Easy fix for Passenger Seat Occupancy Mat Sensor

[redlinealley]

My seat belt light was on since I bought the car over 3 years ago. I finally got around to fixing it. I bought this a while back off eBay and wanted to make sure it worked before I posted. SRSDRIVE bypass unit, this is a plug and play and for 11 bucks you just can't beat it. Unplug the seat sensor and plug this unit in and get the code cleared.
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[rf900rkw]

This comes up every so often, and I ask the same question. What does this emulator do, exactly? Which of the three choices, fat chick, little grandma, or empty seat, does it present to the SRS system? Do you know? Or will it be a surprise? Either way, are you prepared to deal with the potential legal consequences of tampering with an SRS system, should it do the wrong_thing in the event of an accident?

[redlinealley]

Seat Occupancy Mat Sensor Emulator

- for BMW variants with 2 wire seat mat plug


Airbag and Seatbelt lights ON the Dashboard?

Do you want to restore Airbags and drive safely again?

Common Faults appear on your iDrive and you wish to remove them?

Passenger Restraint System
Front Pass. Restraint System Fault
Driver Restraint System Malfunction
Restraint Sys. Malfunction/Defective
Fault in Pass. Restraint System Affecting Airbag


Seat Occupancy Mat Emulator is designed as a quality alternative to bypass faulty seat occupancy mat/pad sensor and turn off the airbag light. It completely simulates the passenger in the seat and re-activates the airbag system making it deploy in case of an accident, therefore, allowing to pass a car test.
Seat Belt Simulator/Bypass (if applicable) is designed to bypass safety belt warning light/alarm which occurs after fitting Seat Mat Emulator as the seat becomes always occupied. Applies to vehicles with factory installed seat belt warning.

[zellamay]

I have the air bag light on. How would I know whether it's the "passenger seat occupancy mat sensor"? Is there an easy way to find out why my light is on?

[Vintage42]

A high end SRS code reader will pinpoint the cause.

[zellamay]

Does any one want to recommend a brand of code reader? I assume an "OBD II" reader is what we're talking about.

[328 Power 04]

I don't like "fixes" like this. Especially if the next owner has to find out by surprise.

[Vintage42]

Does any one want to recommend a brand of code reader? ...

I think these will give more information...
http://www.peakeresearch.com/srstool.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Scanner-Airba.../dp/B00DFIYZPA

Than this one...
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4542-_-Product

But I don't have any SRS reader.

[redlinealley]

What's the surprise of it? I have a spread sheet of what's been done to the car since my ownership. Also this unit replaces the seat mat sensor telling the computer it's active. Also I was told by a BMW mechanic that just because the mat is not working the airbag will still deploy. If anyone can 100% say different, please tell me.

[rf900rkw]

There are times you don't want the airbag to deploy, such as when taking little ol' grandma for a fun ride. Or a 10yo. Later cars with multi-stage bags add even more complications. And yes, my understanding of the system is a failed seat mat will have the system default to full deployment force. Effectively this expensive resistor only turns off the light; no other changes in system behavior. If this gives you a warm-n-fuzzy, so be it. But I certainly would not be advertising it in the forums.


For a SRS scanner, the best is INPA. The worst is Peake. The China.com B800 is merely a repackaged Peake rip-off. It's got the same misfeatures and errors as Peake without the ridiculous price.

[redlinealley]

This works for me and I'm not telling anyone this is the way they should go. These cars don't have a switch like in newer cars that you can turn off the airbag for instances like you describe for small kids. The airbag will deploy regardless. The passenger seat sensor mat doesn't know who's sitting in the seat, only that someone is present.

[BladeRunner919]

There are times you don't want the airbag to deploy, such as when taking little ol' grandma for a fun ride. Or a 10yo.

But these don't change the standard behaviour, which is to deploy if the seat is occupied, do they? I'd have thought the only downside is the airbag deploying unnecessarily in front of an empty seat

[redlinealley]

The bag will go off who ever is sitting in the seat. There is no way of turning our bags on oand off.

[rf900rkw]

But these don't change the standard behaviour, which is to deploy if the seat is occupied, do they? I'd have thought the only downside is the airbag deploying unnecessarily in front of an empty seat

There are times, such as a small passenger, where you don't want the bag to go off. This becomes more of a problem as you get into the newer more complicated systems, including the two stage bags in the later Z3s. Current technology has "butt print" sensors to tell shape, weight, and position of the occupant.

