Put a box of moderate weight into the passenger seat (hard drives) - probably 40 lbs. After driving for a few minutes and over a few bumps, the seat belt warning light came on because the seat sensor was tripped by the weight. Put the seat belt on to silence the warning. Shortly thereafter, both the seatbelt and passenger airbag warning lights showed on the dash, regardless of occupancy. Hooked up to scanning tool and cleared the codes but they always return. This is not a rare event from reading the online forums - it is likely due to the sensor mat in the seat for occupancy being defective, or a combination of that and the seat belt pre-tensioner being defective, for the passenger side only. The vehicle operates normally other than the warning lights. Obviously have not tested the airbag, but that is highly unlikely to be the actual problem from my investigation of the symptoms.

- Tallahassee, FL, USA

Existing vehicle recall excludes this particular VIN among the same MY and model even though this VIN is affected. Report Receipt Date: NOV 12, 2013 NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V564000 Component(s): AIR BAGS Potential Number of Units Affected: 76,565 Manufacturer: BMW of North America, LLC SUMMARY: BMW of North America LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2006 325i, 325xi, 330i, 330xi sedans and 325xi sports wagons, [shortened]. The front passenger seat occupant detection mat that determines if and how the passenger frontal air bag should deploy in a crash may fatigue and develop cracks which could lead to a system failure. CONSEQUENCE: Should the system fail, in the event of a crash, the front passenger air bag would be deactivated, increasing the risk of personal injury.

- Rochester Hills, MI, USA

I purchased a used car that now has a passenger restraint sensor warning. Please fulfill a recall as this is a recurring issue with bmw

- Bensenville , IL, USA

I believe the seat sensor in my 2006 BMW 325I front passenger seat is faulty. The majority of the time, the light comes on that shows that my front passenger airbag is not on and also that the passenger is not buckled, whether they are buckled, or there isn't a passenger in that seat at all. Whether I am stationary or driving/moving at any speed, those warning lights are on, and will intermittently go off for short periods of time, then they come back on again. I am in a carpool so I frequently am the driver and I have someone in that front passenger seat. I am concerned that if in an accident, the airbag will not deploy causing injuries in the case of an accident. Newer models of the same car have this seat sensor on recall, so the 2006 should also be recalled.

- Roseville, CA, USA

Passenger restraint system fault. Received warning message when passenger sits in front seat. Light stays on most of time.

- Browns Summit, NC, USA

Takata recall- my airbag in the steering wheel has been replaced. The passenger seat mat sensor has had to be replaced 2X(1X under warranty) 1X I had to pay out of pocket and now a 3rd time (out of pocket) it has broken again. I believe this is a faulty part and should be covered under warranty. The vehicle was stationary each time this has broken.

- St Johns, FL, USA

Getting a hard warning for "passenger restraint system malfunction". apparently this has something to do with a sensor in the passenger seat going bad. This can cause injury or fatality as the passenger airbag will not deploy correctly. There has been a recall for this but my VIN was not included.

- Dallas, TX, USA

Restraint malfunction for front passenger code 93C3. My VIN is not a part of the recall but the particular model has recall for the same issue. The code is for the airbag which would not deploy in the case of an accident if a passenger is sitting in the front seat or not.

- Middletown, PA, USA

Getting error on dash that passenger restraint system malfunction.

- Victorville, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 BMW 325I. The contact stated that the passenger seat recognized a passenger even when nothing or no one was in the seat. The dealer repaired the vehicle per NHTSA campaign number: 13V564000 (air bags); however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was returned to the dealer it was diagnosed that the leather seats needed to be reconditioned. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000. Updated 06/13/17

- Oxnard, CA, USA

Front seat passenger occupant protection mat failed. Air bag will not deploy. Air bag faults were shown on the dashboard and information center. Recall campaign - 08V384000 was issued but my vehicle is not covered. Recall campaign should be extended to other models in this year.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

I have received a sensor light stating that I have a passenger restraint malfunction. Then it goes away after a few days until someone else sits down which would lead me to believe that it has to do with the pressure sensor mat on the passenger side. I have read that this happens to be a recall for BMW but my VIN apparently is not covered in the recall. I am extending this complaint in the hopes that BMW will investigate and extend the recall to more models with this issue.

