2012 AUDI A6 instrument panel

If the fron t passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BA G OF F light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control un it
c::> page 155, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a child seat or infant carri ­
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flating passenger's a irbag i n a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of t he ch ild restraint and even se­
r io usly inju re the child d uring inflat io n.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 168, Child Safety .
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag w ill hit the child seat
or infant carrier w ith great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does no t come on an d stay on, immedi­
at ely install the rear-facing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A irbag system 145
-Forwa rd-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the dep loyment of the airbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
A WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacture r for use on a front seat
wit h a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the fo rward-facing child re­
s tra int up agains t or ve ry near the instru­
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rea rmost pos ition in the se at's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be adj usted to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenev er a child re­
straint is insta lled on the fro nt passenge r
se at and the ignition is sw itched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
c::> page 154, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- T ake the chi ld restraint off t he fron t pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASS EN·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea ler immediately.
•
•

146 Airbag system
-Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling child restraints.
_& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward -facing child
restraint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to signal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually sitting on the
seat . The presence of additional objects
could cause the passenger front airbag
to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants .
Fig. 144 Locatio n of drive r ai rbag: in steering wh eel
Fig. 145 Locat io n of fron t passenger' s air bag: in the in·
st rument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve , depending
on the distance between the respective seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­
sioners" that help to take slack out of the belt
system. The pretensioners are also activated by the electronic control uni t for the airbag
system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub
¢ fig. 144 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel

148 Airbag system
-The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the .,low risk" option
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the U.S . Federal Standard if a child with elec­
trical capacitance greater than the com­ bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infant restrained in one of the for­
ward facing or rearward-facing child
seats with which your vehicle was certi­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ­
ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes .
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle deceleration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts. Rather, it is part of the over­ all occupant restraint system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you, if you are sitting up­
right, wearing your safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has been certified to meet the "low risk" re­
quirements for 3 and 6 year-old children on
the passenger side and very small adults on the driver side. The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front airbag
that can occur, for example, by being too close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard
c::> page 170, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified. For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­
pliance with the US Safety Standard
i=>page 170,
-When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat that has an electrical capaci­
tance that is more than the total electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing or
forward -facing infant restraints (listed in
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle was certified) , the front airbag
on the passenger side may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal electrical capacitance on the front passen­ ger seat that requires the front airbag to be
turned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the front airbag on
the passenger side has not been turned off by
the control unit and can deploy if the control unit senses an impact that meets the condi -
tions stored in its memory. ..,_

If the total electrical capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PA SSEN ­
G ER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on) .
For example, th e air bag m ay depl oy if :
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
¢ page 170),
-a chi ld who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned
off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BA G OFF light in the center
of the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control
un it
o page 154 .
Alwa ys rem ember: Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
place for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impor ­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unres trained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serio us inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
¢ page 142 .
Airbag system 149
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously inju red and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn
off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing child res traint has been installe d on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso ­
lutely guarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately in sta ll the rear-fa cing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING ,-
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­ ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int . Th e •
-
•

150 Airbag sys te m
backrest must be adjusted to an uprigh t
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on t he
seat. The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on w hen it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in you r veh icle has a
l ot of very important pa rts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it . These parts include the
capacitive passenge r de tect ion sys tem, wir­
ing, brac kets, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system on the front passenger
seat when the ignition is switc hed on and
turns the airbag indicato r light on when a
malfunction in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected
c::;, page 155 . Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important pa rts
of the Advanced Airbag System , you must
take ca re to p revent it from being damaged.
Da mage to the seat may preven t the Ad­
vanced A irb ag System for the fron t passenger
seat from doing i ts job in a c rash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front o f the veh icle tha t
measure veh icle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash. -
An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and sid e impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to fire
the front a irbags based on the inform at ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt prete nsioners shou ld be act ivated .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver inside the steer­
ing wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve inside the inst rument panel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system u n­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measures the elec trical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in t he seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
electronic con trol un it to regu late deploy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instr ument cluster
c::;, page 154.
- A senso r in each front seat regis ters the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in ­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l uni t to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adv a need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel
c::;, page 155, fig . 147 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been t urned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses w hether t hat safety belt is latched or
no t and transmi ts this information to t he
elec tronic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly .
-

