2015 AUDI Q5 Wheel

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For detai led information on how to adjust the
driver's seat, see ¢
page 64.
A WARNING
Drivers who are unbelted, out of position or
too close to the airbag can be ser ious ly in­
jured by an airbag as it unfolds. To help re­
duce the risk of serious personal injury:
- Always adjust the driver's seat and the
steering wheel so that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between your breastbone
and the steering wheel.
- Always hold the steering wheel on the out­
side of the steering wheel rim with your
hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock posi­
tions to he lp reduce the risk of personal in­
jury if the dr iver's a irbag inflates.
- Never hold the steer ing whee l at the
12 o'cloc k posit ion or with your hands at
other pos it ions inside the steering wheel
rim or on the steering wheel hub. Holding
the steering wheel the wrong way can cause
serious injuries to the hands, arms and head
if the driver's airbag deploys.
- Pointing the steering whee l toward your
face decreases the ability of the supp lemen­
tal driver's a irbag to protect you in a colli­
sion.
- Always s it in an upright position and never
lean against or place any part of your body
too close to the area where the airbags are located .
- Before driv ing, a lways adjust the front seats
and head restraints properly and make sure
that all passengers are properly restrained.
- Never adjust the seats while the vehicle is
moving . Your seat may move unexpectedly
and you could lose control of the vehicle.
- Never drive with the backrest recl ined or
t ilted far back! The farther the back rests are
t il ted back, the greater the ris k of injury due
to incorrect pos ition ing of the sa fety belt
and improper seating posit ion.
- Children must always ride in child safety
seats¢
page 172 . Special precautions ap­
ply when installing a ch ild safe ty seat on the
front passenger seat ¢
page 152.
Drivin g s afet y
Proper seating position for the front
passenger
The proper front passenger seating position is
important for safe, relaxed driving.
Fo r yo ur own safety and to reduce the risk of in­
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
t h at you adjust the sea t for the front passenger
to the fo llow ing pos ition:
"' Adj ust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position and your back comes in full
contact w ith it wheneve r th e vehi cle is moving.
"' Ad just the head rest ra in t so the upper edge is
as even as possib le w ith the top of your head. If
that is not possib le, try to adj ust the head re­
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible
¢ page 138.
"' Keep both feet flat on the floor in front of the
front passenger seat.
"' Fasten and wear safety belts correct ly
¢ page 147.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
front passenger's seat, see ¢
page 63.
A WARNING
--
Front seat passengers who are unbelted, out
of position or too close to the airbag can be
se riously in ju red o r killed by the a irbag as i t
unfo lds. To help reduce the risk of serious per­
sona l injury :
- Passenge rs must always si t in an upright po­
sition and never le an aga inst or place any
pa rt of their body too close to the area
where the airbags are located .
- Passengers who are unbelted, ou t of posi­
tion or too close to the airbag can be seri ­
ously injured by an airbag as it unfo lds with
great force in the blink of an eye.
- Always make sure that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between the front pas­
senger's breastbone and the instrument panel.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and proper ly fasten and wear the
safety belt be long ing to that seat .
- Before driving, always adjust the front pas­
senger seat and head restraint properly.
1 37

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- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig. 155 Unbelted occupants in a vehicle heading for a wall
Fig. 156 The vehicle crashes into the wall
The physical principles are simp le. Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy wh ich var­
ies with vehicle speed and body weight. Engi­
neers call this energy "kinetic energy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most signif icant factor. If the
speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to SO km/
h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not us­
ing safety belts¢
fig. 155, they will keep moving
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wall¢
fig. 156.
Safety belts
The same principles apply to people sitting in a
vehicle that is invo lved in a frontal collision. Even
at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50 km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
(2,000 lbs. or 1,000 kg) or more. At greater
speeds, these forces are even higher .
People who do not use safety belts are also not
attached to their vehicle. In a frontal collision
they will also keep moving forward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just before the crash .
Of course, the laws of physics don't just apply to
frontal collisions, they determine what happens
in all kinds of accidents and co llisions.
What happens to occupants not wea ring
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 157 A driver no t wearing a safety belt is violen tly
thrown forward
Fig. 158 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt will fly
forward and strike the dr iver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tre­
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe­
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel, ..,_
145

