2012 AUDI A7 sensor

backrest must be adjusted to an upright
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 signa l that it
is occupied by som eone who is heavier
than t he pe rson actually s itting on t he
sea t. T he presence of addition al obje cts
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause t he 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 BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude t he
c a pac itive passenger de te ct ion sys tem, wir­
ing, b racke ts, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on w hen a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected ¢
page 150. Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from bei ng damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle tha t
measure ve hicle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash.
A irbag system 145
- An elect ron ic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and side impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to f ire
the front a irbag s based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
prete nsione rs should be act iva ted .
- An Advanced A irbag w it h gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pa nel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un ­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measu res the ele ct rical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in the seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
elec tronic con trol un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system an d ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 149.
-A senso r in each front seat registers the dis ­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l unit to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adva need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel ¢
page 150, fig. 144 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off.
- A senso r in t he safety belt latch fo r the d riv ­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses whethe r th at safety belt is latched or
no t and tra nsmi ts this informa tion to the
elec tro nic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger se at can
p revent the front air bag from work ing
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.
-
•
•

same effect. If the front passenger
frontal a irbag is turned on, the
PASSEN ­
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 airbags supplement the pro tection of­
fe red by the fro nt three -point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adj ustab le head restra ints to he lp reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tan t information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System
and the act ivation of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the decelerat 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, depending on the d istance between the respe ctive front seat
and the steering whee l or inst rument 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 fronta l airbag
will be t urned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenge r seat is less
than the amount programmed in the electron­
ic control unit . The front passenger fronta l air ­
bag will a lso be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ger seat eq ua ls tha t of an infant o f abo ut one
year of age in one o f the child seats that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag System
under Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the
front Advanced Airbag System on the passen­ ger s ide has been turned off
c:> page 150 .
Airba g sy stem 14 7
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury w hen an airbag
in flates, always wear safety be lts p ro perly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your ris k of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
flates -even w it h an Advanced A irbag
¢ page 137 .
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 14 3 In flated front a irbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that ai rbags can unfold p roper ly and pro­
v ide s upplementa l pro tect ion in a fron tal col­
lis ion .
T he front airbags a re des igned to provide ad­
di tional protection fo r the chest and fa ce of
the d river a nd the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are worn properly ,
- the seats have been 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 adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the bli nk of an eye
wi th great force, things you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat cou ld become dan ­
gerous p rojecti les, and be pushed in to you if
t h e a irbag inf lates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fire in .,,.

-Never place or attach accessories or o th ­
er objects (such as cup hol ders, tele­
phone brackets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area
marked ''AIRBAG" on the steering 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 passe nger'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 when it in fa ct is not, o r that
the person on the se at is he avier than he
or she actually is. The change in electric
capacitance beca use of such objects can
cause the passenger front airbag to be
turned 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
worked w ithout objects 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 oc cupied by a
pers on when it is not, or to sign al th at it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on the
seat . The presence of an object co uld
cause the passenger front a irbag to be
turned on when it sho uld be
off, or co uld
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
worked w ithout the object on the seat. A
irbag
sys tem 149
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems fo r people
with a history of as thma or other breath­
ing cond itions.
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems,
those wi th asthma o r other respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air r ight
away by get ting o ut o f the veh icle or
open ing win dows or do ors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, was h your ha nds and fa ce with
mild soap and wate r be fore eating.
- Be ca reful not to get the dust in to your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches.
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
f lus h t hem w ith wa te r.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
fl~ Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advan ced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indi cator light and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light.
The Advanced A irbag System ( includ ing the
electron ic co ntro l unit, sensor circu its and sys­
tem wir ing) is monitored con tinuously to
make sure that it is functio ning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Each time you
switch on the ignition, the airbag monitor ing
indicator light
rl will come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnostics).
Th e sy stem must be in spected when the
indicator light
II:
- 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.
I f an airbag system malfunc tion is detec ted,
the indicator light wi ll first start f lashing to
catch the driver's attention and then stay on
llo-
•
•

