Rear Side airbags
01-31-2005, 06:21 PM
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They don't deploy with as much force as the fronts. Long thread about this in past. Iceman's right, a soft bag is more pleasant than a chrome grill.
I had mine activated at the dealer during my last service - I have a three year old in a booster seat and a 1.5 yr old in a car seat (LATCH).
I had mine activated at the dealer during my last service - I have a three year old in a booster seat and a 1.5 yr old in a car seat (LATCH).
01-31-2005, 07:08 PM
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Dealers for MY 2004 had to activate the rear air bags. For MY 2005 they come activated from the factory so you have to get them deactivated. I did not have to sign a waiver. My kids are 8 and 10 and I would not have bought the car without rear air bags. I've spent too much time working in ERs to not have them.
One caveat the back seatbacks are quite tall compared to most cars so I actually put my 8 yo in a booster seat that he had not used in over a year.
One caveat the back seatbacks are quite tall compared to most cars so I actually put my 8 yo in a booster seat that he had not used in over a year.
02-01-2005, 04:53 AM
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The rear side airbags can be as harmful to children under 12 as they are to adults, if they lean against the door, or they head is laying on the door. The rear side airbags does NOT have the force of the front (the force of the front airbags is necessary to deploy quickly enough to prevent your face/body from hitting the dash). And, that is for those that are NOT properly strained. With a frontal impact, there is a delay between impact and your body moving toward the dash. That is the time that the car has to detect the crash with the satellite impact sensors, and activate/deploy the airbag.
On the side airbags, on impact (T-bone, etc.), If your head is there, then the impact is immediate. BMWs have the door locking systems with the two parallel bars that helps preven the door from being crushed into the car too much. I believe the rear airbags are there to cushion the blow, but I don't think it actually prevents serious injury if the accident is bad enough. I believe the door locking mechanism plays more of a protection factor than the rear airbags. Also, they are not mandatory by NHTSA, and its an option from BMW, so there may be insufficient proof that the rear airbag is effective. It's a 350 option that can be deactivated, so if you are unusre, then you can always get it and then decide later if you want it active or not. I would not order them because you can do more just from following safety guidelines than the rear airbags can do.
1. Make sure your children are restrained in the proper seat for their age, even if they "seem" old enough or heavy enough.
2. Make sure the seatbelt is not placed across their chest and not behind them.
3. If on a long drive and they need to sleep, make sure they lean in toward the middle, not on the door
On the side airbags, on impact (T-bone, etc.), If your head is there, then the impact is immediate. BMWs have the door locking systems with the two parallel bars that helps preven the door from being crushed into the car too much. I believe the rear airbags are there to cushion the blow, but I don't think it actually prevents serious injury if the accident is bad enough. I believe the door locking mechanism plays more of a protection factor than the rear airbags. Also, they are not mandatory by NHTSA, and its an option from BMW, so there may be insufficient proof that the rear airbag is effective. It's a 350 option that can be deactivated, so if you are unusre, then you can always get it and then decide later if you want it active or not. I would not order them because you can do more just from following safety guidelines than the rear airbags can do.
1. Make sure your children are restrained in the proper seat for their age, even if they "seem" old enough or heavy enough.
2. Make sure the seatbelt is not placed across their chest and not behind them.
3. If on a long drive and they need to sleep, make sure they lean in toward the middle, not on the door
02-01-2005, 05:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Aaron' date='Feb 1 2005, 06:53 AM
The rear side airbags can be as harmful to children under 12 as they are to adults, if they lean against the door, or they head is laying on the door.? The rear side airbags does NOT have the force of the front (the force of the front airbags is necessary to deploy quickly enough to prevent your face/body from hitting the dash).? And, that is for those that are NOT properly strained.? With a frontal impact, there is a delay between impact and your body moving toward the dash.? That is the time that the car has to detect the crash with the satellite impact sensors, and activate/deploy the airbag.?
On the side airbags, on impact (T-bone, etc.), If your head is there, then the impact is immediate.? BMWs have the door locking systems with the two parallel bars that helps preven the door from being crushed into the car too much.? I believe the rear airbags are there to cushion the blow, but I don't think it actually prevents serious injury if the accident is bad enough.? I believe the door locking mechanism plays more of a protection factor than the rear airbags.? Also, they are not mandatory by NHTSA, and its an option from BMW, so there may be insufficient proof that the rear airbag is effective.? It's a 350 option that can be deactivated, so if you are unusre, then you can always get it and then decide later if you want it active or not.? I would not order them because you can do more just from following safety guidelines than the rear airbags can do.
