Hello all! Have to write here because I did buy a reconditioned BMW M steering wheel with an Airbag from Romania. Seemd like a really trusworthy seller with ~1500 feedbacks and 99.8%. The steering wheel was really nice quality job, but the airbag is totally different thing. I got suspicious when I saw small cracks on the airbag cover, so I took the cover off(small clips, no need to break anything) and the bag istelf was like an old potato sack. It was squeeze in under the cover, not nicely folded like from factory, it was dirty, and on the inside was debris and trash an from explosion.
There is two thing that can have been done, maybe they has added a new explosion charge from another airbag(same item in many steering wheel models), or they have soldered an resistor to fool the airbag light in the car. I don't wan't to test if it works. Either way, this kind of recondition would not be leagal in my country, either would I trust such an ghetto mod.
Anyway the seller would not accept any kind of refund or return, and now ebay has also solved this case for the sellers benefit. They say I can not return the item as it's not in same shape as recieved. I can pack everything back under the cover no problem, but trash is trash. I can't make it be a new airbag, because this is what I recieved.
What is your thought on this? Is this kind of action acceptable? What to do?
Actually, I just went back and looked at the listing you purchased, and the cracks in the airbag cover were visible in the picture, if you enlarged it. Most visible at the top left. But, this cover has definitely not had a bag deploy through it. It isn't possible to repair the grained surface this well, afterwards.
My best guess at this point is that the inflator was replaced for some reason, probably because it was under recall. But the cover was damaged, and the module was probably supposed to be destroyed because this is not acceptable for use. But somehow it slipped through the cracks.
The tear seam can crack like this if the module is handled too roughly.
@lacemaker3wrote:
Actually, I just went back and looked at the listing you purchased, and the cracks in the airbag cover were visible in the picture, if you enlarged it. Most visible at the top left. But, this cover has definitely not had a bag deploy through it. It isn't possible to repair the grained surface this well, afterwards.
My best guess at this point is that the inflator was replaced for some reason, probably because it was under recall. But the cover was damaged, and the module was probably supposed to be destroyed because this is not acceptable for use. But somehow it slipped through the cracks.
The tear seam can crack like this if the module is handled too roughly.
I don't know how the BMW racall has been done, but I think the airbags has been changed as whole units with the cover included. Would be quite a hassle if they was tearing the all the bags in pieces.
I think a child could se that the bag has been deployed especially if you would feel the smell of it. But the fact that the bag is dirty on the outside, the red strings/threads are broken, it was squeezed in without folding, inside is clearly visible a gray area and debris of the blast, tells this is a deployed airbag.
And seller has admitted it is reconditioned, so my best guess is that the inflator(charge) has been replaced from a less expencive airbag(same two stage inflator is used in many bmw steering wheels). Worst case scenario is that they has soldered a resistor inside the blown inflator to fool the airbag light.
Exact same pictures with same marks has been used in his listings before mine and also in the new listing. So I guess all of his airbags are done the same style.
