Airbag warning light on because of faulty passenger side seat mat sensor. Airbags are disabled without repair/replacement.

- Sarasota, FL, USA

The passenger air bag seat sensor is not working. Air bag indicator displays air bag is off when a passenger is in the front passenger seat. Multiple warnings indicate a passenger restraint system failure. No incident occurred to make this happen.

- Winter Springs, FL, USA

The passenger seat occupancy light lit up in 2 places on dash information-there was no occupant in the seat. Researching this issue @ MINIcooper web sites indicates this is a common problem and has persisted for at least 10 years. It is an extremely expensive repair (usually between $1600 & $2600) as the occupancy sensor (for air bag deployment) is sewn into the bottom of the seat & the repair calls for the bottom cover of the seat to be replaces with a new sensor pre-sewn in. The sites offer "emulator" kits which tricks the sensor-but will prohibit air bag deployment in many cases. The kits sell for approximately $79. This is a real safety danger.

- Sedona, AZ, USA

The front passenger seat occupancy airbag sensor has failed. Consequently the front passenger airbag is turned off even if the seat is occupied. This is an ongoing problem with previous MINIs and BMW's and warrants a safety recall. This is an expensive repair and previous older model MINIs and BMW's have been recalled to fix this issue.

- Forest City, NC, USA