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Well if we're gonna get that sensible and that logical and that truthful bout airbags, then umm, I suppose its only fair to point out that a steering wheel mounted SRS is 'supposed' to impact into the chest area, not the face. On SRS equipped vehicles, its one of the prime reasons steering wheel height, & driver's seating position in terms of seat adjustment is so so critical............ On ya Graham - nice!! Edit: Oh ok, I'll play the 'sensible' game too - in addition to the above bit bout wheel height etc, its actually fairly critical also on a SRS equipped vehicle, that the driver 'steers' the vehicle in the correct manner............as a wee hint, you don't wanna be holding the steering wheel in the 12'o clock position one handed & have the airbag 'go off' - its highly likely it'll kill ya......... Same as passengers resting their feet on LHS of dash - another goooood way to die when an airbag goes offski.........

Started as a result of what's been happening (IMO, unfairly...) elsewhere in a project thread, lets have a proper healthy / unhealthy debate here on airbags then........facts / fiction/ friction, & anything else welcome - bring it on!! So anyway, here we go.............some common & not so common stuff....... - I'm thinking of bypassing the passenger seat sensor so I can get a wof, whatyareckon..........?? - Are my 20 yr old airbags still gonna work ok in a crash?? - What degree of impact might set my airbags offffffffffffffff?? - Will they work if I leave the road & roll my car......???? - Is my 20 yr old airbag system weight dependant?? (As a general guide, the correct answer is ummm, 'No') - Can I remove the airbags from my vehicle?? If I can, how do I do this.........?? - My 22stone Ethiopian brother from another mother sits in my car - will my airbags protect him too?? - Aww I dunno - does my SRS system activate via crush points or rate of deceleration, I dunno ....??? - My car has got driver SRS - how do I fit a 'sports' steering wheel.......?? - So, crossing pins 12 & 18 sets it off - nooooooo way............??? - Dude, my airbags - they been folded left to right or right to left when assembled - whatchathinks?? - For any-one that's taken some 'Clive Matthew-Wilson' pills - can I retrofit airbags to my non-SRS vehicle.....?? (Apparently that plonker did.....) - I'm looking at buying a E39, been slammed & blinged & got the gangster rims - no dash lights are on, how do I know if the airbag system has been f#cked with?? - Opps, forgot the logical 1 - how do I repack my airbag after its gone off.........?? Ah rodgey, spare ones aisle 5, SuperCheap Auto??? I'll edit & keep adding...........but hey, lets knock ourselves out here ae...........

Interesting. Could be useful, too. Of course, it is hoped none of us will ever have cause to find out whether an older airbag would work or not. I've never experienced it, but people I know who have had the misfortune of having an explosively inflated bag stop their face hitting the steering wheel (a good idea - no doubt about that) described it as a fairly horrific experience in itself, akin to being smashed in the face by a boxing glove covered in sandpaper. While injured, prsumably they were less so than had they not had an airbag. I have some stats somewhere showing that the difference between surviving an accident (i.e., no fatality) with or without an airbag is quite small, yet the difference between being unscathed without an airbag, but injured when one is deployed, is quite high. Raw figures from most airbag-related studies focus on lives saved or lost, with or without airbags, and the differences between those numbers tend to be almost statistically insignificant. Non-life threatening injuries are much higher with the airbag-equipped vehicles. (You may have heard of airbag 'burn', for example.)

You can legally remove airbags from a car that's over 14 years old but it needs to be certified and lights must be removed from the dash etc Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Some time (years) ago I wrote this for a Porsche 928 forum: "The first airbag fitted to a customer-sold, production line vehicle was in a 1980 S-class Mercedes. It took Merc 13 years to develop technology suitable for public use. Development of airbags for use in cars began at Mercedes back in 1967. Deployment of an airbag in an appropriate time - less than 30 milliseconds - meant development of several new technologies, not least the fabric used for the bag. Explosive inflation ripped or tore most fabrics and those fabrics originally used will have deteriorated in the last 25 years - take a piece of canvas, fold it tightly in an enclosed space, and see how long it lasts! Early airbags used a powder, similar to talcum, to stop the folds of the bag sticking to each other. Over time, damp plays a part in reducing the powder's effectiveness, causing a reduction in effectiveness of the airbag deployment system. Volvo increased the replacement interval for their airbags from 10 to 15 years as recently as 2005, but still require the system to be checked after 10 years." So... Aside from what Dave has already said, there's a little more to this than just "will it work?" And there's an elephant in the room - airbags aren't required to be checked for any inspections. The WoF just needs the system to show that they would work if required.

