Today I went to the grocery store and put a couple of sacks on the passenger seat when I came out. Lo and behold, the “Passenger Airbag Off” light that I talked about yesterday went out. This implies to me that it’s a sensor problem rather than an airbag problem. The internet tells me that other people who’ve had similar problems with their Minis have been quoted up to $1,600 to fix it, mostly because getting at it in its location under the seat is a hassle. Apparently it involves removing the seat entirely.
So I’m not doing anything about it yet.
Did you jar your bumper when you pulled the license plate bracket? In my VW, there’s one or two airbag sensors under the front bumper. Perhaps there’s just a loose connection?
Huh. I hadn’t thought of that at all. I’ll have to look for sensor locations online (the manual isn’t that detailed).
Thanks!