BMW X5 E53 - FAULT CODE 05 - AIRBAG

[shy7g]

Hi All
Can anyone give me a solution to fix this fault.
Annoyingly whilst sorting the car (Betsy) out for an mot and just doing the odd job around it I put the passengers front door window down and then it wouldn't go back up. Now if I had googled it it would of taken me a matter of minutes to get the glass to go back up, but NO, my engineering brain cut in and off I charged removing the passengers front door card, airbag module and anything else that would stop me on my quest......
Having poked, prodded and attempted to get the glass to go up,,, I FAILED...... so it was off to googleland I did travel to find the fix, and like I said, it took me a matter of minutes with a trusty panel remover the window jumped back into place..... Fantastic, great, the jobs a goodun, lets get everything back together, reconnect the battery and off we can go. BUT HO NO....... She wasn't going to let me have all my own way was she........ She decided to throw on the airbag light on the dash.......... so I thought, right I couldn't have pushed the connector plug on the back of the airbag module far enough in, so off came the battery - terminal, off came the door card, and off came the airbag, once again.
The connector looked good, pushed completely home (assuming the socket will only go in the one way), put it back on the door, left door card off, checked Fuse 44 which was a 5-amp fuse and hadn't blown, so reconnected the battery, cleared down all fault codes, but still the airbag light stays on, Fault code reads 05 MRS: Side Airbag, Front Left ?????????

So my next step was to search on evilbay for a second hand airbag unit, just in case mine was somewhat faulty, waited a few days for it to arrive, went through the whole process again and still NO JOY !!

SO CAN ANYONE PLEASE POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO WHAT IS CAUSUNG THIS FAULT AND HOW TO FIX IT?
LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU ALL
Cheers
Rich.

[X5Sport]

Have you run a reset of the airbag module? It won’t reset itself as the error code requires investigating and resetting via error code clearing. You could also do a battery disconnect for 30 mins, reconnect and then clear the faults.

If the airbag was unplugged with the battery connected it will throw the error.

Could be worth getting a code readout done to see if you can narrow it down. Not all code readers can reset the airbag system. It’s a Bosch module so a centre with the Bosch Autologic software may well be able to help.

[Leslie]

You will have generated a code as said which will need cleared to get the light out ,it wont reset itself and most cheap code readers cant clear airbag codes .

[Greydog]

I have suffered this same fault with the 4.6is, what I learnt is the Code 05 is for the passenger side firing circuit (got that from a US Website)
So back to the Door, Door card removed Battery Disconnected Neg first then Pos terminals touched together to clear any residuals. Back to the door after a load of head scratching the actual plug/connector on my car was at fault I tried cleaning didn't work, the answer new connector (Repair loom section) cut the old one out solder in the new one. Connect everything then the battery and the code could be cleared down.
I had read that the actual MRS (Multiple restraint System) Controller can fault just remember you will need to code a New one to your Chassis if it is the cause of your fault so a good fault Diagnostic system is needed (I have BMW 1.4.0 and INPA/ISTA)
As the door air bag is the bit you have disturbed with luck your fix will be the same as mine

[shy7g]

Thanks to all wo have supplied me with information
Greatly appreciated

[shy7g]

Purchased an evil-bay top notch under a tenner new connector plug, totally isolated the car, wired in the new plug, thought sod-it, the door card is going back on irrespective if it works or not, reconnected the battery, let my topdon do it's stuff, turned ignition off for +10 seconds, turned it back on and hey presto the airbag icon had cleared, yippee....
Sometimes you do get lemonade from lemons lol off to MOT next

[X5Sport]

[Leslie]

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