2000 BMW 323i SEDAN belt

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Fasten your safety belt at the beginning
of every trip.
To fasten:
Make sure you hear the catch engage in
the belt buckle.
To release:
Press the red button in the buckle. Hold
the belt and guide it back into its reel.
460de074
Safety belt height adjustmentYou can adjust the safety belts to fit
your own physical dimensions by using
the safety belt height adjustment.
Slide the button downward or upward.460de136
In the rear, the belt buckle with the
word "CENTER" is provided exclu-
sively for the passenger sitting in the
middle.
For your safety, please comply
with the following instruction for
wearing safety belts. If you do not, the
safety belts may not be able to provide
their maximum protection. The follow-
ing information also applies to your
passengers:
Never allow more than one person to
wear a single safety belt. Never allow
infants or small children to ride in a pas-
senger's lap.
Avoid twisting the belt while routing it
firmly across your hips and shoulder.
Do not allow the belt to rest against
hard or fragile objects in your pockets.
Never route the belt across your neck,
do not run it across sharp edges and be
sure that the belt does not become
caught or jammed.
Be sure that the safety belt fits snugly
against your body at all times, and
avoid wearing clothing that prevents
the belt from fitting properly. Pull on the
belt periodically to readjust the tension
across your shoulder. In the event of a
frontal impact, a loose lap belt could
slide over your hips, leading to abdomi-
Safety belts

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Safety belts Child restraint systems
*
nal injury. In addition, the safety belt's
restraint effectiveness is reduced if the
belt is worn loosely.
Expectant mothers should also wear
the safety belt, taking special care to
place the lap belt over the lower hips,
where it does not exert pressure on the
abdominal area.<
For care instructions, refer to "Car care"
page 135.
If the safety belt system has been
subjected to the stresses in-
volved in an accident or otherwise
damaged: Have the entire safety belt
mechanism replaced by your BMW
center, including the safety belt ten-
sioner. In addition, have your BMW
center inspect the safety belt anchors.
If a child restraint system was in the ve-
hicle during an accident, consult the
manufacturer's instructions regarding
replacement.<
Never install a rear-facing child re-
straint device on the front passen-
ger seat. Injuries could occur if the air-
bag is triggered in the event of an
accident.
Children should always ride in the rear.
Do not modify the child restraint system
in any way. If you do so, it will not pro-
vide your child with maximum protec-
tion.<

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Child-safety locks Airbags On a rear door, the push the safety
lever downward:
The door can now be opened from the
outside only.460de021
1 Front airbags for driver and passen-
ger
2 Side impact Head Protection System
(front)
3 Side airbags (front and rear
*).
Protective effectThe front airbags supplement the three-
point safety belts by providing additional
protection for the front-seat occupants
in the event of a severe frontal collision
on which the protection afforded by the
belts alone may no longer be sufficient.
The head and side airbags help provide
protection in the event of a side impact.
Each of the side airbags is designed to
help support the upper body.460de140
The illustration depicts schematically
the primary directions of vehicle impact
that initiate an airbag deployment.460de141

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
AirbagsIndicator lamp
The indicator lamp displays the
operational status of the airbag
system when the ignition key is
in position 1 and higher.
System operational:
>The indicator lamp comes on briefly
then goes out.
System malfunction:
>The indicator lamp fails to come on.
>The indicator lamp comes on briefly
before going out, and then lights up
again.
If there is a system malfunction, there is
a risk that the airbags will not be trig-
gered within their normal response
range, even if the level of impact would
normally have triggered them.
Have your BMW center inspect and
repair the system immediately.
The airbag indicator lamp also
comes on if the safety belt ten-
sioners have been triggered.<
For your own safety, please com-
ply with the following precautions
concerning airbags. If you do not, their
protective function may be impaired
and your personal safety endangered.
The following information pertains to all
occupants:
The airbags are supplemental restraint
devices designed to provide extra pro-
tection; they are not a substitute for
safety belts. Wear your safety belt at all
times. The airbags will not be triggered
in the event of a minor accident, a vehi-
cle roll-over, or collisions from the rear.
In these instances, the safety belt offers
the best protection.
Airbags are located under the cover
panels in the steering wheel, in the in-
strument panel, in the side trim panels
in the front and rear
*, in the roof panels,
and in the sides of the inside roof lining.
Select a seat position that is comfort-
able and allows the greatest possible
distance from each of the applicable air-
bags. Hold the steering wheel at the rim
(hands at the "9 o'clock and 3 o'clock"
positions) in order to avoid injuries to
your hands or arms if the airbag is trig-
gered.
Never allow any objects to obstruct the
area between the airbag and an occu-
pant.
Do not use the cover panel above the
front passenger airbag as a storage
area.
Never tape the airbag cover panels,
cover them over or alter them in any
other way.
Never install a rear-facing child restraint
device on the front passenger seat. Chil-
dren under 13 years of age and children
who are smaller than 5 feet (150 cm),
should only travel in the rear seat.
If your vehicle is equipped with side air-
bags in the rear, be sure that child seats
are installed correctly and with the
greatest possible distance from the side
trim panels. Do not allow children to
lean out of the child's seat in the direc-
tion of the side trim panels. Otherwise,
serious injuries could occur if the airbag
is triggered.
At all times, occupants should sit up-
right and be properly restrained (infants
and small children in appropriate child
restraint systems; larger children and
adults using the safety belts). Never let
an occupant's head rest near or on a
side airbag because the inflating airbag
could cause a serious or fatal injury.
Please note that the word "Airbag" im-
printed on the door trim panel indicates
the airbag's location.

