Airbag Deactivation & Babyseat Question

[scz4]

Looking to buy a car which only has two seats. The earlier Z4M's don't have Isofix or the Airbag Deactivation button.

Does this mean I can't fit a babyseat ever, or only restricted to using a forward facing seat once they are a year old or so? Not a rear facing seat basically.

[Ranger 6]

Be careful with any putting a baby seat in the front of any car which doesn't have a deactivation key/switch. It's not just airbags - remember the seatbelt tensioners as well.

[Risotto]

Check with BMW - if they're anything like Porsche, they'll be happy to relieve you of several hundred pounds in return for five minutes work switching some electronic setting.

Some manufacturers used to use a system called ASKE developed by Mercedes(?) which used a pair of transponders - you just placed them under the child seat to disable the airbag. No idea whether BMW ever amde use of the technology I'm afraid.

[RobM77]

Risotto said:

Some manufacturers used to use a system called ASKE developed by Mercedes(?) which used a pair of transponders - you just placed them under the child seat to disable the airbag. No idea whether BMW ever amde use of the technology I'm afraid.

I always thought there was a good reason why non safety related items like indicators and climate control were on the iDrive or using clever transponders etc, but when it came to airbag disabling, there was a big clear old fashioned switch that said "airbag off - baby safe!". I'm not sure I'd want to trust my baby's life to a complicated transponder system...

[mrmr96]

RobM77 said:

I'm not sure I'd want to trust my baby's life to a complicated transponder system...

Agree with that! Sometimes a big button with two clearly marked settings is best, especially when it's key operated to avoid accidental switching.

[Ranger 6]

RobM77 said:

... I'm not sure I'd want to trust my baby's life to a complicated transponder system...

and funnily enough one of the issues with BMWs these days is the passenger sensor pad in the seat which throws errors....
so it's not just babies, it could be any front seat passenger!

[RobM77]

Ranger 6 said:

and funnily enough one of the issues with BMWs these days is the passenger sensor pad in the seat which throws errors....
so it's not just babies, it could be any front seat passenger!

That's interesting. Are you saying that the front seat airbag doesn't fire if the car decides there's nobody sat there? What's the harm in it firing into empty space?

[CDP]

Get a roof rack.

[JQ]

Following my research on this matter, it would appear you can put a forward facing child seat in a car with an front airbag - 6 months onwards. My Mazda manual staes this and just recommends that you move the seat to it's rear most position. You just can't install a rear facing one. You might need to check issues with side airbags.

Personally, I've not risked it and have disabled the passenger airbag on my MX5 - a very simple procedure that took me 2mins to complete, which could be a bit more complicated on a BMW.

Not sure of the relevance of seatbelt tensioners as the seatbelt attaches to the car seat and the car seat has belts that go round the child - so I'd have thought they'd be a good thing. Obviously once the chids a bit older and in a booster seat it might be relevant.

[Ranger 6]

RobM77 said:

That's interesting. Are you saying that the front seat airbag doesn't fire if the car decides there's nobody sat there? What's the harm in it firing into empty space?

Yes, as you rightly identify there's no harm (other than insurance costs for rebuilding the dash) if it fires into empty space - the problem comes if it doesn't fire when it should.