Resetting SES & Airbag Lights? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Ridgeback_Pilot · 5th March 2005, 19:19

I'm concerned about resetting my SES and airbag lights with the Peake tools. The manuals say to make sure and correct whatever faults are present BEFORE resetting the lights. Does that mean the fault codes are erased once you reset the lights, never to return? If something is really wrong, wouldn't the fault codes recur and the lights come back on?

I recently resent my airbag warning light after retrofitting a new steering wheel to my '00 M5. Before I reset the light, the Peake tool displayed three fault codes:

11: Seat belt buckle switch, passenger
16: Sensor, side airbag, right, parameter fault
1A: Seat occupancy detector, passenger: Coding data

These codes would seem to indicate a problem (or problems) with the passenger airbag system. But ever since I reset the airbag light, it hasn't come on again. Does that mean the fault codes were a false alarm? Or does the system assume that I have corrected those faults if the light has been reset?

Thanks, Mike

Teutonaddict · 5th March 2005, 22:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridgeback_Pilot

These codes would seem to indicate a problem (or problems) with the passenger airbag system. But ever since I reset the airbag light, it hasn't come on again. Does that mean the fault codes were a false alarm? Or does the system assume that I have corrected those faults if the light has been reset?

If the airbag system is anything like the DME, then if there is a real problem it will present itself again, and your SRS light will illuminate. No harm I can see in resetting your light.

I do not KNOW this to be true, but am extrapolating my experience in having SES codes reset. 90% of the time it was a one-time, unexplainable occurence, with no performance impact. Lesson learned at ~3K miles when my SES light went on, car went into limp mode, I pulled over and called the Roadside Assistance flatbed. Car gets to dealer, DME reads 'cylinder fault, Bank 1' and dealer says 'it reset itself after cycling the ignition. you can come pick it up now.' All that hassle, and the flatbed operator attempted to use huge meat hooks on suspension bits to tie down the car; no need to assume that kind of risk again!

So I gotta question for you, Mike. Do you own TWO Peake tools, one for SRS and one for SES?

My airbag light is illuminated at the moment, and the dealer told me it was the passenger seat sensor (without specifying which exact codes). Wanted something north of $600 to fix it. SA told me it wasn't absolutely necessary, as the default inoperable mode is airbag 'active'. I would NEVER allow one of my kids to ride up front, so I'm not concerned about the seat sensor not working.

As always, YMMV.

-Dave

hudson · 5th March 2005, 22:37

Mike I have a snapon scanner that I use to reset the air bag & SES lights after repairs. Being able to figure out which are the hard codes and which are the intermittent codes sometimes is a challenge. Some of the codes as Dave mentioned do recycle when you turn the ignition off and then back on again. If the problem is gone or intermittent the light will go out but it will leave a code in the control module. If the problem doesn't show up again in about 50 ignition cycles it will be erase from the memory of the control unit.

So you could see sometimes there is a stack of codes in the memory that are mostly intermittent. I always reset, any hard codes will come right back. The intermittent one's will be gone.

Hope this helps
Joe

Ridgeback_Pilot · 6th March 2005, 07:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teutonaddict

If the airbag system is anything like the DME, then if there is a real problem it will present itself again, and your SRS light will illuminate. No harm I can see in resetting your light.

So I gotta question for you, Mike. Do you own TWO Peake tools, one for SRS and one for SES?

-Dave

Thanks, guys, for your advice. My SRS (airbag) light hasn't come on again since I reset it a couple of days ago. So perhaps the faults that I read were old ones. We'll see!

Yes, I own two Peake tools. You need the R5/FCXII to read the SES fault codes and reset the SES light and the oil service lights. You need the R5 SRS tool to read the SRS codes and reset that light. One wonders why they couldn't combine those features into a single tool, since the tools are of identical size and plug into the same receptacle!

Mike

jjc1843 · 6th March 2005, 15:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridgeback_Pilot

Thanks, guys, for your advice. My SRS (airbag) light hasn't come on again since I reset it a couple of days ago. So perhaps the faults that I read were old ones. We'll see!

Yes, I own two Peake tools. You need the R5/FCXII to read the SES fault codes and reset the SES light and the oil service lights. You need the R5 SRS tool to read the SRS codes and reset that light. One wonders why they couldn't combine those features into a single tool, since the tools are of identical size and plug into the same receptacle!

Mike

Mike:

I believe it's intended audience is different. The SRS tool is aimed at body shops. The scan tool at mechanics.