The passenger seat occupancy sensor mat is defective and is a quite common occurrence on all BMW vehicles. The mat will send a trouble signal to the dash that brings up the airbag light on the instrument panel that will not go off.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

The passenger seat occupant sensor began to sound off to secure the seat belt though no one sat there. I reported this problem to BMW when I got the takata airbag replaced and got a questions about my opinion on whether I considered it a safety issue. I declined to say and they just sent me away. A couple months later, I noticed that even when a passenger sat there the airbag activation did not turn off as it should. I took the vehicle in for a repair on the seat and told them that they should repair it at their expense 11/17/2017. I told them of a recall for the seat sensor on a MINIcooper(si-D651013tsb) another BMW product and they said without specific recall on my 128I, they would decline to repair it at their expense. They also told me that the airbag would deploy in an accident despite the light not going out with seat occupation, yet declined to give me that statement in writing. I then reported the problem to BMW of America in late 2017 and got a similar response. Complaint #36102215.

- Salinas, CA, USA

My car warning message stated fault in passenger side airbag/belt tensioner, service asap, continue to wear safety belt (or something similar). Took vehicle to dealer, diagnosed with passenger seat mat occupancy sensor failure. Quoted $2600 for repair. This has been in the past and currently a recall problem that has affected over 200,000 vehicles due to a faulty/poorly designed part. Dealer and BMW of na state that my vehicle has not yet been included in recall. This is an extreme safety issue, it should not take multiple complaints, injuries, or deaths before cars having this issue are placed on the recall list! in addition a repair to a safety component should not be put someone nearly $3000 in debt! NHTSA please encourage BMW to enforce the recall/extended warranty to all vehicles having this same issue, there a hundreds of threads on the internet regarding bmws of all makes and models having the same problem with the sensors failing. Please do not wait for people to be injured or killed because of a faulty part not allowing the airbag to deploy!

- Riverview, FL, USA