2006 Mini Cooper

BMW issued a Recall 15V-205 Safety Recall, to cover the Airbag sensor in the passenger seat of my vehicle, a 2006 Mini Cooper S. The failure error was in the airbag sensor in the passenger seat, and the system warned of potential hazard with the passenger airbag. My car had a recall fix in 2018 for this fault. Now some 4 years later the same fault has arisen in the same sensor and system. I returned to BMW Mini who carried out the previous recall to have this fixed again. They said that while their repairs and parts generally carry an 8-year warranty, they do not warrant Recall repairs. They wanted over $2,000 to fix this issue. As this is a repeat of the original fault, and the car has under 100,000 miles I believe it should be covered, as their repair and or part has again failed. The date below is when I took it for the recall and was refused the warrenty repair.

AIR BAG SENSOR IN THE DETECTION MAT OF THE PASSENGER'S FRONT SEAT DOES NOT RECOGNIZE PASSENGER . THE AIR BAG LIGHT FOR THE PASSENGER IN THE FRONT PANEL IS INTERMITTENT, PUTTING AT RISK OF NOT DEPLOYING THE AIR BAG DURING AN ACCIDENT. THE LIGHT WILL COME UP EVEN WHEN I HAVE A PURSE ON THE SEAT OR WITH A FULL GROWN ADULT (OVER 150 POUNDS). I RECENTLY CALLED 2 LOCAL MINI DEALERS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (JULY 2015) REGARDING THIS AND BOTH STATED THE SAME: THAT THEY HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE SPARE PART REQUIRED FOR THIS RECALL AND CANNNOT PERFORM UNTIL MINI PROVIDES THEM WITH AN AUTHORIZATION LETTER. CALLED IMMEDIATELY THE MINI CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE FOR RECALLS (1-866-825-1525) TO FIND OUT WHEN THIS WILL BE SOLVED SINCE THIS HAS BEEN ON ONGOING ISSUE SINCE MID 2014. MINI'S CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE STATED THAT WE NEEDED TO WAIT UNTIL A NEW RE-DESIGN OF THIS SENSOR IN THE DETECTION MAT IS AVAILABLE FROM THEM IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THIS SPARE PART TO THE DEALERS. IN THE MEANTIME, WE ARE PUTTING AT RISK ANY PASSENGER WHO WILL RIDE IN OUR CARS FOR AN ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN KNOWN BY MINI FOR OVER A YEAR!

MY 2006 MINI COOPER AIR BAG LIGHTS (PASSENGER SEAT LIGHT AS WELL AS DASH BOARD AIR BAG SYSTEM LIGHTS) ARE INTERMITTENTLY COMING ON AND STAYING ON WHEN I START MY MINI. THE DASHBOARD LIGHT APPARENTLY COMES ON WHEN A FAULT IS DETECTED IN THE AIRBAG SYSTEM, AND AS A RESULT THE SYSTEM IS DEACTIVATED. THIS IS VERY SERIOUS SINCE I'M NOW DRIVING IN A MINI COOPER WITH NO AIRBAG PROTECTION. THE SEAT LIGHT INDICATES THE PASSENGER AIR BAG IS TURNED OFF DUE TO SOMEONE OF LIGHT WEIGHT SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. THIS LIGHT IS NOW COMING ON WITH ANY AVERAGE ADULT OR NO ONE AT ALL SITTING IN THAT SEAT. I DECIDED TO CHECK THE INTERNET FOR THIS ISSUE AND WAS SHOCKED TO SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD THE SAME ISSUE. EVEN MORE SHOCKING WAS REPAIR COST FOR THIS ISSUE. DEALERS ARE CHARGING CUSTOMERS $1000 TO $2000 TO REPLACE THE PASSENGER SEAT SENSOR WHICH APPEARS TO BE THE MOST COMMON CULPRIT. INSTEAD OF REPLACING THE SENSOR ITSELF, THE ENTIRE SEAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. EVEN SAW SOME CUSTOMERS HAD THE SAME ISSUE REOCCUR 1 TO 2 YEARS AFTER THIS FIX. SPOKE TO MY LOCAL BMW/MINI DEALERSHIP WHO ACKNOWLEDGED THAT BMW HAD THE SAME ISSUE WHICH IS NOW UNDER RECALL, BUT MINI DOES NOT HAVE A RECALL. THIS ISSUE NEEDS TO BE RECALLED AND FIXED ... SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED BECAUSE OF IT! I LOVE MINI BUT AM HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED WITH HOW THIS ISSUE IS BEING HANDLED. MY DAUGHTER WANTS TO BUY A MINI ... I WILL STRONGLY RECOMMEND SHE DOES NOT. *TR

