What would you do? -pass airbag light- (NOT RECALL REPOST)

pit1 · 08-14-2008, 01:51 PM

I dropped my car off a few days ago for a malfunction in my passenger airbag light. It was staying lit from time to time, indicating the airbag was disabled, when a passenger was in the seat. It's happened about 1/2 dozen times since May. I saw this as a critical safety problem and wanted to get it resolved ASAP, fearing it was a crap-shoot whether or not the airbag would deploy in a crash.

The service advisor reported there was no fault logged in the system, and they could not replicate the problem. Because of this, BMW would not authorize a repair.

I left the car with them, and spoke with the advisor twice. He gave me the option of sending my car with someone for the night to try and replicate the problem or continue testing it in the shop.

My thought is, there's obviously a fault somewhere in the system, and a false negative reading may not necessarily trigger a fault unless if there is a governing mechanism that ensures the accuracy of the plate. I'm not sure I'm willing to put my passenger's safety at risk without a valid reason and assurance that it's working properly. What would you do? Trust a tech to joy ride your baby for the night? Contact regional service manager? Contact BMW NA?

Would you fight for a repair or am I being overly anal.

larryn · 08-14-2008, 01:55 PM

I woud be like:

"Okay... if that's the way you want to leave this. As long as it is on my service record that I've been having problems, and I have a hard copy of it. I'm pretty sure there would be huge liability issues if I gave you the opportunity to fix this, and you are choosing not to do so on a critical safety system, and I had a situation where it did not deploy the airbag...."

It's getting so that unless a loose door handle trips a code, they can't figure out what to do these days.

pit1 · 08-14-2008, 02:21 PM

That's my thought exactly, there is an over reliance on fault codes to problem solve. It's simple, the customer said it wasn't working, it's a safety concern, so we should replace it.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with some young tech driving my car for the night, for the same reason I'd never buy a loaner. not to mention, diagnosing the problem should not require a road test.

08-14-2008, 01:51 PM	#1
pit1 Captain 239 Rep 790 Posts Drives: F87 M2 Join Date: May 2008 Location: It's always Sunny... iTrader: (1)	What would you do? -pass airbag light- (NOT RECALL REPOST) I dropped my car off a few days ago for a malfunction in my passenger airbag light. It was staying lit from time to time, indicating the airbag was disabled, when a passenger was in the seat. It's happened about 1/2 dozen times since May. I saw this as a critical safety problem and wanted to get it resolved ASAP, fearing it was a crap-shoot whether or not the airbag would deploy in a crash. The service advisor reported there was no fault logged in the system, and they could not replicate the problem. Because of this, BMW would not authorize a repair. I left the car with them, and spoke with the advisor twice. He gave me the option of sending my car with someone for the night to try and replicate the problem or continue testing it in the shop. My thought is, there's obviously a fault somewhere in the system, and a false negative reading may not necessarily trigger a fault unless if there is a governing mechanism that ensures the accuracy of the plate. I'm not sure I'm willing to put my passenger's safety at risk without a valid reason and assurance that it's working properly. What would you do? Trust a tech to joy ride your baby for the night? Contact regional service manager? Contact BMW NA? Would you fight for a repair or am I being overly anal.
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08-14-2008, 01:55 PM	#2
larryn Lieutenant General 2146 Rep 10,176 Posts Drives: '97 332ti, '21 X5 45e, '16 GT4 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Seattle iTrader: (2)	I woud be like: "Okay... if that's the way you want to leave this. As long as it is on my service record that I've been having problems, and I have a hard copy of it. I'm pretty sure there would be huge liability issues if I gave you the opportunity to fix this, and you are choosing not to do so on a critical safety system, and I had a situation where it did not deploy the airbag...." It's getting so that unless a loose door handle trips a code, they can't figure out what to do these days.
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08-14-2008, 02:21 PM	#3
pit1 Captain 239 Rep 790 Posts Drives: F87 M2 Join Date: May 2008 Location: It's always Sunny... iTrader: (1)	That's my thought exactly, there is an over reliance on fault codes to problem solve. It's simple, the customer said it wasn't working, it's a safety concern, so we should replace it. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with some young tech driving my car for the night, for the same reason I'd never buy a loaner. not to mention, diagnosing the problem should not require a road test.
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