Originally Posted by nomis_nehc

Well I am surprised that you actually hadn't tried to clear it via functional jobs until now. From what we vaguely know, there are occasions where this error pops up as a glitch and once cleared, it goes away. I've had to do this for a couple people, and none have come back since.

Originally Posted by AchtungE60

Hi OP, you need to clear IM and EM. From what I am seeing there is no error but you have error stored in EM. Could have been a water bottle stuck under seat or the connector was not seated correctly. I found out 7 BMW's later. Or it could simply be that you accidentally unplugged something while messing around adjusting steering wheel. seriously. lol Anyway you really need to get rid of the IM as well as EM to see the error go away for good. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Ricapar

Status update!

I'm putting my "solution" near the top, since you should probably try this before anything else:

While I was previously reading the codes, I tried to clear them from within the INPA screen for the specific module (Airbag ACSM, menu shown below):


When I hit clear.. It would go back, say all codes were cleared... but not really. Everything was still there, and no luck.

While poking around (and doing lots of internet searching) I went into the "Functional Jobs" menu:


From there, I was able to click the "Show EM" (EM = Error Memory) that displayed *all* of the codes stored on *all* of the car's computers. I clicked the Clear EM button, and it wiped everything. I powered off the car, turned it back on.. drove around the block back and forth... and all seems well. No codes came back, no warnings on iDrive, and no lights on the dash.

I'm had "solution" in quotes above because I'm not completely sure that this actually fixed anything. It's possible that this may have been a false positive from the seat mat (something could've been jostled, or it could've not liked being in direct sunlight for an entire morning, or whatever). But I have no way of confirming anything unless a code comes back (which I'm perfectly fine if it doesn't!). We'll see how it goes commuting back and forth to work tomorrow.

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So, prior to all the above, I tried some other things:

While doing a lot of researching, I've found a few possibilities for this error:

• Passenger Seat Mat going bad - probably most common, usually resolved by BMW's recall on the mat sensor. From what I gathered online, if they say your VIN isn't in the recall list, bitch and moan, call the NHTSA and file a claim, etc until they fix you up.
• Bad Positive Battery Cable - I saw this one a few times while researching. I noticed a pattern between this and non-OEM batteries. I also found some cases of people saying this failed, and they noticed water in their trunk/battery compartment. Check for water around your battery.
• Bad module in the driver's door - for some reason, this threw this error for someone. I only saw one posting for this though.
• Snapping the ribbon cable in the steering wheel slip ring - If you turn your steering wheel far beyond what it should go, there's a chance you'll snap the ribbon cable that winds and unwinds with the wheel. This cable connects the buttons on the wheel, as well airbag. Breaking it will throw the airbag light.

So, while #1 there is by far the most common... it's not always the case.

In my case... before I managed to clear codes properly through INPA, I pulled the negative plug to my battery and left it for a few mins, then plugged it back in. Errors were still there. But... I did notice something about my battery. It's not OEM! At least, I really don't think it is. It's a DieHard (american-made) battery in there. I don't have much other info on it, but it hasn't given me any issues, but I can't completely discount this as not being a partial culprit to the restraint errors.




Anyways - I rambled a little bit, but I'm trying to be descriptive as possible. Perhaps it can lead someone else in the right direction.

I'll report back either tomorrow or in a few days to at least say if the error message resurfaced itself or not.

Originally Posted by DavidF

I just cleared all the error codes in the car with "Functional Jobs" (INPA 5.02) and the error came right back virtually immediatley. Ugh, I guess I need a new door module.