hi,i have been a bmw fan for years ,always read the forums for help and always found the answers until now
help needed
i have had an ongoing issue with my 1999 z3 with the airbag light always staying on
i have bought 2 different readers
a cheap ebay unit
and an expensive bavarian technic
well ,not much difference in the 2 units
the cheapy shows 16 &17
and the $ shows 22
its nice to have numbers but when you dont know what they mean ,it is worthless
i was hoping that bavarian would help but they brush me off
saying that the codes they use are the same as bmw
i cant find codes and description anywhere
here is what i have found 22 = mrsa front left
and 16= sensor side right parameter fault
and 17=sensor side airbag right data fault

i need specific placement info
i have toyed,disconnected,reconnected,replaced,measured just about everything
i have even rewritten the list that came with the chinese model to try and make sense of it all
i figured i would find the working units and eventually get the defective ones but to no avail

Morning Claudio

Welcome to the Forum

Diagnostic readers can be a boon or a PITA while they can all read fault codes as you have discovered some really are not that helpful.

You need a BMW specific reader such as INPA or BMW 1.4.0 The first thing they will explain what the issue is, example my Parking sensors were intermittent BMW 1.4.0 doesn't give just a code it shows Sensor rear centre right as a description. I have 1.4.0 set up on an old laptop that I use just for diagnostics BMW 1.4.0 only cost about £10 when I got it

Now your problem, a lot of SRS issues are caused by the seat occupancy sensors and connectors particularly after a car has had a few years of "bums in seats" 

If you haven't already check www.realoem.com a BMW online parts list put the last 7 digits of your Vin in the search box it will bring up your model. This will give 2 things 1 a small exploded drawing so you can see how things fit 2 part numbers so you know your getting correct replacements. Also look at www.newtis.info use your Vin again or just search the model info. This is a BMW technical information site that will give you the same information as a BMW Dealer to allow repair and fault location.

Hope this helps

Dave

Hi Topless.

I have a 1999 Z3 (RHD) and both I and the car live in Bavaria. We are also members of the local Z3 car club.

Although the club does not operate a forum it does comprise of many ex BMW engineers who have always proved both helpful and useful when I have encountered a problem. I will email a couple of them with the problem and see what they come up with.

It might relate to the Occupancy Sensor in the passenger seat as these tend to break but can be overriden with a small resistor/diode device to fool the system to believe there is someone sat in the seat.
This puts the light out but the SRS still functions perfectly fine

I had an issue with mye46. The seatbelt pretensioner on the passenger side was the culprit. Buy an eBay occupancy bypass plug to test. 
I use bmw 1.4. Blah.... on a laptop, it’s simple to use and tells you everything you need. It’s all in text too, so no guessing codes etc