This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Problem is that the display says "passenger restraint malfunction" -- which brings safety concern. Upon online search, it is likely caused by design flaw of passenger occupancy detector. Here are some reasons why it is design flaw (i.e. not just individual failure) 1. There has been a recall for the same problem for earlier year models (2006-2007 etc). It seems the other years have the same problem (previous recall wasn't a complete fix) 2. There is actually a third party electrical device online that bypass passenger occupancy detector (so that the car thinks passenger seat is occupied all the time) -- which indicates the commonality of the problem because it even became a profitable market.
Passenger occupancy sensor failure. Reported under warranty when problem was intermittent, was told nothing was wrong. Problem now persistent after warranty expired and failed state inspection, can't drive until it's fixed. This was a recall item on 2005-2010 X3's and seems to be a very common problem with many models and years of BMW. Car warns about passenger restraint system failure, red airbag light comes on. Constantly chimes while driving.
- Boston, MA, USA
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- Bellevue, WA, USA