Airbag system
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­ er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, befo re driving off, always:
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
Q page 136,
"'Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
Qpage 63,
"'Wear safety be lts properly C? page 146,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
Qpage 172.
In a coll is ion airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerab le force. The sup­
p lemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper•
Ly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas­
senger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions
c> page 136, Correct
passenger seating positions.
Fo r details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
c>page 64.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
Qpage 172.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seat ing position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a phys ical impairment or condition that
prevents you from sitt ing properly on the dr iver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
152
reaching the pedals, specia l modifications to your
vehicle may be necessary.
Contact your authorized Audi deale r, or call Audi
Customer Relat ions at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system dep loys , a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags wi ll deflate im ­
mediate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the w indshield again
without interruption.
All o f this takes place in the blink o f an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have dep loyed . The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in the ir way when they deploy. Front a irbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and lim it the occupant's forwa rd move­
ment . Together they he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenge r from hitting parts of
the insid e the veh icle wh ile red ucing the forces
acting on the occupant dur ing the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk o f injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de ­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con ­
trol unit. If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the coll is ion . Vehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessar ily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
It is not possible to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possible kind and an­
gle of impact that will always trigger the air bags,
since the circumstances will vary considerably be­
tween one collision and another. Impo rtant fac­
tors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will
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also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in roll­
overs .
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbag s wi ll deploy on ly once,
and on ly in cer tain kinds of collisions. Your safety
b e lts a re a lways there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another after the first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most
effectively when used w ith the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 144.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l o r in­
strument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
o f persona l injury in a coll is ion .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the peda ls and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward, sit­
ting s ideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
¢ page 147, Safety belts .
- Always make certain that children age 12 or
younger always r ide in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may
be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­
properly restrained in the veh icle. Adjust the
front seats properly.
-
Airbag syste m
- Never ride with the back rest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer -
ing wheel o r the instrument panel
c::> page 136.
- Always sit up right with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air­
bag d uring braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
p rojectiles and ca use in jury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags tha t have deployed i n a crash mus t be
r eplaced.
- Use o nly orig inal equipment airbags ap ­
p rove d by Aud i an d in stalled by a trained
technici an who has the ne cessary too ls and
diagnostic equipment to properly rep lace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assu re system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be su re to read the important information and
head the WARNI NGS for important details
about ch ild ren and Advanced Airbags
c::> page 172.
Even though your veh icle is equipped wit h an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that a ll chil­
dren, especially those 12 years a nd you nger, a l­
ways ride in the bac k seat properly restrained fo r
the ir age and size. The airbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potent ia lly dangerous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
sa fest p lace for a child in a forward-facing ch ild ..,.
153

Airb ag syst em
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants .
Fig. 165 Location of driver airbag : in steering whee l
Fig. 166 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the instru­
ment panel
Your vehicle is equ ipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with Un ited States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicab le at the time your veh i­
cle was manufactured. The safety belts for the
seats have "pretensioners" that help to take s lack
out of the belt system . The pretensioners are also
activated by the electronic control unit for the
airbag system .
The front safety belts a lso have load limiters to
help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steer ing wheel
hub ¢
fig. 165 and the airbag for the front pas ­
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig. 166. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
156
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detailed
i nformation about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers, especially infants and small children .
,&_ WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supp lemental p rotection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety be lts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
prope rly restrained.
,&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ild ren, will rece ive
serious i njur ies and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inf lates .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle is designed to turn off the front passenger airbag if an infant or a sma ll child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that dep loyment un­
der these special condit ions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy in
accordance with the "low risk" option under
the U .S. Federal Standard if a chi ld that is
heav ier than the typical one-year old child is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that ch ildren
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position .
- F or their own safety, all ch ildren, especially
12 years and younger, sho uld a lways ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size .
-