Don't forget the belt tensioner and side bags are part of the deal.

[Vintage42]

... For a SRS scanner, the best is INPA. The worst is Peake. The China.com B800 is merely a repackaged Peake rip-off. It's got the same misfeatures and errors as Peake without the ridiculous price.

The Peake is an old tech LCD tool, while the B800 has a display window. They probably suffer only in comparison to INPA.
I would love INPA but it is not a simple tool. It is a system that requires a Windows PC and a download of software, and the connection hardware. I don't have a Windows PC.

[zellamay]

I do have an old computer that I don't use, Toshiba laptop, has Windows XP. What would it take to get me up and running with INPA? Where to download from? Any hardware to hook to car? Any brains required to use/understand it?

[khammack]

I do have an old computer that I don't use, Toshiba laptop, has Windows XP. What would it take to get me up and running with INPA? Where to download from? Any hardware to hook to car? Any brains required to use/understand it?

Take a look at this - http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=670339

[BladeRunner919]

There are times, such as a small passenger, where you don't want the bag to go off. This becomes more of a problem as you get into the newer more complicated systems, including the two stage bags in the later Z3s. Current technology has "butt print" sensors to tell shape, weight, and position of the occupant.

Don't forget the belt tensioner and side bags are part of the deal.

I completely understand that, and that your previous post was along the same lines. I was just under the impression that the Z3 seat occupancy was an on/off affair, on when the seat is occupied, off when not. I assume, from what you say, that's not actusally the case. Anyway, I don't even have a passenger airbag!

[Mr Bingley]

I'll tell you what, that little Chinese B800 actually works pretty well for the $20 or so I paid for it years ago. It's always worked for me. INPA is great, I'm sure, but it is just such an investment in time to get it up and running and then learn how to use. Until I absolutely need it, I'll keep using my OBDII code reader, Shogun Peak service light reset clone, and B800. The Z3 Diagnostics Thread: Instructions, Experiences, Discussions, Experimentation thread has gotten way too long to follow btw. We need a boiled down definitive how to thread like the one linked to at Bimmerfest only current, locked, and stickied--it's just too daunting a task as it is right now.

[328 Power 04]

Everything you need is in post #1 of that thread.
The rest is just me answering individual questions for each individual car's needs.

[Mr Bingley]

Everything you need is in post #1 of that thread.
The rest is just me answering individual questions for each individual car's needs.

Well that's good to know--but it's certainly not obvious. Every time I've thought about setting up a laptop with INPA (I bought my cable) I see how long that thread has grown, and I just give up--despairing of ever reading all the way through it to the point of understanding. At 20 pages of posts, it gives using INPA the appearance of being so complicated, so full of workarounds, so difficult, and so problematic, that it doesn't even bear thinking about.

[rf900rkw]

B800 works fine until you spend several hundred dollars and many hours chasing a ghost because they copied Peake's *incorrect* code list.' I have found two errors, both in the table they send you to for an M Roadster. That doesn't mean there aren't more, I only find the errors when going behind someone else's failed diagnosis.



Abel was done a fantastic job of making INPA EASY to install, having rolled all of the updates into the main package and making the tweaks and changes simple, some automatic. A single install and you have the latest version that works with our cars. INPA used to not be anywhere this easy to install. There was/is a lot of conflicting info and versions floating around. If you want an example of how it used to be, follow the antique bimmerfest link above.

[ArkansasTed]

INPA is really not that hard to set up. If you're tinkering with a stock 68 Chevy pickup, then pretty much all you need is a tool box and a roll of electrical tape. But with any car with an OBC...you need something like INPA to read the codes. I'm not a mechanic by any means...my Z3 is my "tinker toy". When I first set up INPA, I had a couple of minor things to work thru to get it up and going. But the main issue is to make sure you have the right (matching) comm port listed in the .ini file.

Sure is well worth the time and effort to get set up on an old laptop. If you don't have a laptop...ask one of your kids, grandkids, friends,.....someone will have an old windows based laptop laying around.

[ConnorLow]

I installed this bypass and now whenever the bypass is installed the occupancy mat error light goes off but the passenger side pre-tensioner light is turned on. The pre-tensioner only goes on when I have the occupancy bypass installed. This is on a 1998 Bmw M Roadster, can anyone give me some insight?
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[ConnorLow]

I dont know how to bump my post but I really could use some help with this!


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