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AirbagsAccident research shows that the safest
place for children in an automobile is in
the rear seat. However, a child sitting in
the rear seat and not properly restrained
may place his or her head on or near the
side airbag, if so equipped. For exam-
ple, a child Ð even though belted Ð may
fall asleep with his or her head against
the side airbag. It may be difficult for a
driver to ensure that children in the rear
seat will remain properly positioned at
all times and not place their heads on or
near the side airbag. Therefore, we rec-
ommend that the rear seat side airbags,
if provided, be deactivated if you plan to
transport children in the rear seat.
The rear seat side airbags may already
have been deactivated, either at the
time of manufacture or by a BMW cen-
ter. Labels in the rear door opening
should indicate the status of your rear
seat side airbags. If you are uncertain of
their status, or wish to have the airbags
activated or deactivated, please contact
your BMW center. served, there is still a small residual risk
of injuries to the face, hands and arms
occurring from airbag deployment in
isolated instances. The ignition and in-
flation noise may induce a mild tempo-
rary hearing loss in sensitive individu-
als.
For additional information concerning
the airbag system: Refer to pages 137
and 163.
This is the right way for a child to sit in a
child restraint when rear side airbags
(arrow) are provided.
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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Airbags Child restraints
*
This is the right way for a larger child to
sit wearing the safety belt when rear
side airbags (arrow) are provided.462us013
Commercially available child seats
complying with the legal standard 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 sys-
tems can increase the risk of injury to
children. Always read and follow the in-
structions that come with the system.380us123
If you use a child restraint system with a
tether strap, three additional tether an-
chorage points (refer to the arrows in
the illustration) have been provided.
Depending on the location selected for
seating in the rear passenger area, at-
tach the tether strap to the correspond-
ing anchorage point to secure the child
restraint system. Remove the cover first
on the middle location.
If the respective seating position is fit-
ted with a headrest lift the headrest and
pass the tether strap between the
headrest and the seat back.
Adjust the tether strap according to the
child restraint manufacturer's instruc-
tions.
Before installing any child restraint
device or child seat, please read
the following:
Never install a rearward-facing child re-
straint system in the front passenger
seat of this car.
Your car is equipped with an airbag
supplemental restraint system for the
front passenger. Because the backrest
on any rear-facing child restraint system
(of the kind designed for infants under
1 year and 20 lbs.) would be within the
airbag's deployment range, you should
never mount such a device in the front
passenger seat, since the impact of the

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Child restraints
*
Installing a child restraint system
airbag against the child restraint's back-
rest could lead to serious or fatal inju-
ries.
If it is necessary for a child (not an in-
fant) to ride in the front seat, certain pre-
cautions should be taken. First, move
the passenger seat as far away from the
dashboard as possible. This important
precaution is intended to maximize the
distance between the airbag and the
child. Older children should be tightly
secured with the safety belt. Younger
children should be secured in an appro-
priate forward-facing child restraint sys-
tem that has first been properly secured
with a safety belt.
Never install a rear-facing child restraint
system in the front passenger seat.
We strongly urge you to carefully read
and comply with the instructions for in-
stallation and use provided by the child
restraint's manufacturer whenever you
use such a device.
Be sure that all occupants (of all ages)
remain properly and securely restrained
at all times.c
All rear seating positions in your vehicle
meet the recommendations of SAE
J1819, an industry recommended prac-
tice for securing child restraint systems
in motor vehicles.All of the rear belt retractors and the
front passenger's safety belt can be
locked for mounting and securing child
restraint systems.
Information pertaining to this is located
in the immediate vicinity of the buckle
latch of each safety belt.
Lock the safety beltExtract the entire length of the belt from
the inertia reel mechanism. Allow the
reel to retract the belt somewhat and
engage the buckle, then tighten the belt
against the child restraint system. The
retraction mechanism is now locked.
The belt cannot be extracted further.
Always comply with the installation
instructions provided by the manufac-
turer of the child restraint system.462us014
Unlock the safety beltRelease the safety belt, remove the
child's seat and pull the safety belt out
to its end position on the belt retractor.

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Cargo loadingStowing cargo If you are transporting a load in your
BMW
>Load heavy cargo as far forward as
possible Ð directly behind the back-
rests or the luggage compartment
partition Ð and as low as possible.
>Cover sharp edges and corners.
>Do not pile objects higher than the
top edge of the backrest.460de160
>If you are transporting very heavy
loads when the rear seat is not occu-
pied, secure the outer safety belts in
the opposite buckles (refer to the
illustration).460de185
Securing the load >For small, light items, use the rubber-
lined non-skid side of the floor mat or
secure with a luggage compartment
net
* or elastic straps (refer to
page 41).
>For large, heavy pieces, see your
BMW center for load-securing de-
vices*. Lashing eyes (arrow) are pro-
vided at the corners of the luggage
compartment for attaching these
load-securing devices.
>Comply with the information en-
closed with the load-securing de-
vices.
460de161