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| Seat Occupancy Sensor: E90 330i 2006 |
My car: BMW 330i 2006
Chances are that if you are reading this its because you have your Air bag light ON, and you need to replace the Seat Occupancy Sensor. But if you go to the Dealer you will find out that it's very expensive to have it replaced. If you take it to the dealer they will charge you Over $2000 dollars to have it replaced, but if you just replace the seat with an used seat it will cost you less than $100.
YouTube video at the bottom of this post...
What is the Seat Occupancy Sensor:
The sensor determines if somebody is seating in the seat, and if they are, the air bag is activated in the event of an accident. If the car can't determine if somebody is seating in the seat the Airbag light will turn ON, with a "Restraint system Malfunction!" error.
The Math :
Seat Occupancy sensor price: $800
Seat Occupancy sensor replacement price at the dealer: $2000
Foxwell 510 Elite: $180
OLD used car seat from a junk yard : $100 with 90 day warranty
Cygnetic bypass mat: $45
Why it's a bad idea to replace the Sensor instead of replacing the entire seat:
I tried replacing the sensor, I bought a new one, it ended up being the wrong one, the sensor needs to be exactly like the picture above, if it looks different it's not the correct one. But long story short, the sensor is glued on to the foam, very difficult to remove because the seat has a few metal parts that are crimped to the metal part of the seat, and remove its very difficult, to put it back it's even more difficult. I don't recommend trying it, I recommend just buying a used seat and replacing it that way. Air Bag Light
Replacing the Seat Sensor can be done, it's not IMPOSSIBLE, but I don't recommend it. If you want to go that route, here is a link where you can get it: FCP Euro note it's $800 dollars plus shipping
Replace the entire seat instead:
I got my USED seat at the Junk Yard: Pick your part in San Diego
800 Energy Way, Chula Vista, CA 91911
Only thing you have to make sure that it's the same seat type: Same model year, and same options, take the old one out and plug the used one in, that it. The old seat and the new seat should be identical in every way.
Please NOTE: to remove the old seat from the donor car, is going to require a battery, see how I did it in the video at the bottom of the post, in the video I explain how I did it.
Make sure you bring a friend or a Dolly, the seat is about 80lb
The down side of getting a used seat...
There is a chance that the replacement seat you get also has a bad Seat Occupancy Sensor,... possible but no likely. when you go to the Junk Yard, just look for a descent car, not too old, and look and see how many miles it has. Most cars in the lot have a sticker on the rear panel and you can see how many miles it had when it came into the yard. This is the only way to find out how many miles the car has... because you can't turn the car on to see the mileage.
Turning off the Air Bag Light after new (new used Seat) is installed:
I used the Foxwell 510 Elite, and all I had todo was: I ran the standard scan for the car, where it looks for anything wrong with the car.. The standard diagnostics. One of the codes was for the air bag, just clear it just like you clear another code and that should do it.
If you clear the Airbag Light, and with in a day or a week, the light comes back ON with the same code, chances are that you got a bad seat, I recommend going back to the junk yard and getting a different one.
Please note, that you can't clear the airbag light with a Cheap Bluetooth scanner, the Foxwell 510N Elite does clear this code, more expensive but for sure to work.
Seat Occupancy Sensor Mat Bypass:
I tried it, it didn't work for me, I followed all the instructions, believe me I wanted it to work, but it didn't. It worked for a few days and then it didn't. Something that I didn't like about the bypass is that it tells the car that somebody is always seating in the seat and so you need to have the Seatbelt buckle attached all the time, or it will tell you that the passenger doesn't have their seat belt ON. If you just want to pass smog, maybe its worth it, but I would just get a used seat and be done, it's almost about the same price anyway.
This is the one I tried, that didn't work, in case you are interested: Cygnetic
Link :Seat Occupancy Mat Bypass EMULATOR
Getting smog check:
If you need to do the smog check and your airbag light is ON, you will fail the smog check, so make sure you do one of these options before you go.
Very IMPORTANT: (If car involved in an accident)
IF you car was involved in a car accident, and you have the airbag light on, replacing the seat won't get rid of the light, in this case you have to replace the SRS ECU Module, and the module needs to be coded to the car. Only way to fix this problem.
Important NOTE:
My car was not involved in an accident, one day out of the blue the air bag light would turn On for a day and then it would turn OFF the following, sometimes it would be off for a month with no issues and then it would return, until one day it was solid ON and when I tried to clear it with the Foxwell it would not go away. This was the reason I replaced the seat. NOT because my car was in an accident and it blew an airbag.
Codes:
93C1 : MRS: Communication fault, seat-occupancy detector, passenger
93C3 : MRS: Seat-Occupancy detector, passenger
If you are looking to get a Foxwell 510N Elite, here is a link: Foxwell 510N Elite link
My YouTube video explaining more about this procedure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWuDnrs7iMQ&t=144s
I hope this as useful to you, good luck, until next time...
