deactivate passenger airbag BMW 645CI COUPE&CONVERTIBLE 2004 Owners Manual

Controls
51Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Transporting children safely
The right place for children
Children always in the rear
Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in a vehicle is in the rear
seat.
Older children should be tightly secured
with a safety belt, after they have outgrown
a booster seat that is appropriate for their
age, height and weight.
Child-restraint system in the rear
Children under 13 years of age and
children less than 5 ft/150 cm tall
should always ride in the rear and the
restraint systems should be secured with
the vehicle's safety belts.<
Younger children should be secured in an
appropriate forward-facing child-restraint
system that has first been properly
secured. We strongly urge you to carefully
read and comply with the instructions for
installation and use provided by the child-
restraint's manufacturer whenever you use
such a device.
All rear sitting positions in your vehicle
meet the recommendations of SAE J1819,
an industry-recommended practice for
securing child-restraint systems in motor
vehicles.
Exception for front passenger seat
Should it become necessary to use
a child-restraint system on the front
passenger seat, the airbags on the passen-
ger's side must be deactivated. Deactivat-
ing the passenger airbags is only possible
on the Coupe. Your BMW center will be
glad to advise you. restraint system in the front passen-
ger seat of this vehicle if the passenger air-
bag is not deactivated. If you do so, the
child could be severely injured when the
airbag is triggered.
Your vehicle is equipped with an airbag
supplemental restraint system for the front
passenger. Because the backrest on any
rearward-facing child-restraint system – of
the kind designed for infants under 1 year
and 20 Ibs./9 kg – would be within the air-
bag's deployment range, you should never
mount such a system in the front passenger
seat, since the impact of the airbag against
the child restraint's backrest could lead to
serious or fatal injuries.<
Installing child-restraint
systems
Before installing any child-restraint system
or child seat, read the following:
Observe the child-restraint system
manufacturer's instructions for instal-
lation and use. Otherwise the degree of
protection can be reduced.
After an accident, have all parts of the
child-restraint system and of the relevant
vehicle safety belt system checked by a
BMW center and replaced if necessary.<
Commercially-available child-restraint sys-
tems are designed to be secured with a lap
belt or with the lap belt portion of a combi-
nation lap/shoulder belt. Improperly or
inadequately installed restraint systems
can increase the risk of injury to children.
Always read and follow the instructions that
come with the system.

Controls
81Reference
At a glance
Driving tips
Communications
Navigation
Entertainment
Mobility
Airbags
The following airbags are located under the
marked covers:
1Front airbags for driver and front pas-
senger
2Coupe: head airbags
3Front side airbags
4Knee airbag for front passenger
5Knee airbag for driver
Protective effect
The front airbags help protect the driver
and front passenger by responding to fron-
tal impacts in which safety belts alone can-
not provide adequate restraint. When
needed, the head and side airbags help
provide protection in the event of a side
impact. The side airbags help restrain the
side of the occupant's upper torso, and the
head airbags help support the head while
also helping provide protection against any
objects penetrating into the passenger
compartment.
The airbags are deliberately not triggered
in every impact situation, e.g. less severe
accidents, certain rollover conditions, or
rear-end collisions.
For information on the correct sitting posi-
tion, refer to page 42.
Even if you adhere to all the instructions
injuries resulting from contact with airbags
cannot be fully excluded, depending on the
circumstances. The ignition and inflation
noise may provoke a mild hearing loss in
extremely sensitive individuals. This effect
is usually only temporary.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 reten-
tion system from the vehicle. Never modify
or tamper with either the wiring or the indi-
vidual components in the airbag system.
This category includes the upholstery in the
center of the steering wheel, on the instru-
ment panel, the side trim panels on the
doors and on the Coupe 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
directly after the system has been trig-
gered, because there is a danger of burns.
If you note any indication of system mal-
function, if you desire to have an airbag
deactivated, or if the airbag retention sys-
tem is triggered in response to an accident,
you should always entrust all inspection,
repair and dismantling operations to your
BMW center. Unprofessional attempts to
service the system could lead to failure in
an emergency or undesired airbag activa-
tion, either of which could result in personal
injury.<
Airbag warning information is also provided
on the sun visors.