- Shirley, MA, USA

Passenger restraint system malfunction. There's a recall for the same make and model of my car but for some reason "my VIN" doesn't fall into the recall.

- Sparta, MI, USA

Faulty front passenger seat sensor mat always breaks

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Air bag seat sensor failure. I would like to add my entry to the long list of BMW 325 owners that should have been covered by the front seat occupant protection mat defect recall (see NHTSA campaign number: 13V564000), but apparently are not. According to BMW, my car was made a month before I.e. Nov 2005, the recall date parameters, which stared in Dec 2005. This involves a faulty passenger occupancy sensor malfunction that disables the airbags in 2006 E90 BMW 3 series sedan. BMW recalled previous years sensors but has not fixed the issue in later models. There are plenty of folks affected by this: See www.carcomplaints.com/BMW/325/2006/accessories-interior/seats.shtml ntsb, please address this asap! and thanks!

- Cabin John, MD, USA

Passenger restraint system malfunction. My VIN was not included in the recall but error is showing. According to tbe NHTSA data base under vehicle description (make model and year) theres an open recall for my model.

- Long Beach, CA, USA

Takata recall. The passenger seat's airbag/weight sensor on our 2006 325I has gone out repeatedly (we're on the 4th or 5th replacement.) it happens when the car is in motion and then the sensor light comes on to alert us that something is wrong and stays on until it's replaced. However, it usually goes out again within 18 months or so. I am usually sitting in the seat when this happens which is very unsafe. I can't remember the exact date of the first malfunction, but we hadn't owned the car very long; it was still under warranty. We have the sports seats which from my reading seem to be part of the problem. I would like to make sure that our car was not overlooked in the recalls. It never stays fixed for long and I don't want to find out that it should have been recalled when I'm lying in a hospital bed, or worse. Seems like more than a coincidence...

- Cookeville, TN, USA

The passenger seatbelt/airbag warning light was on and off from time to time after around four years of my purchase in 2005. The problem might have existed earlier; however, as my vehicle usually did not carry any passengers, I did not notice the problem within the warranty period. Recently, the light would not even go away. My mechanic informed me about the recall number 13V564000, stating the "owners of model year 2006-2007 3 series with standard seat... will receive an extended warranty on their front passenger seat occupant detection mat." I have contact BMW, but they said the recall and the extended warranty would not be applicable to my vehicle.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

My BMW does not fall into the recall that BMW published. After several lights appeared in my dash (airbag, brake, seatbelt) I had the disnostic tool looked up and received a fault code 93C3 seat occupancy detector, passenger. Looking on the web this seems to be a common problem.

- Rockingham, NC, USA

I recently purchased a used 2006 BMW 325I with the intentions of letting my daughter drive it, due to the high safety ratings of these automobiles. I called the dealership about some issues with the transmission, and some warning lights on the dash indicating a problem with the seatbelts and airbags. When I inquired about the warning lights, the service writer of the dealership in meridian ms told me that it sounds like the seat mat was faulty. Later I googled info about the seat mat, and I came across a link that shows my should have been recalled due to this issue. I called the dealership back and was told there was no recall for this car. I called nhtsc and left a message about my inquiry, and I was called back promptly by Mr. Nate hayes. After I explained the situation to Mr. Hayes, he did some checking and found that although some 2006 325I's weren't recalled (the ones with manual seats) mine however should've been recalled due to having the electrically adjusted sports seats. Mr. Hayes instructed me to call the dealership to see if maybe this work had already been done on my vehicle. Upon calling the dealership back, I was told that it hadn't been done, because my vehicle wasn't in the recall. After questioning him more about it, he told me that he was able to find that BMW has extended the warranty on my car to 15 years with no mileage limitations, if that is what was wrong with my car, but if not, I would be charged for the repair. What concerns me about this, is the fact that BMW was mandated by the nhtsc to recall a certain list of automobiles to prevent injury, rather than wait to see if problems occur later that could result in injury and/or death. I don't know if others that should have been recalled were put off by BMW or not, but this could have some deadly consequences.

- Heidelberg, MS, USA