54n
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 and guide it back into its reel.The two rear safety belt buckles which
are integrated in the rear seat are for
passengers sitting on the left and right.
The belt buckle with the word "CENTER"
is intended exclusively for passengers
sitting in the middle.
For care instructions, refer to page 149.
460us074
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
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
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. 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.
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 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.<
Safety belts
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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Safety belts Airbags For child restraint system installation,
refer to page 61.
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.<
Vehicles with through-loading
system: please comply with the
instructions for the center safety belt on
page 109.
Child restraint systems
*
Never install a rear-facing child
restraint device on the front
passenger seat. If you do so, the child
could be injured when the airbag is trig-
gered.
Children should always ride in the rear
and the restraint systems should be
secured with the outer belts.
The centre seat belt should only be
used when it is necessary to secure
three child restraint systems.
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 impact Head Protection System
for driver and passenger (front)
3 Side airbags for driver and pasenger
(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
when the protection afforded by the
belts alone may no longer be sufficient.
The Side impact Head Protection
System 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
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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
AirbagsDo 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 feet (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 vehicle is equipped with side
airbags in the rear passenger area, be
sure that child restraints are mounted
correctly and provided with the
greatest-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.
(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 automo-
bile 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 diffi-
cult 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 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.<
Even when all these guidelines are
observed, 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
inflation noise may induce a mild
temporary hearing loss in sensitive indi-
viduals.
For additional information concerning
the airbag system, refer to pages 152
and 179.
58n
AirbagsThis is the right way for a child to sit in a
child restraint when rear side airbags
(arrow) are provided.462us012
This is the right way for a larger child to
sit wearing the safety belt when rear
side airbags (arrow) are provided.462us013
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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Transporting children safely LATCH attachment of the child
seatRemove the cover cap on the outer
mount by pulling it toward the front.
When reattaching it, make sure that the
recess points upward.
With the through-loading system:
To remove the cover cap easily, flip the
rear backrest forward halfway. (Refer to
page 109).460de300
The illustration shows the mounts for a
LATCH attachment of the child-restraint
system in the left rear seat.
To mount the LATCH attachment
of the child-restraint system,
please follow the manufacturer's oper-
ating and safety precautions.<462de278
Child-safety locksOn a rear door, push the safety lever
downward:
The door can now be opened from the
outside only.460de021
60n
Transporting children safelyCommercially 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 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, three additional tether
anchorage points (refer to the arrows in
the illustration) have been provided.
Depending on the location selected for
seating in the rear passenger area,
attach the tether strap to the corre-
sponding anchorage point to secure the
child restraint system. Remove the
cover first on the middle location.380us123
If the respective seating position is
fitted 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
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.) 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
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
infant) to ride in the front seat, certain
precautions 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 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 comply with the instructions for
installation 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
practice for securing child restraint
systems in motor vehicles.
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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
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.
Information pertaining to this is located
in the immediate vicinity of the buckle
latch of each safety belt.462us014
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 pull the safety belt out
to its end position on the belt retractor.
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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Through-loading system
*
The rear backrest is divided into two
sections (one-third and two-thirds of the
width of the seat). For carrying longer
objects, you can fold down either
section of the backrest separately.
To unlock, pull the lever corresponding
to the section (arrow).460de154
The rear backrest section will move
for-ward slightly when it is unlocked.
Reach into the gap and pull the backrest
down.
When you close the backrest, be
sure that the retainer engages
correctly. If it is not correctly engaged,
transported cargo could enter the
passenger compartment from the
luggage compartment during brake
applications or evasive maneuvers and
endanger the vehicle occupants.<
The fittings at the corners of the
luggage compartment provide you
with a convenient means of attaching
luggage nets
* and flexible straps for
securing suitcases and luggage.
Refer also to "Cargo loading" on
page 112.
460de153
Center 3-point-safety belt in the
rear
*
You can retract the 3-point-safety belt
in the rear, before folding the through-
loading system back:
>Loosen the safety belt and put the
buckle latch that is on the end of the
safety belt into the bracket mounted
on the rear window shelf (arrow).
To install a child restraint system
always use the outer belts. The
centre seat belt should only be used
when it is necessary to secure three
child restraint systems.
Do not modify the child restraint system
in any way. If you do so, it will not
provide your child with maximum
protection.<462us054