2001 BMW 325Ci CONVERTIBLE belt

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Drive with your safety belt onFasten 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 firmly and guide it back into its
reel.
The safety belt system will automati-
cally adapt to your body contours.
Before putting on your safety belts
in the rear, take them out of the
holder.<
For care instructions, refer to page 154.46cus022
For your safety, please comply
with the following instructions for
wearing safety belts. If you do not, the
safety belts may not be able to provide
their maximum protection. The
following 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
passenger'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
ensure that the belt does not become
caught or jammed.
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 abdom-
inal injury. In addition, the safety belt's
restraint effectiveness is reduced if the
belt is worn loosely.
Expectant mothers should always 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.
Leave the rear safety belts in the
holders if they are not needed to avoid
unwanted movement from the safety
belts at high speeds.<
For child restraint system installation,
refer to page 64.
If the safety belt system has been
subjected to the stresses involved
in an accident or otherwise damaged:
Have the entire safety belt mechanism
replaced by your BMW center,
including the safety belt tensioner. In
addition, have your BMW center
inspect the safety belt anchors. If a
child restraint system was in the vehicle
during an accident, consult the manu-
facturer's instructions regarding
replacement.<
Safety belts

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Safety belts Airbags Child restraint systems*
Do not install a rear-facing child
restraint system in the front
passenger seat of your vehicle. If you
do so, the child could be injured in an
accident when the airbag is triggered.
Children should always ride in the rear
and the restraint systems should be
secured with the safety belts.
Do not modify the child restraint system
in any way. If you do so, it will not
provide your child with maximum
protection.<
1 Front airbags for driver and
passenger
2 Side airbags for driver and passenger
(front and rear
*)
Protective effectThe front airbags protect 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 side airbags
help provide protection in the event of a
collision from the side. Each of the side
airbags is designed to help support the
occupant's upper body.46cde048
The side airbags in the rear
passenger area
* of your vehicle
may already have been deactivated
either at the time of manufacture or by a
BMW center. You may have them acti-
vated if you desire to do so. Please
contact your BMW center for additional
information.<
The illustration depicts schematically
the primary directions of vehicle impact
that initiate airbag deployment.
The airbags will not be triggered in
the event of a minor accident, a
vehicle roll-over, or collisions from the
rear.<
46cde027

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AirbagsOperational status
The indicator lamp in the instru-
ment cluster displays the opera-
tional status of the airbag
system when the ignition key is in posi-
tion 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 the
system immediately.
The airbag indicator lamp also
comes on if the safety belt
tensioners have been triggered.<
Sitting correctly with airbags
For your safety, comply with the
following instructions for the
airbags. If you do not, the airbags may
not be able to provide their maximum
protection. All passengers in the vehicle
should be aware of and comply with
this information:
The airbags are supplemental restraint
devices designed to provide extra
protection; 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
vehicle roll-over, or collisions from the
rear. In these instances, the safety belt
provides optimal protection.
Airbags are located under cover panels
in the steering wheel, in the dashboard
and in the side trim panels in the front
and rear
*.
Adjust your seat to a position that
provides a maximum distance between
you and the steering wheel, the instru-
ment panel and the door while still
allowing comfortable and safe access
to all vehicle controls.
To avoid sustaining hand and arm inju-
ries, always grasp the steering wheel
on the rim with your hands at the 9 and
3 o'clock positions. Do not place your
hands on the center pad.
Never allow any objects to obstruct the
area between the airbag and an occu-
pant.
Do not use the cover panel above the
passenger-side airbag as a storage
area.
Do not apply adhesive materials to the
cover panels of the airbags, cover them
or modify them in any other way.
Do not install a rear-facing child
restraint system in the front passenger
seat of this vehicle.
Children under 13 years of age and
children less than 5 ft (150 cm) tall
should ride only in the rear seat.
Infants or small children should never
be held on the lap of a passenger.
If your car is equipped with side airbags
in the rear passenger area
*, be sure
that child restraints are mounted
correctly and provided with the grea-
test-possible distance between the
airbags in the side trim panels. Do not
allow children to lean out of the child's
seat in the direction of the side trim
panels. If they do so, serious injuries
can occur if the airbag is triggered.<

