Airbag sensor on E39

I have a -97 E39 525 TDS touring. Last summer, I replaced my old fabric
seat covers with brand new leather cover. Nice result and reasonabel
amount of work. Original BMW.
My only problem is that on the passenger front seat, it seems like it was
installed some kind of a sensor mattress, used by the airbag, checking
whether there is a passenger present in this seat or not.
Now, the airbag warning ligth is on all the time, and I wonder; what will
happend to my passenger if I have a serious accident? Will the airbag
remain unused?
Is there any way I may shortcut this sensor, to keep the airbag sensors on
all the time?

Get it fixed properly.
The sensor is there so that the airbag (under conditions that will cause it
to deploy), WILL deploy if the seat is occupied, and NOT deploy if it isn't.
Any fault in this sensor will either cost you a lot more money for an
unnecessary deployment, or endanger the occupant if it doesn't work when
needed.


"hodne" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
>I have a -97 E39 525 TDS touring. Last summer, I replaced my old fabric
> seat covers with brand new leather cover. Nice result and reasonabel
> amount of work. Original BMW.
> My only problem is that on the passenger front seat, it seems like it was
> installed some kind of a sensor mattress, used by the airbag, checking
> whether there is a passenger present in this seat or not.
> Now, the airbag warning ligth is on all the time, and I wonder; what will
> happend to my passenger if I have a serious accident? Will the airbag
> remain unused?
> Is there any way I may shortcut this sensor, to keep the airbag sensors on
> all the time?
>
>
>

If the ignition was turned on while the seat was out, the Airbag Fault Lamp
will come on and remain on until the fault code is reset.

I had a SRS fault lamp on in my car for a long time until I finally had it
checked. The fault at the time was that there was a problem in the lamp
circuit of the Fault Lamp - they use a lamp to tell you of a fault, and if
the lamp itself has a fault, they turn it on. It seems to me that using the
faulty lamp to tell you the lamp is faulty may not be reliable, but that's
just me.

Anyway, the lamp comes on when the key is switched on. After a few seconds,
the lamp goes out and immediately comes back on (this is key to the problem,
by the way). I had my BMW mechanic check the fault codes, and reset the SRS
system. Subsequent to that, I was replacing the microfilter in the
ventilation system, and for some reason the key was turned on. The SRS Fault
Lamp came back. I went to my mechanic again, and he reset the system with
his system diagnostic tool.

So, there are two, maybe more, things that can turn the fault lamp on, lamp
itself is detected as being faulty, or the system is made inoperative at
some point AND the ignition is also set to on at the same time.

The SRS is a system that can not fix itself, it must be reset by the
mechanic. An example of a system that can reset itself is the Worn Brake
Warning. when replacing the affected brakes, you install a new sensor and
the system will automatically reset itself. A broken brake lamp will also
reset the system automatically when the lamp is replaced. The SRS is a high
level safety device, and any fault in the system must be inspected by a
mechanic before the system can be reset. This assures that the safety
warning does not go away while the safety threat remains.







"hodne" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> I have a -97 E39 525 TDS touring. Last summer, I replaced my old fabric
> seat covers with brand new leather cover. Nice result and reasonabel
> amount of work. Original BMW.
> My only problem is that on the passenger front seat, it seems like it was
> installed some kind of a sensor mattress, used by the airbag, checking
> whether there is a passenger present in this seat or not.
> Now, the airbag warning ligth is on all the time, and I wonder; what will
> happend to my passenger if I have a serious accident? Will the airbag
> remain unused?
> Is there any way I may shortcut this sensor, to keep the airbag sensors on
> all the time?
>
>
>