jagbagri

Every time I start the car the passenger airbag light indicator, the one on the overhead console comes on momentarily and then goes off.
The same behavior with or without any passenger. Is there suppose to be a airbag ON indicator light come on, even if it for just one minute or so. I have never seen one which indicate that its on.

How do you tell? Is there anything wrong in my setup? If there suppose to be one, who does is behave, where it would be? A Picture would be greatly appreciated.

And yes.... I searched for a good amount of time with different variations but could not find anything on this.

thanks.

Dr Dave

where is the light on the overhead console?
i dont have this? is your car LCI?
or is this a north american spec thing?

JAY'545

When someone is sitting in the pass side the air bag is on,when no one is sitting there it's off and the light is on.

jagbagri

I have never seen this light ON, regardless of someone sitting in the passenger seat or not. Is it time to go to the dealer and have this checked out.

jagbagri

I'm not sure if this is ONLY North American thing, but the light is right next to the sunroof switch up on the overhead console. I have a pre-LCI 2006 530i.

kchan

i have this exact same question. that light will light up briefly when the car starts up, and it remains off regardless if my wife is there or not. my original though is that, it should be off when someone sits there, and should be on when no one sits there

so during my last oil change, i asked my dealer (Fremont BMW). they did some test and says it's running normally. they are saying when the car first started it will run some diagnostic test. the light will be OFF, unless it detects a weight that is too light (for example a child). I don't know the exact weight range that will activates this light.

Seems like we are experiencing the same thing and that should be normal, according to the dealer.

Dr Dave, I don't have a LCI, this light is standard for sometime (my wife's 03 x5 has this too). It's the little indicator near the moonroof switch. Not sure if it's a US thing though...

jagbagri

Thanks for chiming in, I'll ask my dealer (East Bay BMW in Pleasanton) next time I'm there, which won't be for a while (brake fluid flush in June) unless something else develops. I'll post my result.
thanks.

bradleyjs

I can't recall it being on when someone is sitting there or not, but, I can tell you if I have some groceries "sitting" on the seat (that are semi-heavy - ie. bottle of wine or milk) the light stays on.

Dr Dave

this must be a NA thing only, as neither of my cars have this....but then again they dont have sun roofs either (because we dont have sun here in the uk)
i dont beleive in the sun anyway...i think its the back of the moon.....

boukehj

Same behavior here (520d LCI). It is perfectly normal and falls in the same category as the air bag light on the dashboard - that one will also light up when the car is started and turn off after a couple of seconds. This way you can visually check that the lights that indicate a possible problem with these systems are actually working.

I even recall that it's mandatory for air bag indicator lights in the Netherlands and it's checked with the annual/bi-annual car safety checkup.