Air Bag Not Deploy problems of the 2004 BMW 530

My 2004 BMW 530i has both the seatbelt and airbag light on display at all times on my dashboard. These lights on are caused by a faulty front passenger seat occupant detection mat which BMW has an extended warranty on. After dropping my car to the BMW dealership to get this repaired, I was informed my extended warranty expired roughly 2 months prior and I cannot have this work performed under warranty. They charged me $140 for the diagnostics and said I would have to pay $1050 out of pocket to get repaired. I immediately reached out to BMW of north America and informed them of my situation as this occurred while my vehicle was still under warranty. I was hoping they could fix my car in good faith as this is a known issue or even provide me with a discounted repair. Unfortunately two months went by with no response. When I reached out again they said no this is not their headache and I am responsible for all costs and repairs related to this. This is a serious malfunction which I am surprised is not considered a recall. In the safety recall notice it specifically states if both warning lamps are illuminated simultaneously, BMW recommends not to use the front passenger seat until the vehicle has been serviced. Also, the safety recall notice says that the front passenger airbags will not deploy even if a sufficiently severe accident would occur and occupant protection provided by the system will not be possible. Obviously this is a huge safety issue which BMW needs to address. An extended warranty on such a sensitive matter is not sufficient and a recall should be issued.

I have my car routinely serviced with a certified BMW technician at a BMW service center. Recenlty my technician told me my car gave a code for passenger airbag failure. My car has been in no accidents. Currently I have a "fault detection" of the front passenger airbag sensor. If someone were to sit in the front passenger seat and if the vehicle sustained any front end damage, the front passenger airbag would not deploy. As of now the vehicle cannot determine if someone is sitting in the front passenger seat or not. This failure will not allow the front passenger airbag to deploy if the vehicle were in a collision. BMW is fully aware of this issue. Infact, they have stated that cracks are caused due to getting in and out of the vehicle on the passenger side, as a result, the airbag sensor fails in the front passager seat. There has been a recall for this code however, BMW claims my car is not covered. The year, make, model and seat all qualify for this recall. Safety is a very serious concern and I cannot see how this cannot be covered.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530i. The contact stated that while sitting in the passenger seat the air bag light came on indicating that the passenger side air bag malfunctioned. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who informed the contact that the mat which holds the sensor cracked. This was a known failure with this year make and model vehicle. The manufacturer issued a recall regarding the air bags:frontal (08v384000) but the VIN was not a part of the recall. Previously the contact had the air bag sensor replaced in the passenger seat in 2006 at 33,000 miles but the seat had malfunctioned again. The contact stated that this was a major safety issue because the air bag may not deploy if the vehicle was involved in a serious crash. The failure mileage was 77,000.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530i. The contact stated that his BMW passenger sensor mat activates on the instrument panel to alert him that the air bags will not deploy on the passenger side in the event of a crash. The dealer stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign id number 08v384000 (air bags:frontal), although the failures were identical. The failure mileage was 60,000.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530i. The contact stated that the air bag indicator system is deactivated and remains illuminated. Therefore, the air bags would not deploy. The sensor underneath the passenger seat has cracks in it and needs to be replaced. The repair would cost between $1,300-$1,600. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign id number 08v384000 (air bags:frontal). The failure mileage was 60,000.

The consumer's vehicle was involved in a crash with 2004 BMW 325i. Upon impact, both air bags did not deploy. The impact was the passenger side front door. The passenger side window shattered and fell into pieces. The car was taken to the dealership for repairs. The consumer has not yet reported the air bag failure to the manufacturer. There was one injury. A police report and pictures were taken. The consumer has the pictures. The insurance company has been notified. The speed was 25 mph. Ms. Packard: the summary report created by the vehicle safety hot line does not clearly identify your vehicle. Please review the information on the vehicle owner's questionnaire and verify that your vehicle is a 2004 BMW 530i. Also, please provide a copy of the police report and photographs.