airbag light trouble

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komis
Joined: Wed 01 Dec, 2004 11:18
Posts: 475

  Z3 roadster 2.8

airbag light trouble

Post by komis »

hi all,

yesterday the airbag light came on and just didn't go off after starting the car (2000 model with the 2-stage srs system, driver, passenger and door airbags). The car had been sitting all night after a midnight drive, no previous problems ever.

Took it to the local indie who plugged it into the diagnostic tool he had and it came up with some code. He cleared it and i went for a drive, but the light came back on after a few minutes again. I took it back and he had another looksy, I was standing over his shoulder and saw the tool said something like "airbag resistance too high"... did a quick search on the net and couldn't find anything so i was wondering if anyone here has had any similar experiences and how they solved it.

Tomorrow morning i'm taking the car back to the indie to try out my old steering wheel which i had swapped for an M-wheel a couple of years ago.. he said he thinks it might be the airbag itself going duff or the seatbelt tensioner, but any info that can help troubleshooting the light would be appreciated!!!

So far this has cost me nothing and by the power of this forum i'm hoping things will stay this way lol :P My indie did the reset for free, is he a great guy or what? Only took him 1 minute mind...
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Jonttt
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Joined: Sun 28 Dec, 2008 16:32
Posts: 6554

  M roadster S54
Location: Liverpool

Post by Jonttt »

Sounds like a fault with the 2 stage airbag rather than the tensioners. The actual fault code should identify if its stage I or Stage II as they haev different fault codes.

First things to check are fuses etc... on that circuit :wink:

If you've fitted a single stage airbag to a 2 stage system and bridged circuit 2 with a resistor the resistor could be faulty ?
Happiness is not around the corner........happiness is the corner
Image Video or Journal Garage: 2015 FFRR Black Edition, Porsche Boxster GTS, 1997 Porsche Carrara C4S, Ex 2001 BMW S54 Z3m Roadster
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komis
Joined: Wed 01 Dec, 2004 11:18
Posts: 475

  Z3 roadster 2.8

Post by komis »

thanks jontt,

No, it's a proper 2-stage system fitted on the car (didn't know you could "trick" it into accepting an older wheel and spent ages trying to procure the right parts lol). Driving the car over to the garage again in a few minutes, hopefully we can find out what's happened.

Don't think it would be a fuse though as the light stayed off for a few minutes before coming back on again - if it were a fuse I would have thought it would have come back on instantaneously.

Just finding it pretty weird that the airbag itself would be the problem, i would think these items are designed to last longer than this (it came from a 2002 car with 50K on the clock).
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Jonttt
Z Register member
Joined: Sun 28 Dec, 2008 16:32
Posts: 6554

  M roadster S54
Location: Liverpool

Post by Jonttt »

I think you need to get the exact fault code to identify the area, they are quite specific in relation to the airbag system.
Happiness is not around the corner........happiness is the corner
Image Video or Journal Garage: 2015 FFRR Black Edition, Porsche Boxster GTS, 1997 Porsche Carrara C4S, Ex 2001 BMW S54 Z3m Roadster
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komis
Joined: Wed 01 Dec, 2004 11:18
Posts: 475

  Z3 roadster 2.8

Post by komis »

Well the latest update is that the guy took the steering wheel off the car, disconnected the airbag, checked all the wiring, cleaned all the contacts and plugged everything back in and the car has been fine since. I'll be keeping an eye on it but hopefully the problem won't come back.

Total cost = £30 so far.
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