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Airbags
At all times, occupants should sit
upright and be properly restrained
(infants and small children in appro-
priate 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" imprinted on the door
trim panel indicates the airbag's loca-
tion.
Accident 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 airbag, if so
equipped. For example, a child Ñ even
though belted Ñ 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 recommend that
the rear seat side airbags, if so
equipped, be deactivated if children will
travel in the rear seat.
The rear seat side airbags may already
have been deactivated, either at the
time of manufacture or by a BMW
center. Labels in the 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.<
Even when all these guidelines are
observed, there is still a small residual
risk of injuries to the face, hands and
arms occurring in isolated instances.
The ignition and inflation noise may
induce a mild temporary hearing loss in
sensitive individuals.
For additional information concerning
the airbag system, refer to pages 159
and 189.This is the right way for a child to sit in
a child restraint when rear side airbags
(arrow) are provided.
46cus025

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Airbags Transporting children safely This is the right way for a larger child to
sit wearing the safety belt when rear
side airbags (arrow) are provided.46cus026
LATCH attachment of the child
seat
*
The mounts for the LATCH child-
restraint system are located at the posi-
tions indicated by two colors, which are
not visible from the outside.
The illustration show the left rear seat.
To mount the LATCH attachment
of the child-restraint system,
please follow the manufacturer's oper-
ating and safety precautions.<
Carefully press the brackets through
the separating lines in the upholstery at
the marked spots.46cus028
Leave the rear safety belts in the
holders if they are not needed to
avoid unwanted movement from the
safety belts at high speeds.<

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Transporting children safelyCommercially available child seats
complying with the legal standard are
designed to be secured with a seat belt
or with the seat belt portion of a combi-
nation lap/shoulder belt.
Improperly or inadequately installed
restraint systems can increase the risk
of injury to children. Always read and
follow the instructions that come with
the system.
If you use a child restraint system with a
tether strap, two additional tether
anchorage points (refer to the arrows in
the illustration) have been provided.
They are located under the convertible
top compartment.
Depending on the location selected for
seating in the rear passenger area,
attach the tether strap to the corres-
ponding anchorage point to secure the
child restraint system.46cus001
Lift the respective 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
restraint system in the front passenger
seat of this vehicle.
Your vehicle 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./9 kg) would be
within the airbag's deployment range,
you should never mount such a device
in the front passenger seat, as the
impact of the airbag against the child
restraint's backrest could lead to
serious or fatal injuries.
If it is necessary for a child (not an
infant) to ride in the front seat, certain
precautions should be taken. First,
move the passenger seat as a 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 appropriate forward-
facing child restraint system 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 observe the instructions for instal-
lation and use provided by the child
restraint's manufacturer whenever you
use such a device.
Allways ensure 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
practice for securing child restraint
systems in motor vehicles.

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Transporting children safelyChild seat securityAll of the rear belt retractors and the
front passenger's safety belt can be
locked for mounting and securing child
restraint systems.
A label with the appropriate instructions
for this is located in the immediate
vicinity of the buckle latch of each
safety belt.46cus027
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.
Unlock the safety beltRelease the safety belt, remove the
child's seat and retract the safety belt
to its end position on the belt retractor.

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Rollover protection systemIn the event of an accident or some
other critical driving situation (extreme
tilting in the longitudinal or transverse
axis, loss of contact with the ground),
the rollover protection system will be
automatically activated. The protective
bars located in the rear headrests
extend within fractions of a second.
In addition to the integrated rollover bar
in the windshield frame, the rollover
protection system gives all the vehicle
occupants the necessary headroom.
Always keep the travel path clear
for the rollover protection system.
Under no circumstances should you
cover the headrests.
In the event of less serious accidents,
the safety belt will protect you and,
depending on the severity of the acci-
dent, so will the safety belt tensioner
and the multi-stage airbag restraint
system.c
If, after being automatically triggered,
the protective function is not needed,
then the rollover protection system can
be lowered back into place. No special
tool is needed for this.
1 Using a screwdriver from the on-
board tool kit, remove the cover
panel; to do this, position the screw-
driver under the notch (arrow).46cde007
2Pull the lever (arrow) toward the front
of the car and hold it in this position.46cde006