Passenger seat airbag sensor failed.
2005 MINI Cooper S airbags complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 71, newest first, as owners wrote them.
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".
Very disappointed to find out that a vehicle I have taken exceptional care of to avoid costly repairs has also had the occupancy mat go bad out of the blue.... I wasn't even driving the car! I held out hope that the repair would be covered under warranty, and was told off the record by the service advisor that this issue has been one of the biggest complaints he receives and in his opinion has cost mini a tremendous amount of repeat business. It is very hard to swallow the $1400 repair when it is evident that this is a manufactures problem which will cost someone their life one day; maybe then they will do the right thing and fix their problems. Like toyota; it took people dying for them to address the accelerator problem. Sad, very sad.
The airbag warning light comes on intermittently. The repair shop says the sensor under the passenger seat is bad. Bmw has known about this issue for several years and issued a 10 year 150,000 mile extended warranty and recall for approximately 150,000 vehicles over model years 2004 - 2006. For some reason they refuse to include the 2005 mini cooper s in the extended warranty and want ~$2,000 to replace the entire seat bottom for the defective sensor. This is a safety issue caused by a known and admitted defective part. Mini should issue a recall and replace the defective sensor under extended warranty as their parent company bmw has done for various models affected by the same defect.
The passenger airbag SRS floor mat sensor is damaged and may cause the passenger airbag to not deploy in the case of an accident. The SRS airbag light is illuminated.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. While driving approximately 35 MPH, 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 41,000.
2005 mini cooper warning lights indicated the passenger side air bag turned off while an adult passenger was in the passenger seat. Issue started during a cold ny winter after 5 yrs of fault free operation. Normally the passenger seat will sense the weight of a passenger and automatically adjust the force of a deploying airbag. Dealer reported faulty seat mat sensor with a replacement cost of $1300 which is not covered by warranty. After extensive internet search for similar problems, these sensor mats fail at a regular rate, and are not covered by any recall. Due to the high cost and repeated failure these repairs are not being performed.
The airbag light for the passenger seat comes on intermittently when someone is sitting in the seat. Also, the light which indicates the passenger side airbag is off comes on when someone is sitting in the passenger seat. Certainly, this is a safety issue and we believe bmw/mini should fix this at no charge.
Passenger airbag system failure--passenger airbag off light illuminated and won't go out. According to web-forums, 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. Can find tons of the same problems at http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/stock-problems-issues-9-2.html.
The airbag light on the dash came on while driving. There was no accident or incident that prompted the light to come on. Apparently, minis produced three months after this vehicle are included in a recall or "extended warranty" by the manufacturer for airbag sensor lights, but not this specific vehicle. Based on discussions with dealer service, it could be a very costly repair, estimated at $1200. It seems very strange that vehicles manufactured so close to the covered time period are also having issues. Perhaps mini needs to consider expanding the scope of the airbag sensor extended warranty.
Passenger airbag off light illuminated.
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.
I have a 2005 mini cooper. The airbag sensor in the passenger seat failed around 50,000 miles. I was told that the passenger seat had to be replaced at a cost of $1400.00. This is a know issue with this year of mini cooper s. Dealships need to be aware of this problem and mini/bmw needs to have a recall.
The airbag sensor light on the center dashboard and "airbag off" light above the rear view mirror turn on when a passenger is in the car. It appears as the passenger airbag sensor is failing to properly detect the passenger's weight.
The red airbag warning light in the speedometer area came on at approximately 99,450 miles. It came on after driving across a city railroad crossing at low speed. I took the vehicle to the dealer and asked about the light, and they indicated that it would require additional investigation but could be a faulty seat sensor which would cost approximately $1250 to replace. They also indicated that they were not sure whether or not the airbags would deploy properly in the event of an accident. Further research indicates that this model and year may also have problems with the wiring harnesses and connections, and that only the dealer can reset the warning light. As of december 2 2010 the vehicle has 113,000 miles on it and the warning light is still on. 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. Thanks.
The air bag light comes on for no reason. This has been happening since I got the car and I read that it had to do with putting bags on the seat. I later discovered that it does not matter if there is a bag, a person or an empty passenger seat.
The SRS light was on and wouldn't go out. The dealer checked it and said that the passenger seat mat is defective and it was a hard fault which prevents the air bag from working. The light sometimes goes out but usually stays on. They would not warranty this and wanted $1330 to repair it. The passenger seat has probably only been sat in 10% of the time.
I have a 2005 mini cooper. The airbag sensor in the passenger seat failed around 66,000 miles. I was told that the passenger seat airbag and both door sensors had to be replaced along with the battery cable at a cost of $4000.00. Sounds as if bmw still has real electrical problems in their cars and are sticking it to consumers to fix it instead of fixing these problems themselves. The car has never been involved in any accident.
On 2005 mini cooper s with 13,000 miles the passenger airbag warning light came on. Mini diagnosed reason as failure of the sensor in the passenger seat, which would require $1100 repair. Mini will not fix because car is out of warranty. Mini did not state whether the airbag will or will not function. Passenger seat has rarely been used. Mini denies responsibility.
