Front Air Bag Sensor Control Problems of Mini Cooper S - part 1

The front passenger seat occupant detection mat sensor has failed. The front passenger air bag is not activate in a crash when the seat is occupied. Recalls active for this exact issue for the same make in other years and models are currently recalled however others are excluded.

See all problems of the 2008 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Mini Cooper Seat occupation sensor oc3 is faulty causing airbag not to work properly.

See all problems of the 2010 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Passenger seat mat occupancy sensor/pad has gone bad again after the recall.

See all problems of the 2007 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

The passenger seat occupancy mat was replaced by recall on 10/28/2016. On 10/2018 I noticed that when there is a passenger in the seat with their seat belt on the air bag was off, in 1 weeks time the passenger side seat belt light was on all the time and the air bag is off all the time with or without someone occuping the seat. Reguardless if the car is idiling or going down the rode. At least before the recalled mat sensor was replaced the seat mat sensor worked most of the time. Now it does not work at all. I took it to the dealership and they tested the oc3 mat (passenger side mat sensor) and said there are multiple codes for the oc3 mat and they found internal faults and it requires replacement again. They said this recall is no longer under warrenty and I need to pay over 1500. 00 to have it replaced. It is unsafe for me to have a passenger in my car if we got into an accident their airbag would not be on, there for they would have no airbags to deploy to try and protect them. How is this my fault? they replaced my mat sensor with another faulty one that is worse then the first one. How long are the warrenties for recalls and the parts replaced? I have the papers from the dealership stating what I just reported to you.

See all problems of the 2005 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Takata recall: my 2008 Mini Cooper S hardtop began experiencing issues with the "passenger air bag off" light staying lite whether or not a passenger is in the car. On April 28, 2016, I took my car to a Mini cooper dealership to have the issue diagnosed (at a cost of $53. 95). The diagnosis states "fault passenger side seat mat sensor" (invoice copy attached). I don't understand why my vehicle that meets the criteria for the April 2015 air-bag recall except it is a hardtop instead of a convertible is not included in the recall. To fix this item will be over 1300. My car only has 14,000 miles on it. Due to the cost, at this point I do not plan on having it fixed and will say my prayers every time I travel with a passenger in the vehicle.

Passenger seat occupancy sensor malfunction. Airbag error lights on dash and intermittent disabling the airbag when person is sitting in passenger seat while driving. The seat sensor causes the airbag to deploy dependent on if there is someone sitting in seat. This could cause non deployment of airbag in an accident when a passenger is in the seat.

See all problems of the 2009 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Passenger seat airbag disabled light remains on even when seat is occupied. Mechanic ran diagnostic and found code for passenger seat occupancy sensor. Called Mini and was told that they will not repair since model year 2009 is not included in the current recall.

(sorry for my english) the car turn on the passenger air bag sensor every time. I dont have passengers any time but this problem appeared. There is a Mini recall for this problems but they told me that my car is not in the recall list.

I am on my 4th passenger seat mat since purchasing this vehicle new in January 2007. In April I found a manufacturer recall part 573 safety recall report 15v-205 that listed the vehicles affected by this recall. My vehicle was manufactured on Nov 18, 2006 within the production date range. I have not received any information regarding this recall and can no longer find the recall on this site. As mentioned, this is my 4th front passenger seat occupant detection mat sensor. I would like information on what the procedure is to recover my costs associated with the last replacement of the sensor.

See all problems of the 2006 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

My passenger air bag has been inactive for over two years due to a problem with the seat sensor. I recently saw there was a recall for this issue, but according to my VIN my vehicle has no open recalls so it would seem I'm not covered by the current recall even though I have the issue. Can you please investigate and let me know as I would love to get this faulty safety feature repaired!.

Recall notice no. 15v-205 was received June 2015 for front passenger seat occupant detection mat sensor. As of 24 September 2015, dealer still does not have parts or "information" on recall.

Airbag passenger seat sensor is bad $1500 to repair and no guarantee it will work correctly in the future. Why hasn't this been recalled??? BMW who owns Mini cooper recalled this sensor for their cars but why not the coopers? I'm so angry that they could care less about my families safety. Automobiles are required to have airbag systems but they aren't required to work properly??.

My passenger air bag sensor lights goes on and off. It does not matter if a person is in the seat. I don't know if the air bags will work or not. My research on the internet suggest this is a common problem with the Minin passenger weight sensor similar to the ones in bmws.

Passenger side seat weight sensor went bad. Srs light illuminated. $1,500 to have dealer repaired. Car is not repaired yet.

The passenger air bag sensor stopped working. Now, even when there is someone in the passenger seat, the airbag is deactivated. The air bag sensor in the seat needs to work in order for the airbags to deploy-- and all of these systems are down due to a faulty sensor!.