154 Airbag system
-Work on the pyrotechnic circu it inter­
rupter must on ly be performed by a
qua lified technicians who have the ex­
perience, information and special tools necessary to perform the work safely .
- If the vehicle or the c ircuit interrupter
is scrapped, all applicable safety pre­
cautions must be followed.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate Material -special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca .gov/hazardouswaste/per­
chlora te. When th e vehicle o r parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
a nd safety bel ts w ith p retens ioners are
scrapped, all applicable laws and regula­
tions must be observed. Your authorized
Audi dea ler is familiar wit h these requ ire­
ments and we recommend that you have
your dealer perform this serv ice for you .
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
C hanging the vehicle's suspension system can
ch ange the way th at the Advanced A irbag Sys ­
tem pe rforms in a crash. For example, using
tire -rim combinations not app roved by Audi,
lowering the vehicle, changing the stiffness of
the suspension, incl uding the springs, s uspen­
sion struts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the a irbag
sensors and se nt to the electron ic control
u ni t. Some suspension changes ca n, for exam­
p le, increase th e forc e levels meas ure d by t he
se nsors a nd make the airbag system deploy in
crashes in w hich it would not dep loy if the
cha nges had not been ma de. Ot her kinds of
cha nges may reduce the force levels meas ­
ured by the sensors and prevent the airbag
from deploy ing when it sho uld.
The sen so rs in the safety belt buckle fo r th e
driver an d front passenger seat tell the elec ­
tronic control module if the safety belt is
latched or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high- er rate of ve
hicle deceleration than i f the safe ­
ty belt is not being used. Therefore, in a par­
t icu lar coll is ion, it is possible that an airbag
will not deploy at a seat ing pos ition w here the
safety belt is be ing used but will inflate at the
pos ition where t he safety belt is not be ing
u sed. It is important that noth ing interfere
with the safety be lt buckles so that the s en­
sors can send the correct info rmation abou t
sa fe ty belt use to the elec troni c con trol un it .
A WARNING
-Changi ng the vehicle's suspension includ ­
ing use of unapp roved tire -rim combina ­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per­
formance and increase the r isk o f serious
personal injury in a crash.
- Never install suspension components
that do not have the same performance
characterist ics as the components orig i­
na lly installed on your vehicle .
- Never use tire-rim combinations that
have not been approved by Audi.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
Applies to vehicles : wi th knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple­
mental prot ection to properly restrained
front seat occupants.
Fi g. 14 5 Driver"s air bag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument
panel underneath t he steering wheel
Q fig . 145, the airbag for the passenger is at
about the same height in the instrument pan-
el underneat h the glove compartment . ...,

of the passenger seat. If the airbag de­
p loys, this can resu lt in serious or fata l
injuries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the
footwell area in front of the driver's or passenger's seat. Bulky objects (shop­
p ing bags, for e xample) ca n interfere
with or prevent proper dep loyment of
the airbag . Small objects can be
thrown throug h the vehicle if the ai r­
b ag deploys and injure you o r yo ur pas­
sengers.
- Make su re there are no crac ks, deep
scratches or other damage in the area of
the instrument pane l where the knee air­
bags are located.
- If children are incorrect ly sea ted, their
risk of i njury increases in a collision
¢ page 163, Child Safety .
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants .
Fig . 1 47 Side a irbag loca tion in t he d river 's s eat
The side a irbags a re located i n the sides of the
front seat ba ckrests
¢ fig . 147 a nd the rear
backrest facing the doors . They are identified
bytheword "AIRBAG" .
The s ide a irbags installed for the front seating
positions have been designed and cer tified to
he lp red uce the risk of i nju ry that can be
caused by airbags when they inflate, particu ­
l arly when the occupant sitting next to it is
not seated proper ly . The side airbag for the
front passenger seat can be used with proper-
A irba g sy stem 15 7
ly installed child restra ints . Please be sure to
read the important informat ion and warnings
whenever using a child restra int in a vehicle:
Safety belts ¢
page 128, Airbag system
c>page 137, Chi ld safety c> page 163.
The side airbag sy stem basically consi st s of:
- t he electro nic cont ro l modu le and external
side impact sensors
- t he two a irbags located in the s ides of the
front backrests and the two a irbags* loc ated
in the rear backrest
- t he airbag warning light in the ins trumen t
cl uste r.
T he airbag system is mon itored e lec tronically
to make ce rtain that it is f unction ing p roperly
at all times. Each time you sw itch o n the igni­
tion, the airbag system ind icator light will
come on for a few seconds (self diagnostics) .
T he side airbag system supplements the safe ­
t y bel ts a nd can help to red uce the risk of in­
j u ry to the dr iver's, fron t and re ar passenger's
u pper torso on the side of the veh icle t hat is
str uck in a side collision . The airbag dep loys
only in side impacts and only when the vehicle
acce lerat ion reg istered by the control unit is
high enough. If this rate is below the refer­
ence value programmed into the co ntrol unit,
the side airbags w ill not be triggered, even
though the car may be bad ly damaged as a re­
su lt of the co llision .
It is not possib le to de ­
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover every possib le ang le of impact, s ince the cir­
cumstances will vary considerably be tween
one collisio n and another . Important factors
include, for example , the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting objec t, the angle of impact,
vehicle speed, etc .
¢ page 159, Impor tan t
safety instructions on the side airbag system .
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts work to help keep the driver or front passenger in position in the event of a side
collision so that the side airbags can provide protection .
The airbag system is
no t a substitute for your
safety belt. Ra ther, it is part of the overall oc-
cupant restra int system in your vehicle .
IIJJ,

