2000 528i airbag warning light

A friend broke the passenger window on her 528i with a hammer and after
husband replaced the window the airbag warning light is on. How can it be
fixed/reset?

Many thanks in advance,

Steve

In article >,
Tbird-Steve > wrote:
> A friend broke the passenger window on her 528i with a hammer and after
> husband replaced the window the airbag warning light is on. How can it
> be fixed/reset?

I'd guess the door airbag was removed/replaced without disconnecting the
battery.

Resetting this warning is a dealer job.

--
*'Progress' and 'Change' are not synonyms.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

What Dave said.

If Dave is right, then the Airbag light can only be reset with the
diagnostic tool. The dealership should reset this as part of the service
charge for the repairs, if those repairs were done at the dealership.
Otherwise, find an independent BMW service center and pay a small fee.

My Airbag light was on, and the fault code was that the Airbag light was not
working. I found it somewhat amusing that the Airbag light would be used as
an indicator to tell me that the Airbag light was not working.



"Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
...
> A friend broke the passenger window on her 528i with a hammer and after
> husband replaced the window the airbag warning light is on. How can it be
> fixed/reset?
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Steve
>
>

I'm not a fan of BMW dealerships or their diagnostic tools. If that's
what's needed then surely it's just a matter of either shorting a couple of
pins or applying a particular voltage to the correct pin for a certain
length of time?
Friend's husband is a mechanic so he had to replace the window since he was
responsible for making her break it (by suggesting car had to be sold and
replaced with a Diahatsu) but I'm not sure what he removed or unplugged.
She has described it as being the passenger (left side) airbag rather than a
door airbag (do they have door airbags?) if that makes any difference.

Steve

"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
> What Dave said.
>
> If Dave is right, then the Airbag light can only be reset with the
> diagnostic tool. The dealership should reset this as part of the service
> charge for the repairs, if those repairs were done at the dealership.
> Otherwise, find an independent BMW service center and pay a small fee.
>
> My Airbag light was on, and the fault code was that the Airbag light was
> not
> working. I found it somewhat amusing that the Airbag light would be used
> as
> an indicator to tell me that the Airbag light was not working.
>
>
>
> "Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
> ...
>> A friend broke the passenger window on her 528i with a hammer and after
>> husband replaced the window the airbag warning light is on. How can it
>> be
>> fixed/reset?
>>
>> Many thanks in advance,
>>
>> Steve
>>
>>
>
>

In article >,
Tbird-Steve > wrote:
> Friend's husband is a mechanic so he had to replace the window since he
> was responsible for making her break it (by suggesting car had to be
> sold and replaced with a Diahatsu)

Care to run that by me again? :-)

> but I'm not sure what he removed or unplugged. She has described it as
> being the passenger (left side) airbag rather than a door airbag (do
> they have door airbags?) if that makes any difference.

My 528 has airbags in both doors and dash and wheel.

After you remove the door trim, there's a membrane glued to the door to
waterproof it. And the airbag fits on top of this. Now it's possible you
don't need to remove the entire membrane to change the window as I've not
done it. But I do know if you remove the airbag the battery must be
disconnected first.

--
Is the hardness of the butter proportional to the softness of the bread?*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

The Airbag light can be triggered by any of several different things. If the
ignition was switched on during the service work that had the air bag
disconnected, then the light will be set on.

The Airbag is a system that demands the service diagnostic tool to reset it.
There is no way around this that I know of. Perhaps you can buy the tool and
reset it yourself, but unless you will be using the tool repeatedly, you may
as well find a BMW mechanic that already owns one. He would likely be
willing to reset all codes if you let him do an oil change for you.

