I have a 530i January 2004 production with Comfort Seats and have the same issue. Brought it up with the dealership shop foreman and asked about the issue in his next training class. Instructor said they knew of the issue and recommended by wife sit in the back seat.....bunch of BS. I complained more and the regional service manager agreed to replace the seat mat sensors....it worked for about a month where the light turned off every time my wife sat in the car....but then it went back to its old ways where it would stay on sometimes and go off sometimes when she sat in the car. If this doesn't get resolved soon, I'm reporting it to the US National Transportaion Safety Board. They require that all cars made in 2004 and later have functioning airbags on driver and passenger side. Here's an additional thread that discusses the details:Link

 

I have now been told by my dealer that "after extensive testing" BMW has determined that the weight threshold for the sensor to activate the airbag is 99 lbs. As my wife is 108 and doesn't activate the airbag, that is clearly wrong. Even at 99, it is wrong and needs to be fixed.

I have a 530i January 2004 production with Comfort Seats and have the same issue. Brought it up with the dealership shop foreman and asked about the issue in his next training class. Instructor said they knew of the issue and recommended by wife sit in the back seat.....bunch of BS. I complained more and the regional service manager agreed to replace the seat mat sensors....it worked for about a month where the light turned off every time my wife sat in the car....but then it went back to its old ways where it would stay on sometimes and go off sometimes when she sat in the car. If this doesn't get resolved soon, I'm reporting it to the US National Transportaion Safety Board. They require that all cars made in 2004 and later have functioning airbags on driver and passenger side. Here's an additional thread that discusses the details:Link
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I've had the exact same problem for the last year (I got my car last October 2003). After 32,000 miles and 4-5 service visits, no dealership can fix the problem. I've heard every excuse in the book from dealerships from software issues to passenger seat sensor needs replacement. BS! I am so tired of complaining about it I've given up. My girlfriend freaks out when she sitting in the passenger seat and the light goes on, meaning airbag off. She makes me slow down thinking she's going to die!