THE SEAT SENSOR IS FAULTY. IT READS THAT SOMEONE UNDER 30LBS IS IN IT (DISABLING THE AIRBAG) THE DASH LIGHT VERIFIES IT IS OFF. THIS PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT TO THIS DAY. SO IF A CRASH OCCURS THE SENSOR WON'T READ CORRECTLY IF ANYONE IS IN THE SEAT OR NOT, THE AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY AND IF IT DOES WILL DO SO POSSIBLY WITH TOO MUCH FORCE. *TR

THE AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. THE SENSOR UNDER THE PASSENGER SEAT WAS BROKEN. THIS IS A VERY WELL KNOWN PROBLEM WITH MINI'S BEGINNING WITH THE 2002 MODEL, BUT ESPECIALLY WITH THE 2006. BMW WHICH OWNS MINI HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE SAME YEAR CAR AND ISSUED A RECALL, BUT MINI NEVER DID. THE DEALER WANTS $1500 TO FIX THE PROBLEM, BUT OTHERS WITH THE SAME CAR HAVE HAD THE PART BREAK AS MANY AS THREE TIMES. THE SENSOR IS TO DETECT THAT THERE IS A PASSENGER AND THE WEIGHT OF THE PASSENGER SO THAT THE FORCE OF THE AIRBAG CAN BE REGULATED IF A CHILD OR CHILD CAR SEAT IS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. IT IS UNSCIONABLE THAT MINI WOULD JEOPARDIZE SAFETY AFTER THEY HAVE KNOWN OF THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS. CUSTOMER RELATIONS AT MINI USA WAS UNWILLING TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE. *TR

IN ADDITION TO MY PREVIOUS POST, MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SITUATION, THIS NOTE SENT TO MINIUSA.COM, MY 2006 MINI COOPER HAS THE AIRBAG LIGHT ILLUMINATED ABOVE THE REAR VIEW MIRROR AND IS GENERATING AN ERROR 71, PASSENGER OCCUPANCY SENSOR FAULT. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THIS IS DUE TO A FAULTY SENSOR MAT UNDER THE SEAT. FROM MY RESEARCH I SEE THAT THIS HAS BEEN COVERED UNDER AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR THE OC3 SEAT MAT SENSOR WHICH IS USED IN BMW AS WELL AS MINI MODELS. I AM REQUESTING THAT THIS SENSOR BE REPLACED IN MY MINI COOPER AS I FEAR THE PASSENGER AIRBAG WILL NOT DEPLOY IN AN ACCIDENT DUE TO THE DOCUMENTED FAULTY SENSOR. THE RECALL IS STATED AT HTTP://WWW.BMWUSA.COM/STANDARD/CONTENT/CONTACTUS/VOLUNTARYRECALL.ASPX, *TR

MY 2006 MINI COOPER HAD A AIR BAG LIGHT JUST TURN ON ABOUT A WEEK AGO FOR NO REASON FOR WHAT I CAN TELL. I CALLED MY MINI DEALER AND THEY TOLD ME IT WAS PROBABLY A WORN OUT PASSENGER SEAT SENSOR. THEY SAID IT WOULD COST ABOUT $900-1000 TO REPLACE THE SEAT AND THE SENSOR. OUR MINI ONLY HAS A LITTLE OVER 50K MILES AND 50% OF THOSE MILES THERE WASN'T ANYONE EVER SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT TO WARE IT OUT. I HAVE SEEN ON SEVERAL OTHER FORUMS THAT THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN CORRECTED BY BMW BUT NOT BY MINI. I BELIEVE THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON ALL MINI'S AS I HAVE SEEN THAT HUNDREDS OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. *TR