hey guys hows it going? i was wondering if anyone can help me with a problem im having with my e36 320i. im trying to get the car through the MOT, but the airbag light is on and the horn dosn't work either.

when i tried to take the steering wheel off to start the investigation, the middle of the steering wheel (airbag unit) just fell out! this was just because it hadnt been screwed in by the look of it. now im pretty certain its the wrong steering wheel for the car, as the lobes that activate the self cancelling turn indicator are no where near the tab that cancels the indicator. so i thought ide get a new steering wheel from somewhere. but looking at the column, i cant see any wires to go to the horn or airbag???? any ideas? ill take some pics tomorrow when the light is better of that will help anyone?

 

many thanks in advance folk :-)

ive had plenty of e36 bms ,,should be some brass rings behind the steering wheel so no wires also depends on the year as my 98 coupe had a spin ribbon in ,,check the fuse first,,as for the airbag light if the battery was still connected when the airbag come out and unplugged it will stay on untill its reset its about £40 from a dealer but you might be able to find someone with the kit to reset it ,,i would go to a dealer and they check the air bag to be sure

i upgraded to a e46 about 2 years ago but would swop back to an e36 if i had the chance

cheers for the reply, thats what i was looking for, either contact rings or a ribbon, but i cant seem to see anything unless im being a right div. which is highly likely. ill get some pics up in the morning.

pop on the bmw sites like this and ask about the power of the net

 

the ribbon was in a black round case if i remember right

heres the pictures of what i can see

 

 

 

 

any help would be greatly appreciated :-) i have posted on the bmw OC aswell, but i dont know how helpfull they will be lol

air bag cable looks like the gray plug ,,but does look like the wrong steering wheel or somthing is missing ,,

go to a scrappy and look for one the same remove it and see whats missing or different thats what i do if im stuck

cheers for the reply :-). the grey plug doesnt seem to have any connectors on it?? and it certainly dont match to anything on the rear of the airbag unit. im not going to get any time to go to a scrappy when its open before the MOT is up :-( the bmw OC doesn't seem to offer much guidance either :-( anyone got any ideas? ive allready had to replace the NSF wishbone, TRE and ball joint because it had been smacked, when i was told it was just a tracking issue. im starting to wish ide never bought it really, but i guess its my fault for not having a good look underneath myself. but if i cant find a feed for the airbag its never going to pass an mot :-(

Have you tried bimmerforums? They are quite a knowledgeable lot. Lots of people on there have the peake airbag reset tool. The BMW obd tools off eBay won't reset you're airbag light you need a separate tool (£90 off eBay) also NONE of your airbags will be working as a fault switches them all off.

you sure it should have an airbag on it i had an L reg that had one but my mates L reg e36 didnt come with one ?but then again you say the airbag lights on ,,,from what i remember the plug for the airbag should be yellow i think

A better forum is http://www.bmw.forums.info

try http://www.e36coupe.com quite alot of knowlegable chaps on there.