passenger airbag disablement

[micahz3]

hi all.

the advent of a son means that my attention has turned to kiddie seats and passenger airbags.

as you may be aware kiddie seats and airbags are not a cool combination.

i'm assuming that my '97 2.8 Z3 has a passenger airbag. what's the easiest way of verifying?

from what i can ascertain there is no passenger airbag disablement switch on the Z3. the fusebox implicates fuses 41 & 42 with 'Airbag'. i surmise that each airbag will be on a separate fuse. can't i simply remove the appropriate fuse when i want to escort junior? how do i determine which fuse?

what about side impact airbags? from what i can determine some Z3s have these. i'm not sure how cool these are with kiddie seats. but how do i know if they're fitted?

many thanks in advance.

[Robert T]

Does the panel on the passenger side corresponding to the instrument binnacle have SRS airbag embossed on it? If not, and it is the original panel, then you likely do not have a passenger airbag. My 01/99 built 1.9 definitely does not.

If you do have an airbag, then simply removing the fuse is not going to work. Neither will disconnecting it, as the airbag system will see this as a fault and disable the driver's airbag and seatbelt pre-tensioners. It needs to be done properly. There will be a thread on here somewhere on the subject.

Side airbags were only fitted to later cars than yours, so you shouldn't need to worry about those.

Cheers R.

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[micahz3]

i see. very helpful. thanks.

the panel definitely does not bear any such embossing.

let's just say the panel had been replaced, due to airbag deployment or whatever, what would be my back-up check to determine that i don't have a passenger airbag?

[Robert T]

Short of disassembling the car to see what is underneath (which I wouldn't recommend!), the only way I can think to tell is to put the car in diagnostics and see what the airbag module thinks it has attached to it. Using INPA I can see that my car only has a driver's airbag:



If you don't have access to INPA yourself, there may be someone nearby who is willing to plug your car in and check it for you.

Cheers R.

[BladeRunner919]

I'd just pop the cover open and have a look. Stick a blunt knife under the front edge and pop it up. Even if you do have an airbag there's nothing for you to damage by taking the cover off and you won't set the airbag off (unless you happen to hit at tree at exactly the same time!).