The airbag light is on and the passenger seat airbag detection light says off even when an adult is sitting in the seat. I took the car in and the airbag code read was a 71 indicating that the oc3 mat in the passenger seat is faulting. The dealership is telling me that the airbag may or may not work even if a passenger is in the seat. I was told by the dealership that it would cost up to 3000.00 for my car to replace the oc3 mat!!! No safety recall warranty available for this model year as there is on others!
Both my passenger airbag warning light and airbag warning lamp in the instrument panel is illuminated deactivating airbag deployment when an adult is sitting in the passenger seat and remains on when passenger seat is vacant while driving. There is also 2 technical service bulletins (tsb) I'm aware of relating to this malfunction: tsb: si m-65-02-06 airbag warning illuminated, fc55 for vehicles produced from august 31, 2005 - april 25, 2006. The federal safety agency 10026024 (my vehicle was produced in august 2005 as indicated on my driver door panel). Tsb: 720106 airbag warning lamp for oc3 seat mat fault, airbag warning lamp illuminates together with the passenger airbag status lamp. The federal safety agency 10019981. I spoke with 2 service managers at mini indicating faulty detection mat, parts were in stock and will not be covered under warranty for repair or replacement estimated at approximately $1000.00. My only recourse is to repair it, feeling uncomfortable driving my vehicle or transporting passengers in the event the airbags will not deploy. In addition, bmw of north america, llc extended the warranty on passenger airbag detection mats to 10 yrs/unlimited mileage for specific bmw models ranging from my04 through my06, who owns mini of north america. I've read several forums relating to this issue, one of which states mini did extend the warranty on models prior to my05, but problem hasn't been resolved in model years thereafter as mentioned in my complaint and other the federal safety agency bulletins. I contacted mini of north america with no positive response.
Defect initially occurred at night time in rush hour traffic: dash-lights went out, turn indicator not functional, heater blower stopped working (causing fogging of windshield/windows), air bag lights went on, seat belt light on consequently had to pull on the side of road (limited visibility, no speed indicator, could not operate vehicle safely). A couple of attempts at ignition cycling partially restored functionality. After initial defect, problem could be reproduced intermittently (all/some of the component listed above failed during course of normal operation of vehicle). Vehicle inspected by mini/bmw dealer, root cause: interference on k-bus of one of the audio component, resulting in failure/malfunction of other components on the bus. Ultimately component (mini I-pod interface) had to be removed -- part is available if needed. Request to have repairs covered was rejected by mini/bmw customer relations on grounds there was no recall (vehicle is 5 months out of warranty --- 41k miles).
"SRS" warning light (passenger airbag off) blinks on and off in a 2005 mini coopers with less than 60,000 miles on it. The warning light only triggers when there is someone sitting in the passenger seat. Was told by mini dealership that it would cost $800 for the part and +$200 in labor to fix this safety issue. Not an acceptable answer.
My airbag light came on. The dealer said I had a defective seat sensor but the airbag would still work... My dashboard looks like a christmas tree. Later I heard about the warranty extension for this fault. I drove 200 miles round trip after making an appointment. They looked at it and said it is not covered by warranty. The dealer has given me alot of misinformation... Doi trust them on this? No, of course not. Although they have a bmw dealer adjacent, the bmw dealers are not like the ones I am accustomed to dealing with. I am disappointed that mini has such poor service while most of its bmw dealers are so stellar. The heated seats work only a few minutes. The dealer said I need a new fuse, in spite of what the manual says. It says if it blows more than twice, the vehicle should be returned to the dealer for service. I did and their diagnosis was that it had a blown fuse.
Passenger side airbag is disabled when passenger is in seat. If passenger shifts in seat, the airbag may or may not enable. Have been told the fault lies with the airbag sensor mat under the seat. This is a common issue for several bmw models and an extended warranty has been offered. For several mini models, the issue has been reported and an extended warranty has been offered. So far, the 2005 model has not been included.
Airbag light comes on (indicating airbag system malfunction/inop.) and auto manufacturer has no fix, definitely a safety problem. 2005 mini cooper.
I have now had a second failure of the passenger airbag sensor (sensor mat in passenger seat). The first mat failed at 3 months after purchase and the replacement lasted just over 2 years (warranty on part is 2 years).
Passenger airbag light illuminates intermittently as inoperative with or without a passenger. This could cause a loss of airbag protection in the event of a qualifying crash for the passenger.
Airbag cover on the drivers side has a defect edge on the mini emblem which could cause additional injury to the driver in the event of a deployment.
Tl*the contact owns a bmw mini cooper s. The air bag cover emblem has a defected edge. If the air bag were to deploy, it could cause serious injuries. The dealer replaced the cover three times, but the defect is still uncorrected. The current and failure mileages were 20,000.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2005 MINI Cooper S?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history