158 Airbag system
A lways remember that the side airbag system
can only help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wear ing it properly. This
is another reason w hy you should always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re­
qu ires you to do so
Q page 128, General
notes.
It is important to remember that while the
supplemental side a irbag system is designed
to reduce the likelihood of serious injur ies,
other inju ries, fo r example, swell ing, b ruising,
frictio n burns and mi nor abrasions can also be
associa ted with deployed side airbags. Re ­
member too, side air bags will deploy only
once and only in certain k inds of accidents -
your safety be lts are always there to offer pro­
tection .
Vehicle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack
of vehicle damage are not necessar ily an indi­
cation of over-sensitive or failed airbag activa­
tion. In some co llisions, both front and side
a irbags may inflate. Remember too, that air­
bags will dep loy only once and only in certain
kinds of collisions -your safety belts are al­
ways there to offer protection in those acci ­
dents in wh ic h air bags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have already deployed.
The side airbag syst em will not deploy:
- when the ign ition is switched off
- in s ide collisions when the acceleration
measured by the sensor is too low
- in front-end col lisions
- in rear -end collisions
- in ro llovers.
In some types of acc idents the front airbags,
side curta in a irbags and side airbags may be
tr iggered together.
.&_ WARNING
- Sa fety belts and t he ai rbag sys tem w ill
only prov ide p rotec tion when occ upants
are in t he proper seating posit ion
Qpage 159.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on
when the vehicle is being used, have the
-
system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer. The airbag may
not work proper ly when the vehicle ac­
celeration in a side coll is ion is high
enough to activate the a irbag.
How supplemental side airbags work
Side airbags deploy instantly and can help re­
duce the risk of upper torso injuries for occu­
pants who are properly restrained .
Fig. 148 In flated side airbags on left s ide of vehicle,
r ear side a irbag
When the system is triggered, the airbag is
filled with propellant gas and breaks through
a seam in the seat su rface area marked "AIR­
BAG". It expands between the side trim panel
and the passenger. In order to help provide
t hi s addit ional protect ion, the side airbag
mus t inflate with in a fra ction of a second a t
very h igh speed and with great force. The sup­
pleme nta l side airbag could injure you if your
seat ing position is not proper or up right or if
items are located in the area where the sup­
plementa l side airbag expands. This applies
especially to children
Q page 163, Child Safe­
ty .
Supplemental side airbags inflate between
the occupant and the door panel on the s ide
of the veh icle that is str uck in certa in side col­
li sion
9 fig. 148 .
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in this way they can
help to reduc e the risk of inju ry to the upp er
part of the body.
A fine dust may deve lop when the airbag de­
ploys . This is normal and does not mean there
is a fi re in th e vehicle.

