[GQX3]

After 60K miles the seatbelt warning will come on intermittently even when driver is fastened during a commute. Started happening at the end of a 30 minute drive, but now comes on at the beginning, middle or end. No passengers and of course the driver is fastened. It can last up to 10 seconds to 1 minute.
Usually happens once during a trip and not everyday. I've gone 1 week without having it go off and three days straight of it going off. Planning on taking it to the dealer, but thought I would check the forum. It has been awhile since I've posted. Wondering if there is now a Lotus7 replacement.

[02420X3]

Originally Posted by GQX3

Wondering if there is now a Lotus7 replacement.

I wish. He was a great resource, and will be hard to replace.

I started getting Passenger Restraint System Malfunction warnings a few weeks ago. I've been travelling, driving a boring Daihatsu Terios, since then. I've got a service visit scheduled for Tuesday. I'll let you know what they find.

[GQX3]

Thank you for the response. I suppose the dealer would do a trace to all the connections or buckles for my situation.
Except for this odd occurrence the electrical has been fine the last 4 years.

[BMWrules7]

Originally Posted by GQX3

After 60K miles the seatbelt warning will come on intermittently even when driver is fastened during a commute. Started happening at the end of a 30 minute drive, but now comes on at the beginning, middle or end. No passengers and of course the driver is fastened. It can last up to 10 seconds to 1 minute.
Usually happens once during a trip and not everyday. I've gone 1 week without having it go off and three days straight of it going off. Planning on taking it to the dealer, but thought I would check the forum. It has been awhile since I've posted. Wondering if there is now a Lotus7 replacement.

Most likely culprit is the passenger seat sensor.

To prove this, the next time you get the seatbelt warning, buckle the passenger side seatbelt to see if the warning goes away.

If it does, then I would look at the passenger seat sensor. It's sensing a passenger when one is not present.

[GQX3]

Originally Posted by BMWrules7

Most likely culprit is the passenger seat sensor.

To prove this, the next time you get the seatbelt warning, buckle the passenger side seatbelt to see if the warning goes away.

If it does, then I would look at the passenger seat sensor. It's sensing a passenger when one is not present.

Yes the warning chime does go off when I buckled the passenger side and thought that was the solution. But alas, it came on again after a while, but it is the starting point for the diagnosis.

[02420X3]

My problem has been diagnosed as a bad passeger seat sensor, which must be replaced. Five hours of labor, including programming, is required, and the expected out-of-warranty parts and labor cost is in the neighborhood of $1300. Some BMW models have had extended warranties for seat sensors. At present, there is no extended warranty for the F25.

[GQX3]

Originally Posted by 02420X3

My problem has been diagnosed as a bad passeger seat sensor, which must be replaced. Five hours of labor, including programming, is required, and the expected out-of-warranty parts and labor cost is in the neighborhood of $1300. Some BMW models have had extended warranties for seat sensors. At present, there is no extended warranty for the F25.

Thank you, I thought that seat belts would have a lifetime warranty if still original owner, but that might be wishful thinking. For now I keep the front passenger seat buckled when.

[epiphone3]

just had the exact same thing happen to me today. Looks like i'm in for a trip to the dealer too.

[02420X3]

My problem took 50 days to resolve. Apparently there are multiple sensor versions with the same part number but a different revision number. The only way to determine which rev the part has is to open it up and check the 3-character code.

This was an out-of-warranty repair for me. While it took an excessively long time to resolve, my BMW dealer kept me informed, put me in loaners, and took care of me on the cost.

[jmxIII]

Same here two days ago. What happens if you just ignore this "Passenger Restraint Malfunction" on the idrive?

[02420X3]

Probably nothing would happen on a day to day basis. I rarely have anyone in the passenger seat, and simply drove a different vehicle when I knew that I would have passengers.

It's unclear to me what would happen in the case of an accident with front airbag deployment. I was told, but have no way to verify, that the default action for the passenger side airbag, with the specific malfunction that I had, would be to deploy. I don't know what would happen with other restraint system malfunctions.

However, the concern for me was that my X3 was coming due for the annual vehicle inspection, and would fail because a piece of safety equipment was not functioning.

[jmxIII]

Thanks for the info, wow! that really hurts. I am now thinking what's best to do, if you were me knowing what you've went thru, what would you do at this point with warranty expired also?

It's becoming interesting now to me that the on board computer system maybe rigged to malfunction on some parts at a certain time after warranty expires on some units if not all. Service income? If VW is able to tweak their cars why can't others do it and in a different scheme. It can be random on many year model and the parts that are targeted. Risky for a big company but possible right?

[02420X3]

It's safety equipment. If it were me, I would take it to the dealer, and pay them to sort it out.

[GQX3]

Thanks to all the officers that replied and the new reports. For my situation I keep the passenger side buckled on my solo commutes. It is actually useful for my commute since I now buckle up my laptop messenger bag. I confronted my dealer with the safety issue, but they consider it an electronic issue only not directly related to the mechanics of the seat belts. The problem is still intermittent and the longest period of no warning chime is eleven days. Yes I've counted!��

[Colemans81]

Hello all,

On a recent road trip my seatbelt chime kept going off on a 12 hour road trip. This had been happening off and on for the past few months and was nothing new. But I discovered that pausing my iPhone which was playing through the aux hookup stopped the chiming. I then discovered that if I just touched my iPhone the chiming stopped. Not sure if this will work for everyone or not, just thought I'd pass my experience along.

Thanks,