deactivate passenger airbag BMW 530I 2006 Owners Manual

Transporting children safely
52
Transporting children safely
The right place for children
Do not leave children unattended in the
vehicle, otherwise they could endanger
themselves and other persons, e.g. by opening
the doors.<
In principle, all seats in your BMW are suitable,
with the exception of the driver's seat, for
mounting universal child restraint systems for
all age classes approved for the respective age
group.
Children always in the rear
Accident research shows that the safest place
for children is on the back seat.
Children younger than 13 years of age or
with a height under 5 ft/150 cm may only
be transported in the rear in child restraint sys-
tems which correspond to the age, weight and
height of the child. Otherwise there is an
increased danger of injury in an accident.<
Children 13 years of age or older must wear a
safety belt as soon as a suitable child restraint
system can no longer be used due to their age,
size and weight.
All rear seat positions in your vehicle comply
with the recommendations of the standard
SAE J1819 for the safe securing of child
restraint systems in motor vehicles.
If your BMW is equipped with side airbags
in the rea r, make s ure tha t children do not
lean against the door trim, otherwise serious
injuries can result when the side airbags are
triggered.<
Deactivating rear seat side airbags
Stickers on the rear door frame indicate the sta-
tus of the rear side airbags. If the status cannot
be clearly recognized, or if you want to have the
airbags activated/deactivated, please contact
your BMW center.
Exception for front passenger seat
Should it be necessary to use a child-
restraint system on the front passenger
seat, the front and side airbag must be deacti-
vated. Otherwise, there is an increased risk of
injury for the child if the airbags are triggered,
even with a child-restraint system. Your BMW
center will be glad to advise you.<
More information on automatic deactivation of
the front passenger airbags, refer to page90.
Installing child-restraint
systems
Observe the child-restraint system man-
ufacturer's instructions for selection,
installation and use of the child restraint sys-
tems. Otherwise the degree of protection may
be reduced.<
Commercially available child restraint systems
are designed for securing with a lap belt or with
the lap belt section of a three-point belt. Incor-
rectly or improperly installed child restraint sys-
tems can increase the risk of injury for children.
Always follow the instructions for installing the
system exactly.
On front passenger seat
Before mounting a child restraint system
on the front passenger seat, make sure
that the front and side airbag on the front pas-
senger side are deactivated, otherwise there is
an increased risk of injury if the airbags are trig-
gered.<
Seat height
Before mounting a universal child-restraint sys-
tem, move the front passenger seat into the
highest position to achieve the best possible
belt routing. Do not change this seat height.

Technology for comfort, convenience and safety
90
Airbags
The following airbags are located under the
marked covers:
1Front airbags
2Head airbags
3Side airbags in front and rear
Protective action
To ensure that the safety systems con-
tinue to provide optimized protection,
please observe the adjustment instructions on
page43.<
The front airbags help protect the driver and
front passenger by responding to frontal
impacts in which safety belts alone cannot pro-
vide adequate restraint. When needed, the
head and side airbags help provide protection in
the event of side impact. The relevant side air-
bag supports the side upper body area. The
head air bag supports the head.
The airbags are deliberately not triggered in
every impact situation, e. g. less severe acci-
dents, certain roll-over conditions, or rear-end
collisions.
Stickers on the rear door frame indicate
the status of the rear side airbags. If the
status cannot be clearly recognized, or if you
want to have the airbags activated/deactivated,
please contact your BMW center.<
For details on the correct seat position, refer to
page43.
Do not apply adhesive materials to the
cover panels of the airbags, cover them or
modify them in any other way. Do not attempt to
remove the airbag retention system from the
vehicle. Do not modify or tamper with either the wiring or the individual components in the air-
bag system. This category includes the uphol-
stery in the center of the steering wheel, on the
instrument panel, the doors and the roof pillars
along with the sides of the headliner. Do not
attempt to remove or dismantle the steering
wheel. Do not touch the individual components
immediately after the system has been trig-
gered, because there is a danger of burns. In the
event of malfunctions, deactivation, or trigger-
ing of the airbag restraint system, have the test-
ing, repair, removal, and disposal of airbag gen-
erators executed only by a BMW center or a
workshop that works according to BMW repair
procedures with correspondingly trained per-
sonnel and has the required explosives
licenses. Unprofessional attempts to service
the system could lead to failure in an emer-
gency or undesired airbag activation, either of
which could result in personal injury.<
Warnings and information on the airbags is also
provided on the sun visors.
Automatic deactivation of front
passenger airbags
The occupation of the seat is detected by eval-
uating the impression on the occupied seat sur-
face of the front passenger seat. The front and
side airbag on the front passenger side are acti-
vated or deactivated accordingly by the system.
The current status of the front passenger
airbag, i.e. deactivated or activated, is
indicated by the indicator lamp over the interior
rearview mirror, refer to Operating state of front
passenger airbags in the following.<

Controls
91Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Before transporting a child on the front
passenger seat, observe the safety infor-
mation and handling instructions under Trans-
porting children safely refer to page52.
The front and side airbag on the front passen-
ger side can be deactivated for teenagers and
adults in certain seat positions; then the indica-
tor lamp for the front passenger airbags lights
up. In these cases, change the seat position so
that the front passenger airbags are activated
and the indicator lamp goes out. If the desired
status cannot be produced by changing the
seat position, transport the corresponding per-
son on the rear seat. Do not fit seat covers, seat
cushion padding, ball mats or other items onto
the front passenger seat unless they are specif-
ically recommended by BMW. Do not lay
objects under the seat which could press
against the seat from below. Otherwise a cor-
rect evaluation of the occupied seat surface
cannot be ensured.<
Operating state of front passenger
airbags
Depending on the vehicle's equipment, the
arrangement of the switches and indicator
lamps may differ somewhat.
The indicator lamp for the front passenger air-
bags indicates the operating status of the front
and side airbag on the front passenger side
depending on the seat occupation. The indica-
tor lamp shows whether the front passenger
airbags are activated or deactivated.
>The indicator lamp lights up when a child in
a child restraint system intended for the
purpose is properly detected on the seat.
The front and side airbag on the front pas-
senger side are not activated.>The indicator lamp does not light up when,
for example, a correctly seated person of
sufficient height is detected on the seat.
The front and side airbag on the front pas-
senger side are activated.
>The indicator lamp does not light up when
the seat is empty.
The front and side airbag on the front pas-
senger side are not activated.
Operational readiness of airbag system
From radio readiness, refer to page56, the
warning lamp lights up briefly, indicating the
operational readiness of the entire airbag sys-
tem and the safety belt tensioners.
Airbag system malfunction
>Warning lamp does not light up from radio
readiness.
>Warning lamp lights up continuously.
Have the airbag system checked immedi-
ately in case of a malfunction, otherwise
there is a danger that the airbag system may not
respond in the expected manner in an accident
despite an impact of corresponding intensity.<