Warning Light On problems of the 2002 Mini Cooper

Ever since buying this car used in January of 2012, the srs warning light has been on. The car store we bought the vehicle from did cancel the code when we discovered it was on after purchase. However, the code came back. We brought it to be fixed, and I believe someone eliminated the coupler under the passenger seat, wiring the seat to the ecu directly, by crimping wires together. Still, the light came back on. It has been on constantly for over a year now. I have soldered the wires under the passenger seat together, as one connection seemed broken, hoping this would eliminate the light. I bought a code reader to reset the light, but the codes only temporarily disappear and after blinking a few times the light is back on. I do not know, nor do I have confidence in knowing, whether or not the air bag would deploy in case of an accident. I hope never to find out, of course. But I do know that the air bag light being on is a consistent and persistent problem with Mini Coopers built from 2002 - 2006. And I know that there has been no recall, nor an extended warranty that would cover work that apparently will cost around $2,000 at a dealer repair shop. With the recent recall of air bags made by japanese air bag maker takata, including thousands of bmws made in a similar time frame as the air bags in my Mini Cooper, I am also wondering if the Mini air bags are made by takata, and sensibly worry about their safety should the in fact deploy as designed. BMW has recalled some of their own cars for air bag light issues, involving seat sensors, but not on the Mini, even though both cars use identical components. It is time for BMW to take ownership of a serious problem the air bag systems in their early Mini Coopers. I would hope that you can force the issue, as this certainly is a safety issue which exists/persists on thousands of vehicles sold in the us.

The contact owns a 2002 Mini Cooper. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated and the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to a local repair shop where the air bag light was reset. The failure recurred within 28 miles of driving. The contact was informed that because the light was illuminated, the air bags would not function in the event of a crash. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000 and the current mileage was approximately 69,000.

The air bag system warning light has been on 8 times in 3 years of ownership. (the incident date I report below is simply the most recent occurence) each time requires a trip to the dealer to reset the system. When the warning light is on the vehicle's airbag system is DE-ctivated, and therefore the system reset is an urgent safety issue. Over the course of 3 years, the dealer has replaced numerous sensors, wiring harness pieces, and several of the airbag units (esp. The seat airbags). This is reported to be one of the most common Mini Cooper failures and has plagued these cars for all model years in production. This is an urgent safety defect and it is important that the nhsta take action! (sorry I don't know my VIN by memory and can't access my registration at the moment. . . If you really need this, simply email me and I'll gladly provide).

I have a 2002 Mini Cooper, I purchased new. I have had an ongoing problem since it was under warranty. My air bag warning light comes on. I have had it back to the dealer at least 20+ times for the same problem. They still can not seem to get a permanent fix for this(next appointment July 9, 2009).