The ABS system is designed such that the ABS can work properly, then not
work and set the light on, then the next time you start the car the ABS
works again. The SRS is not designed the same way. Once there is an SRS
system failure detected, the failure is indicated until it can be properly
diagnosed and corrected, and is then reset by the mechanic. I understand
that you probably know what caused the failure mode, and you are satisfied
that it is working correctly. But the system still thinks there is an error.
My SRS displayed an error that said the SRS system error indicator light was
not working correctly. The mechanic reset the circuit for me, and the light
never came on again until I turned the ignition on while the passenger side
airbag was disconnected while changing the microfilter. The mechanic reset
the light again and it has not come back on. My mechanic resets my
diagnostics for free because i give him the jobs that I am not willing ot
able to do on my own.





"Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
...
> I'm not a fan of BMW dealerships or their diagnostic tools. If that's
> what's needed then surely it's just a matter of either shorting a couple
of
> pins or applying a particular voltage to the correct pin for a certain
> length of time?
> Friend's husband is a mechanic so he had to replace the window since he
was
> responsible for making her break it (by suggesting car had to be sold and
> replaced with a Diahatsu) but I'm not sure what he removed or unplugged.
> She has described it as being the passenger (left side) airbag rather than
a
> door airbag (do they have door airbags?) if that makes any difference.
>
> Steve
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> ...
> > What Dave said.
> >
> > If Dave is right, then the Airbag light can only be reset with the
> > diagnostic tool. The dealership should reset this as part of the service
> > charge for the repairs, if those repairs were done at the dealership.
> > Otherwise, find an independent BMW service center and pay a small fee.
> >
> > My Airbag light was on, and the fault code was that the Airbag light was
> > not
> > working. I found it somewhat amusing that the Airbag light would be used
> > as
> > an indicator to tell me that the Airbag light was not working.
> >
> >
> >
> > "Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> A friend broke the passenger window on her 528i with a hammer and after
> >> husband replaced the window the airbag warning light is on. How can it
> >> be
> >> fixed/reset?
> >>
> >> Many thanks in advance,
> >>
> >> Steve
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

Thanks for advice - I'll send her to the dealer.

Steve

"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
> The Airbag light can be triggered by any of several different things. If
> the
> ignition was switched on during the service work that had the air bag
> disconnected, then the light will be set on.
>
> The Airbag is a system that demands the service diagnostic tool to reset
> it.
> There is no way around this that I know of. Perhaps you can buy the tool
> and
> reset it yourself, but unless you will be using the tool repeatedly, you
> may
> as well find a BMW mechanic that already owns one. He would likely be
> willing to reset all codes if you let him do an oil change for you.
>
> The ABS system is designed such that the ABS can work properly, then not
> work and set the light on, then the next time you start the car the ABS
> works again. The SRS is not designed the same way. Once there is an SRS
> system failure detected, the failure is indicated until it can be properly
> diagnosed and corrected, and is then reset by the mechanic. I understand
> that you probably know what caused the failure mode, and you are satisfied
> that it is working correctly. But the system still thinks there is an
> error.
> My SRS displayed an error that said the SRS system error indicator light
> was
> not working correctly. The mechanic reset the circuit for me, and the
> light
> never came on again until I turned the ignition on while the passenger
> side
> airbag was disconnected while changing the microfilter. The mechanic reset
> the light again and it has not come back on. My mechanic resets my
> diagnostics for free because i give him the jobs that I am not willing ot
> able to do on my own.
>
>
>
>
>
> "Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I'm not a fan of BMW dealerships or their diagnostic tools. If that's
>> what's needed then surely it's just a matter of either shorting a couple
> of
>> pins or applying a particular voltage to the correct pin for a certain
>> length of time?
>> Friend's husband is a mechanic so he had to replace the window since he
> was
>> responsible for making her break it (by suggesting car had to be sold and
>> replaced with a Diahatsu) but I'm not sure what he removed or unplugged.
>> She has described it as being the passenger (left side) airbag rather
>> than
> a
>> door airbag (do they have door airbags?) if that makes any difference.
>>
>> Steve
>>
>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > What Dave said.
>> >
>> > If Dave is right, then the Airbag light can only be reset with the
>> > diagnostic tool. The dealership should reset this as part of the
>> > service
>> > charge for the repairs, if those repairs were done at the dealership.
>> > Otherwise, find an independent BMW service center and pay a small fee.
>> >
>> > My Airbag light was on, and the fault code was that the Airbag light
>> > was
>> > not
>> > working. I found it somewhat amusing that the Airbag light would be
>> > used
>> > as
>> > an indicator to tell me that the Airbag light was not working.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > "Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
>> > ...
>> >> A friend broke the passenger window on her 528i with a hammer and
>> >> after
>> >> husband replaced the window the airbag warning light is on. How can
>> >> it
>> >> be
>> >> fixed/reset?
>> >>
>> >> Many thanks in advance,
>> >>
>> >> Steve
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