Failure of front passenger seat occupant detection mat. The same BMW seat occupancy detection mat (oc3) that was referred to in NHTSA campaign number: 08v-384 has been failing in Mini coopers on a wide scale. This causes the airbag to be deactivated which is a safety hazard when occupants occupy the seat and are involved in a crash where the airbag's activation could play a significant role in survivability. I believe the investigation should include other BMW corporate makes and models, such as Mini, which involve the same seat sensor.

Starting around 65,000 miles passenger airbag sensor appeared on the dashboard when car would be turned on and would remain on while driving even though no one was in the passenger seat. Had it checked by local Mini workshop and they said it was due to the defective passenger airbag mat in 2001-2008 models. They looked up my car for recall using my VIN and my car was not included, though the 2008 Cooper S convertible that uses the same exact part was included. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. This is a safety recall!! all models should be included since all models have the problem!! it is completely absurd that Mini would pick and choose which of their customer's lives they want to save. I am being quoted between $700 and $1200 to get this issue fixed. Mini should foot that bill; they installed a defective part that is crucial in the safety of their customers and they need to own up to it.

Airbag seat sensors are faulty. They are turning off the airbags even thought the driver and passenger are seated.

See all problems of the 2011 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Passenger seat occupancy sensor inop rendering airbag unsafe. Requires replacement of passenger seat cushion with new sensor mat. 6 speed automatic transmission slipping and shifting hard. Occasionally, renders car powerless as in neutral even if in travel lanes making unsafe to operate. Requires replacement of valve block. Servicing of automatic transmission fluid is not required by Mini/BMW but same transmission in other brands do. Vw recommends atf replacement at 40k miles and doesn't have problems with valve block failure.

I can't tell exactly the mileage of the car by the time the alarm pop up, but it was about 64k as specified above. At that time the passenger air bag alarm comes "on" the car with a passenger seated. It all started intermittent but after a week the light remains on all the time, along with the warning "passenger air bag off". Both lights (the alarm and the warning) remains on all the time. I brought the car to the service dept. And after 117. 00 for a diagnostic, they conclude that the "sensor mat (oc3) sib 657506" (whatever that is) was broken and needs replacement. They are charging a total of $2,608 for parts and labor (including taxes). After this trouble and a stretched timing chain that was diagnose were covered the three days the car spent at the service department, I asked Mini of America to call me back, but after some e-mails back and forward, the.

On my 2006 Mini Cooper S coupe, the passenger airbag off sensor light on the roof came on as well as the airbag sensor light in the center console indicating that the passenger seat could not detect the weight of a person in the passenger seat and therefore would not alert the airbag to turn on. My husband and I have both sat in the passenger seat and the light remained on. We then had a garage that specializes in imports look at the code, which is stating that there is an issue with the seat mat sensor and it is no longer recognizing the weight on the seat. This is a huge safety issue and a costly one at that. The seat cushion must be replaced and potentially the entire seat. I have noticed this same complaint on this site as well as other sites for models dating anywhere from 2002-2006. There is also a trend with this issue occurring when the car is 7 years old (2013 for 2006 models) regardless of the mileage. I have called Mini and while they were very nice and helpful, there is nothing they can do to help with the cost of repairing this factory issue. When I called our local dealer they had mentioned a type of assistance or warranty extended on the 2003-2004 models, but not 2005 or later. Is it possible that this is just now becoming an issue and should now be addressed or added to the extended warranty? is there grounds for a recall? there seems to be a trend of how and when this mat malfunctions. Please help those of us who have had this problem and are bound to have this problem in the near future get this fixed! thank you!.

Srs light came on. . . Passenger seat sensor issue.

The passenger seat occupancy sensor has gone bad according to the diagnose from the dealer. I'm told that this will either make the air bag deploy at full force or possibly not at all. There seems that this is a very common occurrence on both BMW and Mini's. BMW has addressed the problem, Mini has not. I have a car with an unpredictable air bag deployment and the dealer is telling me that it is a 1000 to make the car safe to put my family in. This seems like denial of a problem.

The passanger seat occupancy sensor is weak and prone to failure. Mini does not cover replacement and charges $1200-$2000 to replace the part leading many owners, including myself to drive the car in an unsafe condition (low speed or non deploying airbags).

The contact owns a 2006 Mini Cooper S. The contact was traveling 40 mph when the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the air bag sensor needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages was 42,000. Updated 08/29/lj updated 08/29/12.

The occupancy sensor has failed. This causes the airbags to be unarmed while the vehicle is in use. I have contacted Mini about the problem. They covered the repair on certain vehicles, but not mine. This is a safety issue, and it should be covered on all vehicles that it has occurred on, regardless of mileage. The repair is very expensive, and should be covered.