Mine has had the M325i with black leather interior and no a/c while pregnant and with baby, then the 328i coupe with toddler and now a Mazda 3, all manual, she would rather drive than walk.

^^ LOL Mine at home won't drive a manual either. She'd walk.

Todays progress, this was unexpected... this was quite literally 6 hours later, the engine was twisted and no one could figure out how to get it to rest on the mounts…had to get a mate over who's done a few engine swaps, he also supplied some 9 tone ratchets straps (stressful time, no photos) All in all it went well, no damage to the car getting it in and only a few tiny paint blemishers on the engine from rubbing etc. Now for all the fun stuff, hooking everything up...

E46 airbag light is on too and probably going to do the same mod to get rid of it. It'll be fiiiiiiiinnne!

Just got it back from Dad today (It's Sunday again too )

Ahhh rodgey, I'd heard that too. I'd heard it doesn't even have to be 14yrs old in order to do this little mod.............. As part of what my cousin's aunties sister's youngest daughter's boyfriend's mate down the road heard while he was at the pub 2 Friday nights ago in Tuatapere, apparently the only thing needed in addition to what you're saying there Seamus is anywhere there was a airbag, there MUST be a sticker in its place clearly stipulating that the airbag has been removed....... In my defence though, that might just be a Tuatapere regulation, which is highly likely to be different to what the boys reckon with their farm utes out at Tokanui....... Not that we wanna stray off topic or anything, but maybe consider this as a 'legal scenario........' If I'm, say, a dog botherer for example....(farmer), I can now rock into a dealer from 1/1/14, buy a new ute, get it certed for airbags being removed, then spend over 1100 days using it hard off-road on a station or whatever, overloading it as ya do, bouncing off fence posts etc etc before it legally needs another inspection for roadworthiness (wof)......... Awesome ae............

Ok then, heres a link.............for all the mass debate on it that's wanted, in whats highly likely a more correct spot rather than some-ones project thread....... http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/47499-airbag-thread-wahoo/

An E38 is hardly a "new BMW" though.... i think its more likely the sensor is just an on/off switch, rather than pressure/weight sensitive

Well, its nice colour, is 2 door, has the 'good motor' in it, & probably from pics, looks tidy enough for what it is. And its already been tweaked a bit in terms of suspension & tints etc. IMO its probably around 1k overpriced, but ya could certainly do a lot worse than that one. Its been a chick's car, which also generally lessens the likely hood that its already been reamed senseless by some-one, that umm, drives like you do.........

I think you're on the right track personally, & like you say, it'll save grief & brain damage at wof time, & also if you're having any roadside debates on it. Generally, from my experiances in past, doesn't cost anything more to get 1 or 5 mods certed, & it also helps keep things all above board with insurance company....... On your 20's, so long as rolling diameter is similar to biggest size stock fitment, the only real thing you could get pinged for IMO is the increase in track width....... Its weird in some ways, as technically my ute probably requires cert for its wheels / tyres, yet it gets VTNZ wofs no problem, & is definitely a safer vehicle to drive in ALL circumstances that the rubbish Toyota had on it straight from factory........ My insurance company knows all my vehicles get 'tweaked', so they just accept that & charge accordingly........

I've posted it in a previous thread before but check out the wires in the flexible hose that joins the boot lid with the car. On my old e39 there was loose wires that were shorting out and preventing the car going into sleep mode. 15 minutes with some solder and electrical tape and she was sorted.

E30: Garage Queen

The e36 and e39 climate control are both different e39 wider and squared off edges as oposed to e36