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Mobility
Transporting children safely
The right place for children
Do not leave children unattended in the
vehicle, otherwise they could endanger
themselves and other persons, e.g. by opening
the doors.<
Children always in rear
Accident research shows that the safest place
for children is on the rear seat.
Children younger than 13 years of age or
less than 5 ft/150 cm tall should only be
transported in the rear, in child restraint sys-
tems that correspond to their age, weight and
height. Otherwise there is an increased danger
of injury in an accident.<
Children 13 years of age or older must wear a
safety belt as soon as a suitable child restraint
system can no longer be used due to their age,
weight and size.
Exception for front passenger seat
Should it be necessary to use a child
restraint system on the front passenger
seat, the front and side airbags on the passen-
ger side must be deactivated. Otherwise, there
is an increased risk of injury for the child if the
airbags are triggered, even with a child restraint
system.<
For more information on automatic deactivation
of the front passenger airbags, refer to page95.
Installing child restraint
systems
Follow the child restraint system manu-
facturer's instructions for selection,
installation, and use of child restraint systems.
Otherwise, the degree of protection may be
reduced.<
On front passenger seat
After mounting a child restraint system on
the front passenger seat, make sure that
the front and side airbags on the front passen-
ger side are deactivated; otherwise, there is an
increased risk of injury if the airbags are trig-
gered.<
Backrest width*
The backrest width adjustment of the
front passenger seat must be completely
open. After installing the child's seat, no mem-
ory position may be called up; otherwise, the
stability of the child's seat on the front passen-
ger seat is reduced.<
1.Open backrest width adjustment com-
pletely, refer to page44.
2.Install child's seat.
Child seat security
The rear safety belts and the safety belt for the
front passenger can be locked to prevent them
from extending in order to allow child restraint
systems to be attached.
Locking safety belt
1.Secure the child restraint system with the
belt.
2.Pull out the belt webbing completely.
3.Allow the belt webbing to be pulled in and
pull taut against the child restraint system.
The safety belt is locked.
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Airbags
The following airbags are located under the
marked covers:
1Front airbags
2Head-level airbags in front and rear
3Side airbags in backrests
Protective action
To ensure that the safety systems con-
tinue to provide optimized protection,
please observe the adjustment instructions on
page42.<
The front airbags help protect the driver and
front passenger by responding to frontal
impacts in which safety belts alone cannot pro-
vide adequate restraint. When needed, the
head and side airbags help provide protection in
the event of side impact. The relevant side air-
bag supports the side upper body area. The
head air bag supports the head.
The airbags are deliberately not triggered in
every impact situation, e. g. less severe acci-
dents or rear-end collisions.
Do not apply adhesive materials to the
cover panels of the airbags, cover them or
modify them in any other way. Do not attempt to
remove the airbag restraint system from the
vehicle. Do not modify or tamper with either the
wiring or the individual components in the air-
bag system. This category includes the uphol-
stery in the center of the steering wheel, on the
instrument panel, the doors and the roof pillars
along with the sides of the headliner. Do not
attempt to remove or dismantle the steering
wheel. Do not touch the individual components
immediately after the system has been trig-gered, because there is a danger of burns.
In the event of malfunctions, deactivation, or
triggering of the airbag restraint system, have
the testing, repair, removal, and disposal of air-
bag generators executed only by a BMW Sports
Activity Vehicle Center or a workshop that
works according to BMW repair procedures
with correspondingly trained personnel and has
the required explosives licenses. Otherwise
unprofessional attempts to service the system
could lead to failure in an emergency or undes-
ired airbag triggering, either of which could
result in personal injury.<
Warnings and information on the airbags is also
provided on the sun visors.
Automatic deactivation of front
passenger airbags
The occupation of the seat is detected by eval-
uating the impression on the occupied seat sur-
face of the front passenger seat. The front and
side airbags on the front passenger side are
activated or deactivated accordingly by the sys-
tem.
The current status of the front passenger
airbag, i.e. deactivated or activated, is
indicated by the indicator lamp over the interior
rearview mirror, refer to Operating state of front
passenger airbags in the following.<
Before transporting a child on the front
passenger seat, read the safety informa-
tion and follow the instructions under Trans-
porting children safely, refer to page53.
When teenagers and adults assume certain sit-
ting positions, this can cause the front and side
airbags to deactivate. The indicator lamp for the
Technology for comfort, convenience and safety
96 front passenger airbags lights up when this
occurs. In these cases, change the sitting posi-
tion so that the front passenger airbags are acti-
vated and the indicator lamp goes out. If the
desired status cannot be produced by changing
the sitting position, transport the correspond-
ing person on the rear seat. Do not fit seat cov-
ers, seat cushion padding, ball mats or other
items onto the front passenger seat unless they
are specifically recommended by BMW. Do not
lay objects under the seat which could press
against the seat from below. Otherwise a cor-
rect evaluation of the occupied seat surface
cannot be ensured.<
Operating state of front passenger
airbags
Depending on the vehicle's equipment, the
arrangement of the switches and indicator
lamps may differ somewhat.
The indicator lamp for the front passenger air-
bags indicates the operating status of the front
and side airbags on the front passenger side
depending on the seat occupation. The indica-
tor lamp shows whether the front passenger
airbags are activated or deactivated.
>The indicator lamp lights up when a child in
a child restraint system intended for the
purpose is properly detected on the seat.
The front and side airbags on the front pas-
senger side are not activated.
Most child's seats are detected by the
system. Especially the child's seats
required by the NHTSA at the time the vehi-
cle is manufactured. After installing a child's
seat, make sure that the indicator lamp for
the front passenger airbags lights up. This indicates that the child's seat has been
detected and the front passenger airbags
are not activated.<
>The indicator lamp does not light up when,
for example, a correctly seated person of
sufficient height is detected on the seat.
The front and side airbags on the front pas-
senger side are activated.
>The indicator lamp does not light up when
the seat is empty.
However, the front and side airbags on the
front passenger side are not activated.
Operational readiness of airbag system
From radio readiness, refer to page56, the
warning lamp lights up briefly, indicating the
operational readiness of the entire airbag sys-
tem and the safety belt tensioners.
Airbag system malfunction
>Warning lamp does not light up from radio
readiness.
>Warning lamp lights up continuously.
Have the airbag system checked immedi-
ately in case of a malfunction, otherwise
there is a danger that the airbag system may not
respond in the expected manner in an accident
despite an impact of corresponding intensity.<