1.? Make sure your children are restrained in the proper seat for their age, even if they "seem" old enough or heavy enough.
2.? Make sure the seatbelt is not placed across their chest and not behind them.
3.? If on a long drive and they need to sleep, make sure they lean in toward the middle, not on the door
On the side airbags, on impact (T-bone, etc.), If your head is there, then the impact is immediate.? BMWs have the door locking systems with the two parallel bars that helps preven the door from being crushed into the car too much.? I believe the rear airbags are there to cushion the blow, but I don't think it actually prevents serious injury if the accident is bad enough.? I believe the door locking mechanism plays more of a protection factor than the rear airbags.? Also, they are not mandatory by NHTSA, and its an option from BMW, so there may be insufficient proof that the rear airbag is effective.? It's a 350 option that can be deactivated, so if you are unusre, then you can always get it and then decide later if you want it active or not.? I would not order them because you can do more just from following safety guidelines than the rear airbags can do.
1.? Make sure your children are restrained in the proper seat for their age, even if they "seem" old enough or heavy enough.
2.? Make sure the seatbelt is not placed across their chest and not behind them.
3.? If on a long drive and they need to sleep, make sure they lean in toward the middle, not on the door
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My opinion is that children should not be sleeping against the door anyway...just bad general saftey in case of side impact (with or w/o bags)
02-01-2005, 08:16 AM
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Agreed. Very dangerous..with or without airbags...be it children or adults.
02-03-2005, 03:44 AM
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I ordered them and have 2 kids- ages 10 and 14. I've heard great things about these air bags in crashes, and I got them activated.
I do have rules for the kids not to lie down on the seat, and if only one kid (or a small kid) have them sit in the center seat.
Especially as the kids grow older, it can be less of a concern.
(avoiding kids lieing down would be best even without the airbags in the rear!)
I do have rules for the kids not to lie down on the seat, and if only one kid (or a small kid) have them sit in the center seat.
Especially as the kids grow older, it can be less of a concern.
(avoiding kids lieing down would be best even without the airbags in the rear!)
02-03-2005, 08:36 AM
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Originally Posted by gdavis' date='Feb 3 2005, 01:44 PM
I ordered them and have 2 kids- ages 10 and 14. I've heard great things about these air bags in crashes, and I got them activated.
I do have rules for the kids not to lie down on the seat, and if only one kid (or a small kid) have them sit in the center seat.
Especially as the kids grow older, it can be less of a concern.
(avoiding kids lieing down would be best even without the airbags in the rear!)
I do have rules for the kids not to lie down on the seat, and if only one kid (or a small kid) have them sit in the center seat.
Especially as the kids grow older, it can be less of a concern.
(avoiding kids lieing down would be best even without the airbags in the rear!)
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02-03-2005, 04:11 PM
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If you order rear airbags they are activated then?
The dealer told me they were not activated, but when they checked the car out, they told me that they already came activated.
It may be that earlier in the year they were delivered non-active, but changed them to activated later on.
It is a good question to find out for certain what they are doing with them now. And there is no way to know if they are active by the consumer.
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[/quote]The dealer told me they were not activated, but when they checked the car out, they told me that they already came activated.
It may be that earlier in the year they were delivered non-active, but changed them to activated later on.
It is a good question to find out for certain what they are doing with them now. And there is no way to know if they are active by the consumer.
02-03-2005, 04:42 PM
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The rear side airbags act as a second barrier protecting you from the side impact. THe first being the door itself. If the accident is severe enough to cause intrusion into the compartment of probalbly 18 inches then the bags are probably useless. As stated before, for MY2005 the rear side air bags come activated from the factory.
02-03-2005, 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by gmartin' date='Feb 3 2005, 09:42 PM
The rear side airbags act as a second barrier protecting you from the side impact. THe first being the door itself. If the accident is severe enough to cause intrusion into the compartment of probalbly 18 inches then the bags are probably useless. As stated before, for MY2005 the rear side air bags come activated from the factory.
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