You may like to take along a copy`s of the MINI USA letter on post #7, & the Quentin Wilson letter on Post #1, just in case they try to deny all knowledge that this is a well known problem.
Keep us informed of how it goes.
Yep, what Restyle said. I would have print outs of all the information that I could find. If they want you to pay, insist that they contact MINI about this. Bottom line is don't settle.
Of course, the light could have come on for another reason all together.
We now have 26 replies on the Petition of which 5 are signed "Anonymous", and another 5 have NO comments in whatsoever!
Can I please reiterate that if this Petition is to be taken seriously by MINI UK then we will at least require a Name and a small description of the problem and/or the contact you have had with your dealer in the Comments section.
If any owners require a screenprint of the Petition for use when contacting your dealer about your problem, please drop me an email on MINI2 and I will try to reply to it asap.
The Petition can be found at BMW MINI UK Owners Airbag Warning Light Petition Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]
Once Again Many Thanks And Good Luck!
But this assumes that you only want people to sign the petition if they`ve already had this problem.
Dont you think the petition should be open to all MINI owners who are worried that this problem may happen to them in the Future, & would like the same warranty benefits as offered to owners in the U.S.
Granted point taken. I dont mind if its the Minority that helps the Majority OR the Majority who helps the Minority as long as we ALL receive the same goal - Admission of the Airbag Fault, Free Rectification and Extended Warranty. I assumed by the lack of response from owners who already have this problem and who havent added to the petition that owners who havent had this problem wouldnt sign it anyway! Please feel free for ANY owner who would like to sign the Petition to do so, though could you add your name and any valid comments towards the cause.
Just signed petition too, 2002 Cooper, 39,000 mile, light came on in May 2006, repaired at full cost by Copper Thames Ditton because it was out of warranty by then. It came on again in December, so I'll be contacting them again with some more ammunition now :-)
clouseau 999 how much was full cost if you don't mind me asking & what did they say was the fault / cause? My airbag light is on now (2002 Mini One 37,500 miles out of warranty) and Cooper Thames Ditton is my local dealer also.
Hi, I have a Mini One 02 plate and the airbag light is on, think it came on around 37,000 miles. Have spoken to my local dealer and they told me that it would take an hour to diagnose the problem (£110 I think). My boss actually spoke to them for me and expalined all we had found out and they just wouldn't budge (he's a customer of theirs, always gets BMW's). Really had enough of it, I just can't afford that kind of money, especially to fix something that is a known problem! Have signed the petition and am keeping my fingers crossed that we get something!! If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.
Thank you for your email received January 9, 2007.
We are sorry to hear of the situation with the airbag on your MINI ONE. We
would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by this.
MINI UK will occasionally offer a contribution, any claim would need to be
processed via one of our approved dealerships. In order for us to look into
assisting you with the cost, your vehicle would need to be inspected by one
of our approved dealerships to follow this process. We can confirm that
there is not a recall for the airbag on the MINI ONE in the United Kingdom,
this is because the number requiring repair are a small percentage compared
with the number of vehicles sold.
We are sorry you have had cause to contact us under these circumstances and
trust that the information provided assists you.
Yours sincerely
Joanne Grierson
Customer Service Executive
MINI UK
Ellesfield Avenue
Bracknell RG12 8TA
Tel: 0870 5050122
Fax: 0870 5050205
My airbag light came on mid December on my 52 plate Cooper (42,000 miles). It has gone to Sytner MINI in Nottingham today to be diagnosed only, at a cost of £52.00!
I can't afford an expensive repair job at the moment, so if they come back to me with an expensive quote I'll have to decline and continue driving with the airbag light on (unless they can simply reset it for the time being). It's annoying though if MINI USA do recognise this as a common fault and have extended warranties over there whereas we have to pay full whack to have a life-saving safety feature reinstated.
Well, Sytner just phoned. Turns out it's the wiring looms. It's going to cost £195.00 including the diagnostic if I want it fixed today. I've got the funds available to cover this, so I'm going to have it done mainly for peace of mind when transporting other people in my car.
I'm still not happy that I have to pay for this, but there isn't much else I can do.
What was the actual fault code they found? oftentimes it's "high resistance in seatbelt tensioner wires" and similarly for the side airbag wires, often it can just be sorted by greasing everything up and turning the light off, this is what has been done on mine, no way am I paying for new looms!!
It may also be worth asking your dealer if they will consider contacting MINI Uk for assistance with a claim before they proceed especially if they want to replace the looms. Hope this helps
I also had the warning light appear on my '02' Cooper when moving my drivers side seat.
Knowing that there were cable harnesses under there for the airbags I removed all the connecters and sprayed them with electrical contact cleaner.
Unfortunately this did not extinguish the light on the dash, that is when I read this thread and as with everyone else thought this was an issue that mini uk should deal with and duly signed the petition.
I subsequently went to see my local dealer John Clark Aberdeen and was happy to find them very obliging (although they were quite surprised to see the info on the recall) unfortunately they did not offer to change the loom for free but within 5 mins they had reset the warning and it has now been off for 3 weeks.
I appreciate that this is not a permanent solution but as with Dealmaker i have found cleaning/greasing the connectors and resetting the warning is a quick and almost cost free solution.
It's the passenger side wiring loom which has been replaced on my MINI Cooper. It's now guaranteed for upto 2 years so if it happens again and it is passenger side again, the repair work is covered.
I just hope the drivers side wiring loom does not go now.
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Petition Update 03/01/2007 