Important safety instructions on the
side airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways properly wear safety belts and ride in a
proper seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and act accordingly to help the
safety belts and airbags do their job to pro­
vide supplemental protection .
A WARNING
An inflating side airbag can cause serious
or fatal injury. Improperly wearing safety
belts and improper seating positions in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death whenever a vehicle is being
used .
- In order to reduce the risk of injury when
the supplemental side airbag inflates:
-Always sit in an upright position and
never lean against the area where the
supplemental side airbag is located.
- Never let a child or anyone else rest
their head against the side trim panel
in the area where the supplemental
side airbag inflates.
- Always make sure that safety belts are worn correctly,
- Do not let anyone sitting in the front
seat put their hand or any other parts
of their body out of the window.
- Always make sure that the side airbag can inflate without interference.
- Never install seat covers or replace ­
ment upholstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been specifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
deploy.
- Damage to the original seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side air­ bag module must always be repaired
immediately by an authorized Audi
dealer.
Airbag system 159
- Objects between you and the airbag can
increase the risk of injury in an accident
by interfering with the way the airbag
unfolds or by being pushed into you as
the airbag inflates.
- Never place or attach accessories or
other objects (such as cup holders, tel­
ephone brackets, or even large, bulky
objects) on the doors, over or near the
area marked "AIRBAG" on the seat backrests .
- Such objects and accessories can be­ come dangerous projectiles and cause
injury when the supplemental side air­
bag deploys.
- Never carry any objects or pets in the
deployment space between them and
the airbags or allow children or other passengers to travel in this position .
- Always use the built -in coat hooks only
for lightweight clothing . Never leave any
heavy or sharp-edged objects in the
pockets that may interfere with side air­
bag deployment and can cause personal
injury in an accident.
- Always prevent the side airbags from be­
ing damaged by heavy objects knocking
against or hitting the sides of the seat­
backs.
- The airbag system can only be triggered
once. If the airbag has been triggered,
the system must be replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dealership.
- Damage (cracks, deep scratches etc .) to
the original seat covers or to the seam in
the area of the side airbag module must always be repaired immediately by an au­
thorized Audi dealer .
- If children are seated improperly, their
risk of injury increases in the case of an
accident
~ page 163, Child Safety.
- Never attempt to modify any compo­
nents of the airbag system in any way .
- In a side collision, side airbags will not
function properly if sensors cannot cor­ rectly measure increasing air pressure in-
side the doors when air escapes through .,.. •
•

160 Airbag system
larger, unclosed openings in the door
panel.
- Never drive w ith inter ior door trim pan­
e ls removed.
- Never drive when parts have been re­ moved from the ins ide doo r panel and
the openings they leave have not been p roperly closed.
- Never d rive when loudspeakers in the
doors have bee n removed unless the
spea ker holes have been properly
closed.
-Always ma ke certa in that openings are
covered or fi lled if additional speakers
or other equipment is installed in the
inside door panels.
- Always have work on the doors done by an authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop .
Side curtain airbags
Description of side curtain airbags
The side curtain airbag system can provide
supplemental protection to properly restrain ­
ed occupants.
Fi g. 14 9 Side curtain airbags, dri ver 's side: s ide curta in
a ir bag location
The s ide curtain airbags are located on both
sides of the interior above the front and rear
side windows ~
fig. 149. They are ident ified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshield
frame and the center roof p illar.
The s ide curtain airbag system supplements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the risk of injury for occupants' heads and upper
torso o n the side of the vehicle tha t is struc k in
a side collision . The side curtain airbag in­
flates in side impacts and only when the vehi­
cle acceleration registered by the control unit
is high enough . If this rate is below the refer­
ence value programmed into the control unit,
the side airbags will not be triggered, even
t h ough the car may be bad ly damaged as a re­
su lt of the co llision .
It is not possib le to de­
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover every possib le ang le of impact, s ince the cir­
cumstances will vary cons iderably between
one collision and another. Important factors
include, for example, the nature (hard or soft)
of the impacting object, the angle of impact,
vehicle speed, etc.~
page 161 , How side cur­
tain airbags work .
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty be lts work to help keep the driver or front
passenger in position in the event of a colli­
sion so that the side curtain airbags can pro­
vide protection .
The airbag system is not a substit ute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overall oc­
cupant restraint system in your vehicle. Al­
ways remember that the a irbag system can
only help to protect you if you are wear ing
you r saf ety belt and wearing it properly . This
is anothe r reason why yo u should always wear
yo ur safe ty belts, no t just because the law re ­
quires yo u to do so
q page 128, General
notes .
It is important to remember that w hile the
s ide cur tain airbag system is designed to help
reduce the likelihood of ser ious injur ies, other
injuries, for example, swelling, bruising, fric­
tion burns and minor abrasions can also be as­
sociated with these airbags upon dep loyment.
Remember too, these airbags will deploy only
once and only in certain kinds of accidents -
your safety belts are always there to offer pro ­
tection.
The side curtain airbag sy stem basic ally
cons ists of:
- The electronic control module and external
side impact sensors ..,..