Mini R53 airbag light

Some time ago, I posted about the airbag warning light having come on after changing out the driver's seat on my 2003 Mini Cooper R53 and forgetting to disconnect the battery before disconnecting the two plugs under the seat. One plug is for the airbag, the other is for the seatbelt pre-tensioner.

This triggered a fault in the airbag system which has to be cleared/reset with a diagnostic tool. I've been driving the car with the airbag light on for ~8 months or so. This is now an MOT failure and with it due fairly soon I thought it was time to get it sorted.

The airbag has its own computer and can't be reset via the engine management OBD port. The airbag port is under the steering column behind a flap. There's no actual fault now the seat has been replaced and plugged in, the computer has just logged a fault due to the plugs being disconnected.

Main stealer wanted 88 quid +vat just to look at it, "labour" would have been extra.

Auto electrician in St Helens wanted 46 quid +vat to do it.

Chap in Preston was offering reset service for a tenner via Ebay but didn't respond to messages.

Research on t'internet suggested I needed a Memotech B500 OBD scanner/reset tool to clear the fault. The cheapest I could find it was ~50 quid.

After some more research, I took a chance and bought a Memotech B800 airbag reset tool on eBay for 16 quid brand new in the box. The compatible cars listed are older BMWs "up to 2003" and the Mini was not specifically mentioned.

However, it came with the right plug for the port and successfully cleared the fault, so I'm a happy bunny.

Posting this for the archives in case it's useful for anyone with the same problem.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson
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