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:10

im sure I have the same harness, all my plugs have a oppo socket and are all pluged in, the plug I found hanging was black, the plug you have there in the last pic (in black) is im sure the plug socket I found behind the runner, not the loose plug. so where are your loose plugs?, is there anything attached to the seat belt clip?

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:14

I've put it all back together. I assumed it wasn't the causeof the problem so left it.

If it is the mat sensor, is that going to be expensive?

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:16

which plugs did you plug back in? and to what?

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:22

littlefeller wrote:which plugs did you plug back in? and to what?

I didn't plug the big black cable into anything. It looked like it only came from the male blanking molex. Are you saying I might have missed something?

The little sensor box was all connected ok. However I did notive the wires had been cut at some point, as they had insulting tape wrapped round, which didn't look factory done.

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:30

this is very odd, I just checked with the wire diagrams and the black plug as you suggest is for heated seats, mine hasnt got heated seats so what the hell is mine plugged into then, I couldn't see the colour of the socket it went into but it fitted, the driver side was unplugged too, the airbag light went out only after I plugged them back in. the seat mat should have a 2 pin connection, does yours have this?

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:31

have you checked along the seat runners (on the seat), mine was quite well hidden

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:33

littlefeller wrote:this is very odd, I just checked with the wire diagrams and the black plug as you suggest is for heated seats, mine hasnt got heated seats so what the hell is mine plugged into then, I couldn't see the colour of the socket it went into but it fitted, the driver side was unplugged too, the airbag light went out only after I plugged them back in. the seat mat should have a 2 pin connection, does yours have this?

Yes, i think it plugged straight into the SBE1 little box. Perhaps the black lead completes the circuit or something, and does need to be plugged in?

littlefeller · Post by **littlefeller** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:41

my light only went out after I plugged the black plug back in. if I had heated seats surely I would have a heated seat switch, I don't. im sure the socket for the plug was attached to the seat hidden up against the runner on the outside, the side closest to the door

TAV · Post by **TAV** » Sun 19 Jan, 2014 19:46

littlefeller wrote:my light only went out after I plugged the black plug back in. if I had heated seats surely I would have a heated seat switch, I don't. im sure the socket for the plug was attached to the seat hidden up against the runner on the outside, the side closest to the door

I will take another look when I get the chance. Did you use an INPA error reader?

If so what error message did you receive?