W205 passenger airbag warning light.

[gtfreight]

I have had a search and can't find an answer so I hope I'm posting this in the correct place.
I'm in the process of buying a 65 plate petrol C Class estate and I have been going through the photo's of the car and just noticed that the "passenger airbag" warning light on the centre console has been very neatly covered with black tape. I'm thinking this has been done because there's an issue with the system. I'm going to mention this to the dealer (non mercedes) when he calls me later but I don't want to get fobbed off and find it's an issue that needs addressing for the MOT test. Does anyone know what the best and worst case scenario is? I'm hoping the best case scenario is that the previous owner found the light annoying and just covered it up.
Thanks in anticipation,
Gary.

 

[mioba]

I would aksk the dealer outright with you next to him. Sure he may well fob you off.
If there is a problem, it needs code reading first to determine extent, It may just be sticker!

 

[GazNicki]

Top and bottom is, an illuminated airbag light is an MOT failure, regardless of the underlying issue.

What concerns me most here is that a dealer is selling a car with a sticker over the light. I’m not suggesting they put it there, but if they have cleaned the car ready for sale, then it would have been noticed.

Personally, I would stay well clear unless they can fix the issue. But then I wouldn’t trust them to not remove the bulb from the dash instead of fixing if they will tape over the light.

 

[DSM10000]

As above. Move on and find an honest and competent dealer.

 

[gtfreight]

I'm with the comments above but the dealer is a big retailer with a good feedback, and to be fair I didn't notice notice it on the test drive. It was only when I wondered if it had an analogue clock and checked the pictures did I spot it. As for removing the bulb, wouldn’t this be obvious as I'm thinking that it should light up when the ignition is turned on? When I look at other ad's of these cars the light is always on (I can't see the rev counter to tell if the engine is running, 2nd picture)
It was a 200 mile round trip to view the car and I'm not doing that again just to ask the question.
It has taken me a while to find the right car. I'm wondering if I tell the vendor that if all the issues aren't fixed when I collect the car I will reject it. The 12v socket isn't working and there's a couple areas needing a cosmetic touch up which they had already spotted and put on the job sheet.
The first picture is of the console from the ad' of the one I'm looking at.

 

[GazNicki]

Yeah, you can see that sticker. I’m going to fall back on previous comments - the dealer knows that sticker is there and is still advertising the car with it there. That’s blatant. Big brand dealer or not, that’s too-level naughty.

Yeah, the light illuminates when the ignition is set to 1 but should turn off after a few seconds once the engine starts.

It’s 100% something that needs resolving, as it could cost you £1000 if it’s the most expensive seat pad.

As for removing the bulb, it’s easier than spending £1000 fixing it in many cases.

It’s an issue that’s affected many BMWs and Mercs over the years from my experience.

 

[gtfreight]

Yeah, you can see that sticker. I’m going to fall back on previous comments - the dealer knows that sticker is there and is still advertising the car with it there. That’s blatant. Big brand dealer or not, that’s too-level naughty.

Yeah, the light illuminates when the ignition is set to 1 but should turn off after a few seconds once the engine starts.

It’s 100% something that needs resolving, as it could cost you £1000 if it’s the most expensive seat pad.

As for removing the bulb, it’s easier than spending £1000 fixing it in many cases.

It’s an issue that’s affected many BMWs and Mercs over the years from my experience.

Thanks for your advice, I will point this out and let them know exactly where I stand.

 

[merc estate]

That light is telling you its checked the seat and no one is sitting in it, so it tells you the airbag is not working. If you sit in the passenger seat it goes off. I cant remember how long it stays on for when you start and check is done or even if it goes off. I know when i bought mine 1.5 years ago, i noticed it, it does say about it in the hand book, if you can look it up online, i'm not near my car at the moment or would have a look for you.
BUT beware black tape on anything, be prepared to run.

 

[GazNicki]

Just in the car now, and we was wondering if ours is broken. But it’s not.

I’m in the passenger seat and the light is illuminated whilst I’m in the seat, but it states “on”.

If the airbag is off, it states “off”.

It could be as innocent as they think, like I did, that the airbag light should go off.

 

[gtfreight]

Let's just hope that the tape was put on by the last owner because the light irritated him/her.
I will find out later.

 

[Diesel Benz]

That light is telling you its checked the seat and no one is sitting in it, so it tells you the airbag is not working. If you sit in the passenger seat it goes off. I cant remember how long it stays on for when you start and check is done or even if it goes off. I know when i bought mine 1.5 years ago, i noticed it, it does say about it in the hand book, if you can look it up online, i'm not near my car at the moment or would have a look for you.
BUT beware black tape on anything, be prepared to run.

60 seconds according to the on-line manual. Not sure if the 60 seconds starts from engine on or just ignition turned on?

 

[merc estate]

I looked this up on you tube for you. Great tips from nick, have a look it tells you all about the airbag lights and 9 other things.

MERCEDES-BENZ OF POOLE

10 Frequently asked Questions on YOUR Mercedes!​

 

[gtfreight]

Thanks for the link. My wife has an A Class which has MBUX, I'll pass it on to her. I'm not sure if the one I maybe buying does.

 

[Rukka]

With just the driver on board, the light will stay lit continuously. If a passenger gets in (and puts seat belt on) the light should go off in under a minute.
It bothered me when I first got my C Class to the point where I was going to put tape or a sticker over it as there is mostly only me in the car and I found it annoying. Maybe the previous owner thought the same......

