2001 BMW M3 COUPE child restraint

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If the safety belt system has been
subjected to the stresses involved
in an accident or damaged in any other
way: have your BMW center replace the
entire safety belt mechanism, including
the safety belt tensioner and any child
restraint systems
*. Have them inspect
the safety belt anchors, as well.<
For care instructions, refer to "Car care"
page 131.
Drive with your safety belt onFasten your safety belt before starting
off.
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.
In the rear, the belt buckle with the
word "CENTER" is provided exclu-
sively for the passenger sitting in the
middle.
For your safety, 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. Infants or
small children should never be held on
the lap of a passenger.
Avoid twisting the belt while routing it
firmly across the hips and shoulder,
wear it as snugly against your body as
possible. Do not allow the belt to rest
against hard or fragile objects. Do not
route the belt across your neck, or run it
across sharp edges. Be sure that the
belt does not become caught or
jammed.
Avoid wearing bulky clothing and pull
on the belt periodically to retension it
over your shoulders. 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
their safety belts, taking care to position
the lap belt against the lower hips,
where it will not exert pressure against
the abdominal area.<
Safety belts

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Safety beltsSafety 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.
For child restraint system installation,
refer to page 59.
For care instructions, refer to "Car care"
page 131.
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.<
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.
Always transport children in the rear,
securing their restraint systems using
the outside safety belts.
Use the middle safety belt only if it is
necessary to install three child restraint
systems.
Do not modify the child restraint
systems in any way, as otherwise, their
protective function may be impaired.<

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
AirbagsSitting correctly with airbags
Comply with the following instruc-
tions for the airbags. If you do not,
the airbags may not be able to provide
their maximum protection, with
resulting risks to personal safety. The
following information pertains to all
occupants:
Even though there is an airbag, wear a
safety belt every time you get in the
vehicle, because airbags supplement
the safety belts as an additional
restraint device.
Assume a sitting posture that is
comfortable and allows the greatest
possible distance between you and the
airbags.
Always hold the steering wheel by the
rim to keep any chance of injury to
hands or arms to an absolute minimum,
should the airbag deploy. Keep the
instructions regarding sitting properly in
your seat on page 45 in mind as well.
No one and nothing is to come between
the airbag and the seat occupant.
Do not use the cover panel above the
front 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 use any child restraint systems
on the passenger side. Children under
12 years of age, who are smaller than
5 feet (150 cm), may ride in the back
only.
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. 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 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

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Airbagscenter. 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 from airbag deployment
in isolated instances. The ignition and
inflation noise may cause a mild tempo-
rary hearing loss in extremely sensitive
individuals.
For additional information concerning
the airbag system, refer to pages 133
and 158.This is the proper way for a child to sit
in a child restraint when rear side
airbags (arrow) are provided.
This is the right way for a larger child to
sit wearing the safety belt when rear
side airbags (arrow) are provided.

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Transporting children safelyCommercially available child restraint
systems are designed to be secured
with a lap belt or with the lap belt
portion of a combination 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 have been provided
(refer to the arrows in the illustration).
Depending on the location selected for
seating in the rear passenger area,
attach the strap hook to the corre-
sponding anchorage point to secure the
child restraint system. Remove the
cover first on the middle location.
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 rear-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/kg) would be
within the airbagÕs deployment range,
you should never mount such a device
in the front passenger seat, since the
impact of the airbag against the child
restraintÕs 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 far away
from the instrument panel 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 manu-
facturer 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.

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Transporting children safelyLATCH attachment of the child
seat
*
Remove the cover cap on the outer
mount by pulling it toward the front.
When reattaching it, make sure that the
recess points upward.
The illustration shows the mounts for a
LATCH child-restraint system on the
left rear seat.
To attach the LATCH child-
restraint system, please follow the
manufacturer's operating and safety
precautions.<< < <
Child 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.

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IndexDataTechnologyRepairsCar careControlsOverview
Transporting children safelyTo lock the 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.
To release the 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
Through-loading systemThe rear backrest is divided into two
sections, one-third and two-thirds of
the seat respectively. For carrying
longer objects, you can fold down
either section of the backrest sepa-
rately.Folding the rear backrest back1 To unlock, pull the lever correspond-
ing to the section (arrow)
2 The rear backrest section will move
forward slightly when it is unlocked.
Reach into the gap and pull the back-
rest 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.<
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.
Retracting the 3-point-safety belt:
Loosen the safety belt and insert the
buckle latch into the support mount
provided on the rear window shelf
(arrow).
Always use the outside safety
belts to mount the child restraint
systems. Use the middle safety belt
only if it is necessary to install 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.<