I understand by reading the manual that all cars come with rear air bags but if you don't pay the extra money they don't activate them my question is on a 60,000 car should it be a standard option for safety reasons or is BMW just that greedy

 

Not sure where in the manual you're seeing that.

I think the bags are standard but the activation is optional due to additional risks that the bags pose to children. There was a thread about this just a few days ago...

 

I don't know how they can be standard. I paid for the rear air bags in my car, built in May, and they took money from me to order them, and they were listed as an option on the sales panel....

(unless things changed afterwards)

 

roost, make sure you're not confusing the side curtain air bags that do come standard on all E60's w/ the side impact air bags. The standard curtains require no activation. The optional side impact bags cost extra and are built into the door. You can have those de-activated if you have small children.

 

My car (still in Prep) has the rear side airbags and it was an option not a standard item.

 

I think kscarrol is correct. The standard side curtain air bags are housed in the trim above the windows and pop out to partially cover them. The optional side air bags are in the rear doors like the standard ones in the front doors.

 

I hope Rear airbags should a standard option for BMW. Rear airbags are standard for all merc benz. (Correct me if i'm wrong) In addition, Insurance will be cheaper with rear airbags.

 

Insurance might be a bit cheaper, but frankly I like it as an option. I have a 5 yr old and a 3 yr old. With the kids moving from car seats to sitting on their own, I would not be able to have the rear airbags activated for a number of years. Why would I pay for that. I agree that my situation is a bit unique but I'm not alone. The car does have the side curtain that deploys to protect the upper body and head of adults as standard.

 

kscarrol, I think you're right about the confusion between the standard curtain airbags and the optional rear door airbags.

In case you missed the thread the other day about rear door bags and child seats, you might want to click here.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), as long as your children are properly restrained in their car seats, there isn't any additional risk with the side (door) airbags. (There is a link to this information in the thread I linked to above.) Based on the fact that your kids are going to be in the car seats, I think it's safe to activate the bags now.

 

Rudy, yeah, I know about the children being OK in their seats, but what I didn't express clearly is that at 5 and almost 4, my kids will soon be moving from the full size child seats to either booster seat or just to the actual car seat w/ the adult belt. At that point I would have to have the side air bags disabled. And that situation will last for a number of years. Again I realize my situation is not typical of most owners out there, just offering my 0.02 where it's probably not needed...