 

[gtfreight]

The dealer hasn't got back to me so I'm presuming that I must have pushed him too hard on the deal even though we eventually got down to a difference of only £200 but there is paint that needs attending to and the wheels, though not too bad, need a refurb (they agreed to do some of the paint but not all).
It's not the end of the world and I know my Mondeo is 100% reliable so I'll keep looking and wait for the right car to come along. This one is black and I would prefer dark grey or blue if I could choose.

 

[GazNicki]

The dealer hasn't got back to me so I'm presuming that I must have pushed him too hard on the deal even though we eventually got down to a difference of only £200 but there is paint that needs attending to and the wheels, though not too bad, need a refurb (they agreed to do some of the paint but not all).
It's not the end of the world and I know my Mondeo is 100% reliable so I'll keep looking and wait for the right car to come along. This one is black and I would prefer dark grey or blue if I could choose.

I’m a precious Mondeo driver. Please make sure you get the right car if you’re coming from a Mondeo, as the Mondeo is such a good car you will notice everything wrong on another.

 

[gtfreight]

I’m a precious Mondeo driver. Please make sure you get the right car if you’re coming from a Mondeo, as the Mondeo is such a good car you will notice everything wrong on another.

my Mondeo is one of the last MK4s, It's a Zetec Business 1.6tdci. It has front and rear parking sensors, sat-nav etc. I have owned it for over 4 years and it's been 100% reliable but with over 111,000 miles on it I'm wondering when things are going to go wrong. I went from a money-pit of Jag Xf to the Mondeo and my annual servicing bill went from £1,000+ to around £200.
I've always liked Mercs and years ago I owned a W124 300d which was a great motor and I really like the E Class which is out of my price range but I could just about afford the C Class which has the twin tunnel type instrument panel which I like that doesn't come until later on the E Class
I'm now wondering if it's a viable proposition to upgrade my Mondeo to a Merc which is only 18 months younger and will cost over £13,000 to swap. I could end up with something less reliable than my current car but I suppose that's one of the risks of changing cars when your budget doesn't allow for something newer.
The more I think about this, the more I think I should stick with old faithful until the repair bills start coming in.
Decisions, decisions.

 

[GazNicki]

my Mondeo is one of the last MK4s, It's a Zetec Business 1.6tdci. It has front and rear parking sensors, sat-nav etc. I have owned it for over 4 years and it's been 100% reliable but with over 111,000 miles on it I'm wondering when things are going to go wrong. I went from a money-pit of Jag Xf to the Mondeo and my annual servicing bill went from £1,000+ to around £200.
I've always liked Mercs and years ago I owned a W124 300d which was a great motor and I really like the E Class which is out of my price range but I could just about afford the C Class which has the twin tunnel type instrument panel which I like that doesn't come until later on the E Class
I'm now wondering if it's a viable proposition to upgrade my Mondeo to a Merc which is only 18 months younger and will cost over £13,000 to swap. I could end up with something less reliable than my current car but I suppose that's one of the risks of changing cars when your budget doesn't allow for something newer.
The more I think about this, the more I think I should stick with old faithful until the repair bills start coming in.
Decisions, decisions.

My last Mondeo was also a Mk4 2.0 TDCi Titanium in red with sports kit. Rare colour and kit. It had 186k on it when I got tid, and only because I could feel the DMF going.

I too wanted a E-Class as the Mondeo is that sized car. Could afford one which was new enough, so I opted for an Infiniti Q50.

It’s a Nissan but powered by the OM651 2.1 Mercedes Benz engine found in the C and E 220’s. It’s git every conceivable extra as standard and much less money. It was the difference between a 58 E-class and a 66 Q50. It was a no-brainer for me.

I like my cars to look rare and individual, so I always pushed for either the decent spec you couldn’t find or in this case a rarer car.

It’s a few millimetres bigger than the C-Class. Worth looking at in my opinion.

 

[gtfreight]

My last Mondeo was also a Mk4 2.0 TDCi Titanium in red with sports kit. Rare colour and kit. It had 186k on it when I got tid, and only because I could feel the DMF going.

I too wanted a E-Class as the Mondeo is that sized car. Could afford one which was new enough, so I opted for an Infiniti Q50.

It’s a Nissan but powered by the OM651 2.1 Mercedes Benz engine found in the C and E 220’s. It’s git every conceivable extra as standard and much less money. It was the difference between a 58 E-class and a 66 Q50. It was a no-brainer for me.

I like my cars to look rare and individual, so I always pushed for either the decent spec you couldn’t find or in this case a rarer car.

It’s a few millimetres bigger than the C-Class. Worth looking at in my opinion.

I do around 7,000 miles a year so it looks like there's plenty of life in the old girl yet. I don't feel anything for it though. I only bought it because my Jag was going to cost me £1,750 + vat to get it through it's next mot (it had 30 days to run on it's current one) so I thought I needed to px it rather than put it through the test). I searched Autotrader with my criteria and the Mondeo came up locally at a Ford franchise.
2 months later I checked on the "gov" website to see if the Jag was still on the road only to find it failed on a steering bush which wouldhave cost less than €100 to rectify. At this point I realised that the garage I was using was taking me for a ride.
I am just going to have a look at the Infinity on Autotrader now.

 

[GazNicki]

I’ll be honest, I miss the Mondeo. It’s boot would swallow anything. It’s a practical man’s car. I rack up 23k a year so the car needs to munch miles and the Mondeo did.

The infiniti is another class though.

Saying that, the Mercs are still a step up from the infiniti, but toys are more important to me than anything else.