BMW E46 2004 Disable passenger Airbag?

Quite often people forget to attach the ground cable that goes under a bell housing bolt , check there first.

Impact Depending (ID) airbags.
With the Impact Depending (ID) system, you and your passenger are given effective protection proportionate to the severity of the impact.

Conventional airbag systems are unable to differentiate between a severe impact and a lighter one. When they are deployed, they are inflated to the fullest level, making the airbag as hard as possible. In a low-level accident, this is not necessary.
The intelligent ID airbags are equipped with a two-stage gas generator. In a more severe impact, they inflate to their fullest level with minimum time delay, providing maximum protection for the occupants. However, when the accident is less severe, they allow for a slightly longer delay before deployment, protecting the occupants with a more gentle inflation. Whatever the severity of the impact, the airbags ensure that neither the driver nor the front passenger contacts the steering wheel or instrument panel.
A special weight sensor in the passenger seat registers whether the seat is occupied or not. The system can thus differentiate between a passenger and a lighter object such as a briefcase. If the seat is occupied by a weight less than 12 kg, the front passenger airbag is not deployed, saving replacement costs following a crash and potentially leading to lower insurance charges. The front passenger airbag can also be deactivated using a key switch, when a child seat is fitted.
finding a kit to disable the airbag is not going to be easy,noone including dealers will sell or install them on any bimmer,
you could find a kit and buy individual replacement parts,but,i wouldn't recommend it,much less recommend switching the airbag off,personally,I would purchase and install a 5 point restraint that doesn't let the child move forward too much and pull the seat all the way back,the child will not be hurt that way,also in a low speed crash,bimmers dont fully inflate the bag,here is what one owner has to say on a forum about it,
I take my 3, 6 and 9 year olds for drives in my car. These cars are very safe, as is evidenced by my auto insurance premiums being only marginally higher for the Z3 than for my pickup and my wife's SUV. Of course we do have those vehicles for use in transporting the kids most of the time.

Several key things to keep in mind: use a booster seat so the child sits higher, to move the seat all the way back, and to not allow the child to lean against the door--you need to have adequate clearance there.

It's hard for me to believe a side airbag could be worse than hitting the door itself in a side impact--assuming the child is sitting a little away from the door to allow full inflation of the airbag before the child hits it

HI Nick.

Please do not do this, there is pyrotechnics involved which can be extremely dangerous if triggered while you are working on it.

If you want to disable it for the safety of a child that will ride in that seat, look for the child safety switch to disable the airbag.

Keep in mind that even qualified mechanics are not allowed to work on airbag systems because it is dangerous.

Safety first please!

on some cars there is a switch that you can turn the system off for the passenger side. however children should be put in the rear seat until old enough to not require a child seat.

I doesn't look like you can disable it. The manual says all children should be in the back seat and never in a rear facing child seat in the front seat. manual is here : https://duckduckgo.com/l/?kh=-1&uddg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dodge.com%2Fdownload%2Fpdf%2Fmanuals%2F2005_PL_Neon.pdf

Generally speaking, you don't. Only trucks give you the option of turning off the passenger side airbag in the event you are hauling a child car seat.
You could unplug the air bag, but then the entire system would be disabled.

The Airbag is automatically disabled if the occupant is under 50 pounds in the passenger seat, there is an electronic scale in the seat, this is called a "SMART OR ADAPTIVE" Airbag system, so no need to worry about children in the seat be injured that are under 50 pounds. There is no safe way to disable the system without turning off all the Airbags in the SRS system. Please rate my help for Fixya, it is the only thing I ask for my 35 years of automotive expertise.

the passenger airbag is disabled automatically, the system is called the "smart Airbag system" anytime there is less than 50 pounds in the pass seat (like a child) the air bag is turned off by the control module, there is no manual override switch like the older systems have.

if you open the passanger door there is a slot for the key. you will need to press the button on the circular key to pull out the real key.  Don't do that!The airbag is a safety device which can save the life of the passenger in case of an accident!However,as the Corvette is a 2-seat car,if you are talking about a child,I strongly recommend you to install an aftermarket Passenger Airbag ON-OFF switch.That is possible even for older car models

Well, for one you not suppose to put a baby seat in the front of the car. But anyways with an older airbag control system like that you cannot just disable one airbag, if you unplug the passenger side airbag then in an accident neither airbags will deploy.