152 Airbag system
same effect . If the front passenger
frontal a irbag is turned on, the
PA SSEN ·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side a irbags supplement the protect ion of­
fered by the front three-point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
ad justab le head restraints to he lp red uce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activation of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the dece lerat ion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control un it . The amount of infla ­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front seat position, depend ing on the
d istance between the respective front seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel as registered by sensors in the seats. Crash se­
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and stiffness of the vehicle
or object invo lved in the crash.
On the passenger s ide, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger fro nta l airbag
will be turned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the electron·
i c control unit . The front passenger frontal air­
bag will also be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ge r sea t equa ls tha t of an infant of abo ut one
yea r of age in one of the child sea ts tha t was
used to certify the Advanced Airbag System
u nder Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . T he
PASSENGER AIR BA G OFF light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the
front Advanced A irbag System on the passen­
ger s ide has been turned off
c> page 155 .
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of injury w hen an a irbag
in flates, always wear safety be lts properly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is much h igher .
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you a re up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
flates - even w ith an Advanced A irb ag
<=> page 142 .
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig . 14 6 Inflated fro nt a irbags
Safety belts a re important to he lp keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that a irbags can unfold properly and pro­
v ide s upplementa l pro te cti on in a fron tal col­
li sion .
T he front airbags are des igned to provide ad­
ditional p rotection fo r the chest and face of
the driver a nd the front seat passenger w hen:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have bee n positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
b le from the airbag ,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adj usted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat cou ld become dan ­
gerous projecti les, and be p ushed into you if
the a irbag inflates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a f ire in ..,.

154 Airbag sys te m
- Never place or attach accessories or o th­
er objects (such as cup holders, tele­
phone brackets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the stee ring wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests or be­
tween those a reas and yourself. These
objects co uld cause injury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger's seat
to transport objec ts. Items can also
move into the area o f the side airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a sudden maneuver . Objects near the air­
bags can become project iles and cause
injury, part icularly when the seat is re­
cl ined .
- Never place or transport ob jects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the
front passenger seat could cause the ca­ pacitive senso r in the seat to s ignal to
airbag system that the seat is occupied
by a person whe n it in fa ct is not, o r that
the person on the se at is heavie r than he
or she actually is. The change in electric
capacitance because of such objects can
cause the passenger front airbag to be
t u rned on when it sho uld be
off, or can
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
wor ked w ithout ob jects on the seat .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenge r detection
system in the s eat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signa l th at it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on the
seat . The prese nce of an object co uld
cause the passenger front a irbag to be
t ur ned on when it sho uld be
off, or co uld
cause the airbag to work in a way t hat is
different from the way it wou ld have
worked w ithout the object on the seat.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
ca n cause breathing p rob lems for people
with a history of asthma or ot her breath­
i ng cond itions .
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems ,
those wi th asthma o r othe r respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut of th e veh icle or
open ing windows or do ors .
- If you are i n a collision in which airbags
de ploy, was h your h ands and face wi th
mild soap and wate r before eating.
- Be ca reful not to get the dust into your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches.
- If the res id ue should get into your eyes,
fl ush them w ith wate r.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
t~i Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advan ced Airbag Sy stem: the airbag
moni toring indicator light and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light.
The Adva nced A irbag Sys tem ( incl uding the
ele ct ron ic cont ro l u nit , sensor circu its and sys­
tem wir ing) is monitored con tinuously to
make sure that it is functioning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Eac h time you
switch on the ignition, the airbag monitor ing
indicator light
m will come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnostics) .
The sy stem mu st be in spected when the
indicator light
rl:
- does not come on when the ignition is
sw itched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on the ignit ion, or
- comes on while driv ing .
If an airbag system malfunc tion is detec ted,
the i ndicator lig ht w ill first sta rt flashing to
catch the drive r's attention and then stay on .,..

continuously to serve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately.
I f a malfunction occurs that turns the front
a irbag on the passenger side
off, t he PA SSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght wi ll come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on, it
means that there may be someth ing
wrong with the Advanced Airbag System.
It is possible that the airbag will inflate
when it is not supposed to, or wi ll not in­
flate when it should.
- Have the airbag system inspected imme­
diately by your Aud i dealer .
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig . 1 47 Sect ion from the inst rumen t pa nel: PASS EN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
i n the cen ter of the instrument panel
¢fig. 147 .
The PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned
off by the e lectronic control unit. If the
bu lb for the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
bu rns out, the airbag indicator light
fl will
come on to signal a malfunction in the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System. Although the burned­
out bulb will not change the way the front
passenger's frontal airbag works, it w ill no
longer be possible to use the
PASSENGER AIR
A irba g sy stem 155
BAG OFF light to make s ure that the airbag
on/off status is correct for the occ upant on
the front passenger seat . Have the airbag sys ­
tem inspected immediately by your author­
ized Audi dealer.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight will bl ink
for about 5 seconds when:
- t he ignition is switched on and
- the capacit ive passenger detection system,
whi ch swi tches the front seat passenger's
frontal Advanced Airbag on and
off, detects
a change in the status of the front passen­
ger seat.
As soon as the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light stops blink ing, a lways make sure tha t
the airbag stat us (on or off) as shown by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF light is proper fo r
the age, size and electrical capacitance of the person occupy ing the front passenger seat.
Always make sure that the safety belt for the
front passenger seat is properly fastened .
Th e PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
show the status of the fron t se at p assenge r's
frontal Advanced Ai rbag a few seconds after
the ignition i s swit c h ed on and th e airbag in ­
dicator light go es off . The PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF light :
-will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied;
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tect ion system for the front passenger seat
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearward-facing or forward-facing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified; For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­
pliance with the U.S. Safety Standard
i:::;, page 170 .
-will go out if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger detect ion system.