Airbag Fault Code need help! Expert tech hasn't seen it!

[throttleman]

Hello all, I recently picked up a 97 e36 318i from Arizona that had the airbag light on. I was told by the seller that he had replaced the driver's seatbelt clip and set off the light. He said he just hadn't got around to having the dealer clear the fault code since the install. I knew that this was a common problem on the 3 series so had no reason to doubt it. He was very honest about the rest of the car so again had no reason to doubt him.
I took the car to Eurotech (Ron) here in British Columbia as I needed to have the light off for the registration process for licensure here in Canada. His code reader came up with the following code fault:

04 Ignition circuit, driver airbag
Coding data does not agree with equipment
The fault is currently present

We replaced the airbag control module to see if it was the culprit but to no avail. We wiped the fault codes but it just came right back up again. While taking off the steering wheel we noticed that there were two butt connectors on the airbag leads and wondered if maybe the airbag had been changed and was bad. We looked up the part numbers of the spring arm, airbag and steering wheel and all came back as being of the same vintage and correct.
After 26 years of doing BMWs he said he'd never seen this problem before and we are a little stumped. He has spent a ton of time on it and only charged me one hour! What a guy.
If anyone has seen this before or want to chime in on what they think the next step should be please post.
Thank you- Throttleman.

[sbullard878]

Could be the airbag, Could be the slip ring or so that is what some call it. Could be the resistance is high because of the butt connectors on the airbag harness from the slip ring because the control module seeks out air bag faults throught resistance in the air bag wiring. I would replace the slip ring which will have the harness to the airbag. It could be part #32341162804 or 32341162111 have your mechanic call a dealership with the last 7 of your vin to get the correct part as for the second fault code if your mechanic cannot code the airbag module it will through that fault. Lets say your car has two airbags if the software coding for the airbag control module is for a car with two front air bags and side airbags, the coding data does not agree with the equipment.
Get a slip ring and reinstall your old airbag control module