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WARNING - Rear Air Bags inactive!

2K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  DrBimmer 
#1 ·
If you ordered Rear Air Bags... They may be INACTIVE!!!

I ordered the Rear Air Bags, but the car was delivered with the bags "NOT ACTIVATED." (It took 3 weeks to finally notice the little sticker on the door frame.) So, I call service, and they say, "Oh yeah, you have to have the bags activated - I'll schedule an appointment. It takes half a day." BIG inconvenience! And, no one ever told me the things were inactive! Besides, what idiot at BMW decided to deliver cars with inactive air bags?! :mad:

Isn't it REASONABLE to expect everything on the car to ACTUALLY function, when the car is delivered?
:dunno:
 
#2 ·
machmeter said:
If you ordered Rear Air Bags... They may be INACTIVE!!!

I ordered the Rear Air Bags, but the car was delivered with the bags "NOT ACTIVATED." (It took 3 weeks to finally notice the little sticker on the door frame.) So, I call service, and they say, "Oh yeah, you have to have the bags activated - I'll schedule an appointment. It takes half a day." BIG inconvenience! And, no one ever told me the things were inactive! Besides, what idiot at BMW decided to deliver cars with inactive air bags?! :mad:

Isn't it REASONABLE to expect everything on the car to ACTUALLY function, when the car is delivered?
:dunno:
it's a safety concern. If there are ever going to be kids in your back seat, leave them inactive
 
#3 ·
Re: Re: WARNING - Rear Air Bags inactive!

atyclb said:
it's a safety concern. If there are ever going to be kids in your back seat, leave them inactive
My car is an Official Child-Free Zone! ;)

I understand the concern, but I knew the safety considerations WHEN I ordered the car, so I just assumed the bags would be active. Otherwise, what is one supposed to do - run to Service before and after every trip with a child? ON-OFF-ON-OFF?

There ought to be switch.
 
#4 ·
I had them on my '99 323, and at that time they came active.

Around the time that I was negotiating the buy-back and swap for my '00, there was a big thing in the news about the safety of side airbags, since there were few or no safety regulations that manufacturers had to meet. The study showed that the airbags were often inflating with excessive force, and they were a great risk for small children. As a result, BMW (as well as other manufacturers, I am sure...) deactivated the rear airbags. The front side airbags are active because both the driver and front passenger should be old enough and big enough to be safe in the event that the airbag deploys.

The airbags have been like this for over 3 years. It is a safety concern. BMW is not at fault here, it just sounds like your dealer forgot to mention this to you.
 
#7 ·
It does NOT take half a day to activate them. They can be done with the key preferences. When I went to VOB to have mine activated, they gave me a lot of crap about it until they realized that it was nice and easy.

They gave me some line about previous models requiring actual work to activate the bags.
 
#9 ·
DrBimmer said:
On some models, that is true. You have to take the door panel off and do some stuff inside the door.

Did they make you sign any authorization forms??
Yep. Signed on the dotted line acknowledging that under no circumstances is BMW resonsible for the safety of anyone in the car.
 
#11 ·
jrubens said:
Is it better, then, not to get the rear airbags? I'm looking at a convertible, so I figured it would be a good idea to have them.
It's bad only if you have tiny children, and ESPECIALLY a car seat.
 
#12 ·
DrBimmer said:
On some models, that is true. You have to take the door panel off and do some stuff inside the door.

Did they make you sign any authorization forms??
My Euro-delivered '03 530 also had the rear airbags deactivated.

And to activate them, the technician had to remove the door panel and physically connect the wires!

ian
 
#13 ·
roots said:
My Euro-delivered '03 530 also had the rear airbags deactivated.

And to activate them, the technician had to remove the door panel and physically connect the wires!

ian
How inconvenient. BMW really ought to take care of this BEFORE the car is delivered. Simply ask us if we want the rear ir bags activated, have us sign the forms, etc., and then we could avoid the hassle.
 
#14 ·
machmeter said:
How inconvenient. BMW really ought to take care of this BEFORE the car is delivered. Simply ask us if we want the rear ir bags activated, have us sign the forms, etc., and then we could avoid the hassle.
True, but it is one of those things like Car & Key Memory--- it is your dealer's responsibility to inform you about it if you do not already know it. It is not BMWNA's fault that the dealer forgot to do its job.

You bought your car from the dealer, not directly from BMWNA. Part of the purpose of the dealer is to sell the vehicle to the customer and then inform them about all the features of the new car upon delivery. Failing to mention the key programming, airbag activiation process, etc. is stupidity on the dealer's part.
 
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