Front Seat Head Restraint Problems of BMW 540

My car has around 74k miles on it. I had the following service request warning present itself this last week, 'passenger restraint system malfunction:' on my drive into work in the morning. At first I dismissed the message and closed it to see if it would clear itself. It did not clear. It came back up a couple of minutes later. This time I left it alone. It proceeded to close itself and reopen every minute or so for about 10-15 minutes. Then it turned off and didn't come back on until I started my car later in the day and again the following morning. After taking it into the BMW dealer, the warning light was able to be replicated by the dealer and they've told me it is the seat mat (occupancy sensor) that was faulty. No outside influence appears to be at fault for the failure. Just that the part went bad. This is the diagnostic message given: check control message present for passenger restraint malfunction. Performed vehicle test, faults present regarding passenger front seat occupancy detection. Performed test plan and indcated passenger seat occupancy detection is faulty. Recommend replacing passenger seat occupancy detection. According to the dealer, if this if not fixed the airbag and/or seatbelt won't perform in the event of an accident. This appears to be a very common issue for BMW and similar to a 2017 BMW technical service bulletin mc-10146769-9999. There was no warning of this issue prior to receiving the error message. There has been no opportunity for moisture to compromise the sensor (via window, sunroof or drinks spilled). Nor has any cellphone been stored on the passenger seat as I've read of some reasons provided to other owners with the same error message. This seems to be an ongoing issue with this part for some time and it would seem to be an important issue for BMW to resolve in their design for the safety of the user.

See all problems of the 2018 BMW 540 🔎.

For a few months now, my car has been throwing a "passenger restraint system malfunction" error. It happens sporadically and only stays up for between 1 and 5 minutes at a time. It will happen whether the car is moving or not, and even sometimes as soon as I turn the car on. I have been submitting the telecommunications since it started. I tried to have it fixed by thompson BMW, only to be told, like the other user who has this problem on here, that they think moisture is the culprit. I have never had any rain or any other moisture get into the car, and even if it did, this would be a huge safety risk. Thompson refused to fix it and said I would have to come out of pocket for the seat, which is ridiculous. I have been in contact with the service manager, and the car is scheduled to go back to the shop soon. I will update with any developments, but it would appear that mine is not an isolated indecent.