MINI Cooper Forum banner

R53 - Removed Sparco Seats, replaced with Mini Seats, now airbag light on

10K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  Widgey 
#1 ·
Hi All

My 2004 R53 MCS, had factory fitted JCW Sparco seats from new when I bought it.

I didn't get on with these, so bought some regular MCS leather seats about a year ago. (I have now sold the JCW seats)

The mechanic who fitted them, i dont beleive followed the correct steps so the airbag light is permanently on. Having to get my MOT now, this is a fail! So I took it to 'mini specialist' to turn of the light - or so I thought.

It appears that both pre tensioners and both seat aribags are showing a fault, this leaves a few options:

1) 4x new BMW parts £900 + fitting!

2) source aftermarket pre-tensioners, airbags or complete seats as all cheaper than 1)

3) Take the car elsewhere for 2nd opinion, but with the obvious cost and complication (as my MOT has run out now and I have no tax!)

So my question is:

Is the first diagnostic likely to be correct? really all 4 have an issue? I doubt this from what I've read.

SHould I buy the parts 2nd hand, or take the car somewhere else?

I live in W London, but work in slough...so if anyone can recmommend a propoer mini specialist anywhere in London (ideally west) or bucks/berks not too bad. (car currently in slough)

Many thanks
Paul
 
See less See more
#3 ·
You can't remove the airbag light or srs system fuse..... its an led in the speedo not a bulb and the MOT will check it comes on with the ignition key and then does a system self-check before going out.......tape would also not work.....testers have seen all the tricks as ABS warning lights have been part of MOT for years.

When aftermarket non-airbag seats are fitted the light is exingushed by fittting small resistors in the seat airbag connectors to simulate the load of an airbag....this would work.
Secondhand replacement pre-tensioners (blue connectors) and seat airbags (yellow connectors) are available from specialist Mini breakers for around £40-50:
Mini BMW MINI One/Cooper/S R56 N/S Seatbelt Air bag Stalk - Mintech Spares UK

Mini BMW MINI Seat Airbag O/S Passenger Side R50 R52 R53 - Mintech Spares UK

I doubt yours have all failed at same time....the mechanic has more likely messed up the wiring or connectors. Sometimes it takes several attempts to reset the srs system, you can buy cheap diy reset tools on ebay, see link below.
Airbag Warning Light - Forums
 
#4 ·
I wonder if the MOT man would be able to detect a faulty system if you connected the airbag warning light to a timer so it lit up when you switched on and and went off on the timer say after the specified 3 secs? It would look like its operational but wasnt??
I wonder if anyone has ever done this? and you would never know until the bag didnt operate in an accident?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top