The dealer, if in the States, is going to hit her for something in the
neighborhood of $100 to reset the light. My suggestion is to look in the
phone book for a local BMW mechanic and ask him to reset the light while he
is resetting the service indicator after the next oil change. If you are
going to pay a mechanic to reset the light, you may as well get an oil
change out of the deal.




"Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks for advice - I'll send her to the dealer.
>
> Steve
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> ...
> > The Airbag light can be triggered by any of several different things. If
> > the
> > ignition was switched on during the service work that had the air bag
> > disconnected, then the light will be set on.
> >
> > The Airbag is a system that demands the service diagnostic tool to reset
> > it.
> > There is no way around this that I know of. Perhaps you can buy the tool
> > and
> > reset it yourself, but unless you will be using the tool repeatedly, you
> > may
> > as well find a BMW mechanic that already owns one. He would likely be
> > willing to reset all codes if you let him do an oil change for you.
> >
> > The ABS system is designed such that the ABS can work properly, then not
> > work and set the light on, then the next time you start the car the ABS
> > works again. The SRS is not designed the same way. Once there is an SRS
> > system failure detected, the failure is indicated until it can be
properly
> > diagnosed and corrected, and is then reset by the mechanic. I understand
> > that you probably know what caused the failure mode, and you are
satisfied
> > that it is working correctly. But the system still thinks there is an
> > error.
> > My SRS displayed an error that said the SRS system error indicator light
> > was
> > not working correctly. The mechanic reset the circuit for me, and the
> > light
> > never came on again until I turned the ignition on while the passenger
> > side
> > airbag was disconnected while changing the microfilter. The mechanic
reset
> > the light again and it has not come back on. My mechanic resets my
> > diagnostics for free because i give him the jobs that I am not willing
ot
> > able to do on my own.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> I'm not a fan of BMW dealerships or their diagnostic tools. If that's
> >> what's needed then surely it's just a matter of either shorting a
couple
> > of
> >> pins or applying a particular voltage to the correct pin for a certain
> >> length of time?
> >> Friend's husband is a mechanic so he had to replace the window since he
> > was
> >> responsible for making her break it (by suggesting car had to be sold
and
> >> replaced with a Diahatsu) but I'm not sure what he removed or
unplugged.
> >> She has described it as being the passenger (left side) airbag rather
> >> than
> > a
> >> door airbag (do they have door airbags?) if that makes any difference.
> >>
> >> Steve
> >>
> >> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> > What Dave said.
> >> >
> >> > If Dave is right, then the Airbag light can only be reset with the
> >> > diagnostic tool. The dealership should reset this as part of the
> >> > service
> >> > charge for the repairs, if those repairs were done at the dealership.
> >> > Otherwise, find an independent BMW service center and pay a small
fee.
> >> >
> >> > My Airbag light was on, and the fault code was that the Airbag light
> >> > was
> >> > not
> >> > working. I found it somewhat amusing that the Airbag light would be
> >> > used
> >> > as
> >> > an indicator to tell me that the Airbag light was not working.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "Tbird-Steve" > wrote in message
> >> > ...
> >> >> A friend broke the passenger window on her 528i with a hammer and
> >> >> after
> >> >> husband replaced the window the airbag warning light is on. How can
> >> >> it
> >> >> be
> >> >> fixed/reset?
> >> >>
> >> >> Many thanks in advance,
> >> >>
> >> >> Steve
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>