The srs detector mat for turning off the airbags in the event of an underweight occupant is easily broken. When broken, sensors disable the airbags. This part is extremely expensive to replace and I can not afford it on a fixed income ($1600). This is a safety issue and should be a recall. The mat has issues: 1) very prone to failure and 2) integrated into the seat cushion so it can not be replaced itself, it must have the seat cushion replaced also. My model is a special edition and there are no parts in the USA. 11 in germany at a very high price.

Over the course of the past six months the srs light was intermittently coming on. In the past few weeks it finally came on and stayed on. I took to to the local BMW/Mini dealer and they assessed it for $167. 00. Then I was told it was a passenger seat sensor issue and the cost of the part and labor would be approximately $1100. I did some research on the matter and realized that dozens if not hundreds of Mini-owners have had the same problems with the sensors, seats and lights dating back to 2003+. Seems to me that if it's been an issue that their so called engineering department might resolve the problems without costing owners this kind of money. I think its a rip job by the dealers and a failure of the engineers at Mini to resolve the problem. Cost for such a repair should be on them. I will make sure to report to anyone that will listen to stay away from the purchase of these cars due to the potential for future problems.

Air bag light keeps coming on due to faulty oc sensors, and faulty oc sensor connectors. Mini USA refused extended warranty on sensor, or recall while passenger safety is in jeopardy. The passenger side air bag warning indicator illuminated until the engine was turned off. The failure occurred whenever the engine was in operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the front passenger seat sensor pad was faulty and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the problem in which there was no resolution. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000. I believe this is a safety related issue that should be addressed by the dealer as a warranty issue as I am not comfortable with the current situation but do not want to pay for an expensive safety related defect. I am the original owner of the vehicle and still have it. Part failed is a seat sensor. Dealer wants close to $2k to replace it, but it failed a long, long, long time ago. I would think it should last longer than 2 or 3 years. . Read more...

Passenger seat airbag sensor failed.

The airbag sensor in the passenger side seat does not correctly detect a person sitting in it. When a passenger is in the seat, the airbag sensor stays "off".

The airbag sensor light along with the seatbelt light stays on constantly from startup. Tried to reset by instructions in the owners manual but didn't work. Mini service wants 100. 00 to just evaluate the problem. The problem is that Mini /BMW know there is default with the seat sensors but won't take on responsibility as the car owners are paying $1500-2200 + to have this repaired. This is a very serious safety issue as none of the airbags will work in the car at this point.

I complained with Mini cooper back in 2011 when my warranty expired and dealership said that replacement will be done out of pocket. I have been driving my car at risk; more often that not, I do not drive my car with a passenger in the front seat. Fast forward to 2015 with recall but unable to execute the recall due to lack of parts. Nhtsa should investigate what the cause of delay and since the original part works albeit bad durability, force Mini cooper/BMW to perform stop gap repairs with older parts, bypass sensor or change software code to disregard bad sensor input. The burden is too great for me to use my car with no passenger or passenger at risk. Stop gap repairs, including changing the software code and eliminate sensor input to disable the airbag can be a temporary repair. How hard is it for bmwq to short or "fake" the sensor signal, so the system would not disable the airbag; hence it would deploy when there's a passenger onboard. Put a sticker on the dashboard that says airbags are temporary active and child seats not allowed. My safety instinct tells me it is preferred to have the airbag active and deploy when needed. The number of potential child seat is most likely a very low number that most owners would prefer to have an active airbag. It is unacceptable that this is taking so long, and putting the owners at risk when there are stop gap measures available. Bypassing the sensor and having the airbags active seems to be the most logical one except NHTSA may be the problem for coming up with auto-sensors to prevent child seat activation. Nhtsa should make a choice and decide what is more important, safety of the passengers, or having to give BMW instruction and waivers to allow stop gap and not put me and my passengers at risk.

Around 2 years ago, while driving with a passenger in the front passenger seat and while driving without a passenger in the front seat, the light comes on indicating that the passenger air bag is off. This is extremely concerning that the car's passenger airbag might not be working, particularly with a passenger in the front seat. This malfunction has been reported on other forums to be linked to a faulty sensor in the car seat, and a NHTSA service bulletin (id number: 10043927) has been filed. I hope that NHTSA can conduct an investigation into whether a recall should occur, given the safety concern of potentially not having a passenger airbag go off if a passenger is in the front seat and an accident occurs.

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper S with 60,000 miles on it and about 55,000 miles the airbag warning lamp and passenger airbag off lamp illuminated intermittently. At 58,000 miles it has stayed on constantly. After researching the issue I took the car to a trusted mechanic and he diagnosed that the weight sensor pad in the seat cushion is defective and would require the car to go to the dealer to be replaced. I feel that this is a safety issue and the dealer should issue a recall on the vehicle since it is a well known problem. I have attempted to contact Miniusa by email and have been waiting over a week for a response.