E46 Airbag Light

Yes, it can be.

The airbags are tied to the seatbelts, and most of the time the trouble is in the belt sensors and/or the seat sensors. The trouble is seldom the airbag itself. The diagnostic port will tell the technician which switch/sensor is the failure item.

"Richard @ntlworld.com>" Hi

Jeff

Could you point me toward the sensors that you suspect so that I can have a look for a loose wire or dry joint or something. I does sound like it may be something to do with the seatbelts because I could swear the warning lamp was coming on and off under braking or cornering.

Thanks

There is no point "looking" for it, you need to connect the computer and read the fault codes. It will tell you immediately where the issue is.

You need to either visit a main dealer to diagnose the fault, or you can purchase a tool such as the Peake Research SRS tool - we supply this in the UK. For details visit

Gareth UKOBD

There isn't much you can learn by random poking about.

Your car has a diagnostic port in the engine bay that will tell you if the trouble is in the driver seat or the passenger seat, or perhaps the rear seats if you have side airbags.

HINT The most likely problem ares is going to be in a seat that was occupied when the light came on. If you seldom use the back seat and you have side airbags, the problem should not be coming from the back seat. Get it?

In my case was the sensors in the driver's sit belt. I paid ~100gbp to the dealer to get it fixed.

No problem since then.