E46 02 320i - airbag light never comes on ?

[markoneswift 1]

Hey all, this is a rather abrupt introduction for myself and I do apologise for jumping straight in with a question. The reason for this is I'm trying to negotiate a deal on a really sweet E46 320i which has just failed the WoF because the airbag / SRS light doesn't work....

I've found heaps of information online about the light staying on, but nothing about it never coming on. On the car I'm looking at, the light does nothing during ignition. I've checked the associated fuse (11, I believe) and that's all good so I'm kinda stuck - is it likely to be costly to rectify (and therefore a good bargaining tool) ? The car is overall in really good nick, although it's been dry stored for the last two years and the battery was allowed to go flat. It's got previous history, last WoF passed all ok prior to being laid up, 139000 KMs on the clock, 2nd NZ owner.

I'd very much welcome any thoughts on this issue and whether I should still go ahead with the deal - the other WoF fail item was the front right lower control arm play nut that's relatively easy to sort out. Stuff like airbags etc can be a minefield for the uninitiated (like me). Cheers all :-)

[Haitoman 110]

Hey all, this is a rather abrupt introduction for myself and I do apologise for jumping straight in with a question. The reason for this is I'm trying to negotiate a deal on a really sweet E46 320i which has just failed the WoF because the airbag / SRS light doesn't work....

I've found heaps of information online about the light staying on, but nothing about it never coming on. On the car I'm looking at, the light does nothing during ignition. I've checked the associated fuse (11, I believe) and that's all good so I'm kinda stuck - is it likely to be costly to rectify (and therefore a good bargaining tool) ? The car is overall in really good nick, although it's been dry stored for the last two years and the battery was allowed to go flat. It's got previous history, last WoF passed all ok prior to being laid up, 139000 KMs on the clock, 2nd NZ owner.

I'd very much welcome any thoughts on this issue and whether I should still go ahead with the deal - the other WoF fail item was the front right lower control arm play nut that's relatively easy to sort out. Stuff like airbags etc can be a minefield for the uninitiated (like me). Cheers all :-)

This is what I would do; First do a dash lights test. Key to pos 2 - press left knob on gauge cluster and hold until TEST displayed - press left knob and hold until 2.0 displayed - click again. You can't hurt anything. If the airbag lamp doesn't go then it has been disconnected probably due to a faulty seat sensor making the lamp stay on. Fix sensor and reconnect to get it working again.

[markoneswift 1]

Hey thanks mate - actually we didn't end up buying this car but we bought a 2002 318ti, which hopefully will server my son well as his first car (and first Beemer ever in our family). Cheers :-)

[M3AN 4016]

^ I see you got another car but if the ABS light doesn't light up you can't get a legit warrant so that 320i had acres of room for negotiation... or probably walk away.