Has anyone ever heard of this?

[chris24]

My girlfriend just had to bring her X3 in because her airbag light was on. Now, I don't know if she lost something in translation here, but what she told me they said was that her seat covers (both front seats) had to be replaced because of a sensor in the seats that indicates whether or not someone's in the car, and that those sensors deactivate the airbags if no-one is sitting in the seat/s.

Now, obviously the car isn't going to drive itself, so I see no reason such a sensor would exist at all in the driver's seat. Further, it makes no sense to me that the activation of the airbags should depend upon a sensor that, if faulty, could incorrectly turn off the airbags and fail to serve its purpose if there were a passenger in the car and God forbid an accident occur.

Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I hope either she misunderstood something or they didn't explain it to her correctly........... But they did replace the leather on both of her front seats as a result of the airbag light being on.

[RastaGurl]

I have had a similar issue, with a similar fix, and no repeat incidents since. It's been a known issue with X3s for some time now.

[chris24]

Thank you. Did they indicate to you that there is a sensor even in the driver's seat?

I guess I understand the logic of having one in the passenger seat, to save costs from having the airbag deploy if no-one's in the car... but seems foolish to take the chance on a sensor failing in the event someone is in that seat and something happens without the advantage of an airbag.

[RastaGurl]

I think the driver's airbag is always on. That of the passenger, however is turned on or off based on said passenger's weight. I think it's a way of ensuring that if there is a child, or as you mentioned, no-one in the seat, the airbag doesn't deploy.

[chris24]

Just seems like an unnecessary thing to save a few (hundred) bucks. I'd rather replace an airbag than a friend/family member....

And if it's a small child, they shouldn't be in the front seat to begin with, but I guess BMW was just trying to compensate for the ignorance many people have when it comes to things like that.

[sfhondapilot]

I had to replace the passenger seat pad. Same thing ... air bag light came on.

[B&DCalgary]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the force of the airbag deployment is adjusted depending on the weight of the driver or passenger. A light driver will be smaller and positioned closer to the steering wheel, so the system will reduce the force of the deployment. It probably saves the lives of countless Chinese women who are driving around in big BMWs or Mercedes. Ten years ago there were at least a couple a year in our city being killed by air bags because they were so short they had to literally move the driver's seat to within inches of the steering wheel to be able to reach the pedals. I haven't heard about it happening since they started using adaptive airbags.

[schlumbeb]

had the same problem having a 1.5 liter of red wine sitting on the passenger seat-- bag sensor came on cause not enough weight on the seat- stop happening after having removed and drunk the bottle>>>>>

[Fastbuck]

Originally Posted by B&DCalgary

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the force of the airbag deployment is adjusted depending on the weight of the driver or passenger. A light driver will be smaller and positioned closer to the steering wheel, so the system will reduce the force of the deployment. It probably saves the lives of countless Chinese women who are driving around in big BMWs or Mercedes. Ten years ago there were at least a couple a year in our city being killed by air bags because they were so short they had to literally move the driver's seat to within inches of the steering wheel to be able to reach the pedals. I haven't heard about it happening since they started using adaptive airbags.