3B0 959 643 Lateral Acceleration Crash Sensor

What you get with your purchase

Your 3B0 959 643 lateral acceleration sensor for the Volkswagen Passat B5 (type 3B, model years 1996–2000) arrives as a tested used original part, ready to fit from our own stock. The sensor measures acceleration at right angles to the direction of travel and supplies the airbag control unit with the data the control unit uses to decide whether to deploy the side restraint systems.

The same sensor is listed under two numbers: the Volkswagen number 3B0 959 643 and the number 0 285 001 177 used by the supplier Bosch. If the removed part or a quote shows only one of these numbers, it refers to the same part.

Unlike many later crash sensors in the Volkswagen Group, the 3B0 959 643 is not coded: it is not programmed to an individual vehicle and needs no coding at all – neither by us before dispatch nor at the garage during fitting.

You can find every offer for part number 3B0 959 643 together on the part number page.

Why we need your vehicle identification number

The 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN) is part of the ordering process for this sensor too, even though it is not coded. We want to prevent an item from being bought for a vehicle it is not intended for – that is what we need your VIN for.

The 3B0 959 643 belongs in the Passat B5 built from 1996 to 2000. The VIN identifies your version unambiguously, which is more reliable than giving the model and year of manufacture, because crash sensors across the Volkswagen Group look almost identical from the outside. We carry out spot checks on orders for this purpose; we do not do anything else with the VIN.

Old-unit deposit

When ordering, you choose what happens to the sensor you remove: if you send your old unit to Airbag24 in advance, no deposit is charged. If you do not have an old unit or will send it in later, an old-unit deposit is added.

The deposit is credited back to you once we have received your old unit. You select the option directly beneath the item during the ordering process.

Fitting and safety

The crash sensor is part of the restraint system and therefore safety-critical. Have it fitted by a specialist garage: the airbag system must be de-energised before any work begins, and restraint systems call for hands-on experience.

There is no coding step of any kind for the 3B0 959 643. The sensor is fitted in the same position as the original part that was removed.

Airbag24 has been working on airbag systems for over 20 years and has repaired more than 20,000 control units. If the airbag warning light stays on after fitting, the cause usually lies not with the sensor you have just fitted but with the wiring, the connector or the control unit – reading the stored fault codes will show which of these it is.