Is there a way to manually disable the passenger side front air bag? My 4.5 year old daughter is now interested in sitting in the front seat and her booster seat does not seem to have the appropriate assembly to disable the bag (as per the manual).
pretty certain that it is not possible without MB child seat (which does it automatically). last time i checked, there were no MB child seats available for a child as old as that.
pretty certain that it is not possible without MB child seat (which does it automatically). last time i checked, there were no MB child seats available for a child as old as that.
safest place for her is in the second row.
I think you may be correct, Bruce. I may have to try to devise a means to "overide" the system.
And I agree about the safest place location.....just try to explain that to a 4.5 year old when it's just the 2 of you in the car! [:D] That was fine at 4...but now she's "a big girl!".
Is it not the case that the air bag is dangerous if the child is sitting in one of those rear facing child seats? Or also in a child seat which sits the child further forward than an adult would sit.
Maybe it is safe if she sits normally on the seat (or on a booster seat) restrained with the seat belt.
Is it not the case that the air bag is dangerous if the child is sitting in one of those rear facing child seats? Or also in a child seat which sits the child further forward than an adult would sit.
Maybe it is safe if she sits normally on the seat (or on a booster seat) restrained with the seat belt.
As far as I'm aware, the problem is that an airbag is generally rated to "secure" an adult in place. Even then most adults sustain some injuries relating to the air bag (of course far less than without). It would do serious harm to a child and therefore they recommennd that it be turned off. The booster seat (that I have) both raises and moves my daughter forward....although I did move the seat all the way aft when she sat there.
Maybe someone more familiar with air bag design can shed some light on the subject. At what age/weight/height is it reasonable for a child to sit in a passenger seat with an air bag enabled? Does it relate to the child's size when they no longer need a booster seat?
My 2000 ML430 has a switch in the center console (where the window controls are) that lets you disable the front side passenger airbag, specifically for children sitting in the front... is that what you guys are talking about?
My 2000 ML430 has a switch in the center console (where the window controls are) that lets you disable the front side passenger airbag, specifically for children sitting in the front... is that what you guys are talking about?
riz
That's exactly what I'm talking about. They must have taken it out sometime after 2000.
My 2002 M270 has no manually operable switch to deactivate the passenger side air bag.
It has a small switch between the two left side window switches which disables the second row switches for the rear windows; is this the switch which deactivated the passenger airbag on pre-2000 ML's?
The ML has had Babysmart from the start. If you have a switch that disables your passenger airbag, then it was probably installed aftermarket. I would guess that you are referring to the rear seat child window switch, as another poster mentioned.
IIRC, MB does make a booster seat with the baby smart sensors. Your other option would be to buy an infant seat and retrofit the babysmart modules into another booster seat. I was forced to do something similar when our son outgrew his MB infant seat, and they could not sell me a rear-facing larger seat with babysmart. I retrofitted the modules in a "convertable" child seat. This was in an SLK, so we did not have the safer rear seat option.
I would not recommend messing with the airbag system. The system is monitored all the time, and if you try to bypass it, you are in danger of deactivating the system, or, worse, triggering the airbag while you're working on it. So either get your kid to sit in the back (even if it's difficult - nobody said parenting was easy[:)]), or get a proper babysmart seat.
The ML has had Babysmart from the start. If you have a switch that disables your passenger airbag, then it was probably installed aftermarket. I would guess that you are referring to the rear seat child window switch, as another poster mentioned.
I believe it is actually a feature that came with the car, as it is also in my MB user's manual. I can take some pics of the switch in question, if anyone is interested.
Linear Mode
