Rear Airbags and child seats
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My 545 came with rear bags. I have a 16 month old and a 3 year old. They are both in car seats. Should I leave the bags on or turn them off? The owners manual only warns about kids that can lean their heads against the bag, nothing that I could find about kids in car seats. Has anyone researched this? If they provide additional protection I obviously want to use them.
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My Ride: [i][b][u]Since 19 august 2004[/u][/b][/i]: [color=red][b]530i[/b] High Executive[/color], Silvergray with beige interior, Popular wood, Servotronic, Sportssuspension, electric foldable and dimmed mirrors, dimmed interior mirror, pappelmaser braun wood, cupholders, styling 123 18" wheels, Logic 7, Steptronic, alarm class 3, electric sunscreen in the rear and suncreens for sidewindows, Comfort seats, heated seats, Xenon with headlightwashers, Adaptive corner lights ALC, Advanced airconditioning, lightpackage, Nav Pro, 6 cd changer, side airbags rearseats, bluetooth siemens S55, chrome kidneys, gearlever with wood, voice recognition retrofit, front windshield with green band.
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There has been a discussion before about this and most people advised to put them off with kids in the back. I don't have kids yet and don't know what I will do with the rear airbags if there is a baby in the back of my car.
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There should not be a problem as long as the child is secured in the seat. That is one of the reasons it is reccomended for a child to be in the back and if you have t put them in the front you should face them towards the back. That way they are protected by the seat.
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Originally Posted by kigerka' date='Nov 14 2004, 07:10 AM
There should not be a problem as long as the child is secured in the seat.? That is one of the reasons it is reccomended for a child to be in the back and if you have t put them in the front you should face them towards the back.? That way they are protected by the seat.
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As mentioned above and in another thread a while ago, rear airbags can be harmful if an unrestrained child is sleeping against them, etc. so as long as a child is properly restrained, he/she shouldn't be able to do that. I chose to have my rears activated because there's a 0% chance my kids will be leaning/sleeping against the bags. This way, I have protection for adults who sit back there as well.
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I have been going back and forth on this one. First of all for MY 2005 the rear side air bags, if you order them, come activated from the factory. THey came deactivated for MY 2004 and had to be turned on by the dealer. I have a 7 and 10 year old child and chose to keep the bags activated. One thing I noticed the first time I put the kids in the back is that the seat specifically the seat back is quite tall. My seven year old is pretty tall for his age and hasn't used a booster seat in our minivan or my old car for quite some time. In my E60 he is back in a booster, otherwise his head would be too close to the side airbag. If your youngest child is in a car seat that is fixed to the seat and has a plastic side then your probably OK. If your 3 yo is in a booster that can shift around then I probably have that side deactivated.
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I've got them in my car, and my kids are 14 and 10. The very important thing it to make sure that the kids never fall asleep and have their heads facing toward the door. As they grow, there may be the time when the are not in the car seats and fall asleep in one direction or another. You just have to always monitor them so they don't lie down, or lean towards the doors. I got mine specifically for my kids, but then realized I have to make sure they don't end up with their heads facing a door. Probably a very safe device in an accident as long as the kids are monitored.
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Originally Posted by gmartin' date='Nov 14 2004, 07:56 AM
I have been going back and forth on this one. First of all for MY 2005 the rear side air bags, if you order them, come activated from the factory. THey came deactivated for MY 2004 and had to be turned on by the dealer.? I have a 7 and 10 year old child and chose to keep the bags activated. One thing I noticed the first time I put the kids in the back is that the seat specifically the seat back is quite tall. My seven year old is pretty tall for his age and hasn't used a booster seat in our minivan or my old car for quite some time. In my E60 he is back in a booster, otherwise his head would be too close to the side airbag. If your youngest child is in a car seat that is fixed to the seat and has a plastic side then your probably OK. If your 3 yo is in a booster that can shift around then I probably have that side deactivated.
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Originally Posted by GER_545SMG' date='Nov 13 2004, 10:54 PM
My 545 came with rear bags.? I have a 16 month old and a 3 year old.? They are both in car seats.? Should I leave the bags on or turn them off?? The owners manual only warns about kids that can lean their heads against the bag, nothing that I could find about kids in car seats.? Has anyone researched this?? If they provide additional protection I obviously want to use them.
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http://www.iihs.org/safety_facts/qanda/airbags.htm#13
The net of it is that side airbags deploy more minimally (with less force and reach) than do the fronts, which I guess makes sense given that engineers must assume that someone is in close proximity to the door.
I have an 04, so will ask my dealer to activate them...good call again Rudy. I would have never known this and would have assumed they were on. BMW should have had a sticker (whcih they are usually very good about leaving) to warn that they come de-activated. Maybe it is there somewhere and I just have not found it yet...