My air bag warning light is always on. The machanic said I need to replace the whole passenger seat to replace the airbag sensor. A new seat will cost $1500 and labor will cost $500. I was not in an accident.

- Vashon, WA, USA

Warning message for seat belt tension/air bag malfunction and both lights are on. The vehicle has 40+ thousand miles on it, I am a second owner. This problem just started on May 29, 2020. No accidents for this vehicle. Cost for repair is over $2000 and so far there's only recalls for 2008 convertible which I totally don't understand. This looks to be an ongoing problem with the MINIand needs to be addressed due to the air bags being affected. I currently have no photos but can readily supply photos upon request. The seat belt light/air bag emblem shows on the dash screen when entering the key while stationary, no one is sitting in the passenger seat when this happens and does not go away when occupied.

- Eddy, TX, USA

Passenger upper seat heater burned hole through seat and childs jacket while driving. The heating element is now visible and daughter received a minor burn to finger, do to melted hole in jacket from seat heater.

- Newtown, CT, USA

Airbag sensor mat does not recognize whether a person is sitting on the passenger side thereby not activating the airbag; this has been happening on & off for months; passenger airbag light comes on immediately despite occupancy while parked and during driving (all conditions-highway, city street, turning; etc. Started approximately from 75K miles; now constant from 85K

- Fairfax, VA, USA

Faulty seat occupancy detector in passenger seat. There has been a recall on this in several models, but they do not currently include this model/year. Failure of the seat sensor prevents deployment of the passenger airbag and can only be fixed by replacing the entire seat (expensive). No user-specific actions have caused this defect, it's a well known problem. The issue was originally diagnosed in 2014, re-diagnosed 1/3/2016. The best resolution we have been offered is 10% off repair costs.

- Durham, NC, USA

My 2008 MINICooper was in accident in Jan 2016. The (passenger) light came on and it was immediately take to autobody shop. The passenger airbag warning light was evaluated and added to repairs. The seat map sensor is the chief problem. The car is undrivable. The dealership in sterling indicated that it would take 15-30 day to received the part. The part was delayed until March 24,2016. Three days prior to delivery it was updated to Jul 13, 2016. At this point my rental car from the insurance company ran out. I contacted customer care but was not able to receive a date nor assistance about my part and lost of vehicle. After conversation with Liberty mutual, auto shop and dealership, we were told that the vehicle was safe to drive without a passenger in the seat. No resolution has been made, many individuals ( consumer, insurance company and auto shop) involved in the situation stated it was not safe nor could loss be guaranteed. As of the 4/18/2016, the part has been put on indefinite back order. Currently there is no known time frame return of vehicle. I am without transportation and I will need to purchase another car. Additionally I have heard from other repair facilities, MINIs passenger seat occupancy sensor affects far more model years than those for which BMW has already announced recalls. I am also aware that more than 60 MINIowners are waiting on this part as well.

- Herndon, VA, USA

The weight sensor in the front passenger seat that determines whether to deactivate the airbag when a child is seated, or if the seat is unoccupied, is broken. This has caused the frontal airbag to become permanently deactivated at all times. There has been a recall of other cars for this issue, but BMW refuses to include my vehicle despite it being the same year and experiencing the identical problem.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

Failure of front passenger seat occupant detection mat. The same BMW seat occupancy detection mat (OC3) that was referred to in NHTSA campaign number: 08V-384 has been failing in MINIcoopers on a wide scale. This causes the airbag to be deactivated which is a safety hazard when occupants occupy the seat and are involved in a crash where the airbag's activation could play a significant role in survivability. I believe the investigation should include other BMW corporate makes and models, such as MINIwhich involve the same seat sensor.

- Honolulu, HI, USA

It appears that the passenger seat occupied sensor is not working.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA