1999 E36 airbag seat sensor

The airbag light is on in my car and the dealership puts the blame on the sensor in the passenger seat which detects if there is a passenger or not.

Is this something that can be done by a reasonably competent DIY-er, or should I just suck up the cost of having a mechanic do it? Obviously I'll have to have the light reset after I'm done, but that I can live with.

Thanks in advance!

Bob Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Reply to
double_entendre
Loading thread data ...

Depends on your comfort level with upholstery and hog-rings. If you don't know what hog-rings are - you might consider letting someplace that does tackle it.

You have a bad sensor in the butt cushion. Not a big deal to remove the cushion (a few screws under the seat and some push-pin thingies into the seat pan).. and disconnect any wiring going to it.

What you do next is up to you - you can disassemble it yourself (which means cutting a lot of hog-rings, some of which are difficult to get to)

- or take it and the new sensor pad to an upholstery shop who will probably charge you a nominal fee to replace it. To reassemble it you either need new hog-rings and the special hog-ring pliers, or - as I did, some decent tie-wraps which can be used in place of the hog-rings.

I don't have the E36 Bentley manual any more - so I can't tell you how well it covers this project.. but I'm sure it at least covers seat removal (which you'll have to do..) so it should get you started. You can then track down the parts and where most of the screws go by looking at parts diagrams on

formatting link

Reply to
admin

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.