About a year ago the airbag on SWMBOs Z4 came on. Took it to the garage who got his mate to hook up a diagnostic computer and said it was a false alarm but his software couldn't reset it. Not to worry because its not an MOT failure.
And now from next year it is. Google says this happens often, and once the error is triggered you can only turn the light off by doing a manual reset. Drove around to all the local garages. Several could read the error and confirmed that they could see the code, and the system reported that the error no longer existed. Disconnecting battery overnight didn't clear. Found the tools on ebay, but... For models up to 03 they cost around 20 notes. From 04 onwards they are over 200. Its an 04 and thats a lot for a toll that only does that one thing.
Quick call to the stealer and it will cost £100 for the diagnostic and £20 to reset if there really was no problem. Well can't you just reset it! Sorry sir that won't be safe. Back on ebay and found a diagnostic cable for under 30 quid. It included a bunch of software
for evaluation and education purposes only. (Very clear that you are only paying for the cable).
Loads of software, including 2 virtual machines of official BMW tools. PITA to install but the instructions were excellent. You don't actually need most of it (but it is cool
).
Hooked laptop up to car - a couple of mouse clicks later and the light is off. Best 30 quid I ever spent.
BTW - BMW official software confirmed "ERROR CODE HAS BEEN TRIGGERED BUT ERROR CONDITION DOES NOT CURRENTLY EXIST"
WTF?!? - why doesn't it then turn its own bloody light off?
New MOT regs mean I should either buy shares in a stealership or set myself up as an indie light turner offer as this apparently happens on around 40% of beamers.
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