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detail below . Because the front passenger seat
contains important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System, yo u must take care to prevent it from be­
ing damaged. Damage to the seat may prevent
the Advanced Airbag for the front passenger seat
from do ing its job in a crash .
The front Ad vanced Airb ag S ystem con sis ts
of the following :
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts . The
control unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . T he control un it also "de­
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
sho uld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve for the driver inside the steering
whee l hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve inside the instrument panel for
t h e front passenger.
- A weig ht-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that meas ures the tota l weight on the seat. The
information registered is sent cont in uous ly to
the e lectronic control unit to regulate dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
¢ page 162.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respect ive seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation registered is sent cont inuously to the
elect ron ic cont ro l unit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Airbags.
- T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the i nstrument
pane l¢
page 162, fig . 168 and tells you when
the front Advanced Ai rbag on the passenger
side has been turned
off .
-A sensor below the safety belt la tch fo r the
front seat passenge r to measure the tension on
Airbag syste m
the sa fe ty belt. The tens ion on the safety be lt
and the weight registe red by the weight -sens­
ing mat help the control unit "decide" whether
the front a irbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned
off or not¢ page 153, Child
restraints on the front seat- some important things to know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transm its this informat ion to the elect ro nic
cont ro l unit.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can pre­
vent the fron t air bag from working prope rly.
- Imp roper repai r or d isassembly of the front
passenger and driver sea t will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly .
- Repairs to the front passenge r seat must be
performed by qualified and p roperly trained
workshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upho lstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble o r remove par ts from the
seat or disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sh arp objects in yo ur po ckets or
p la ce them on t he seat.
If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is punctu red
it cannot work properly .
- Never carry things on yo ur lap or carry ob ­
jects on the passenger seat. S uch items can
increase the we ight registe red by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­
formation to the a irbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking prope rly.
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
p roved by Aud i on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air­ bag System from recognizing child
159

Airb ag syst em
-Never place or attach accessories or other
objects (such as cupholders, telephone
brackets, large, heavy or bulky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the steer ing wheel, instru­
ment pane l, seat backrests or between
those areas and yourself. These obje cts
could cause injury in a crash, e specially
when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to
transport objec ts . Items can also move into
t h e area of the side airbag or the front air ­
bag dur ing braking or in a sudden maneu·
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
projectiles and cause injury, part icularly
when the seat is reclined.
A WARNING
The f ine dust created when a irbags dep loy can
cause breathing problems for people with a
history of asthma or other breathing condi­
tions .
- To reduce the r isk of breathing problems,
those w ith asthma or other resp iratory con­
ditions should g et fr esh air r ight away by
get ting out of the vehicle o r opening w in ­
dows or door s.
- If you are in a col lision in w hich a irbags de­
p loy, wash your hand s and fa ce wi th mild
soap and water before eating.
- Be caref ul not to get the dus t into you r eyes,
or into any cuts or s cratches.
- If the residue should get into you r eyes,
flush them with water.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separa te indicators monitor the function of
the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag moni­
toring indicator light and the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light.
The Advanced Airbag System (including the elec· tronic control unit, sensor circuits and system
w iri ng) is monitored cont inuous ly to make sure
that it is funct ion ing properly whenever the ign i·
162
tion is on . Each time you t urn on the ignit ion, the
airbag monitoring indicator light
II wi ll come on
for a few seconds (self diagnostics).
The sy stem must be inspected when th e
indicat or light
fB :
-does not come on when the ignition is sw itched
on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you have
switched on t he ignit ion, or
- comes on wh ile driving.
If an airbag system malfunction is detected, t he
i ndic ator light will fi rst s tart flashing to catch the
dr iver's at ten tion and the n st ay on con tinuo usly
to serve as a constant reminder to have the sys ­
tem inspected immediately .
If a malfu nction occurs that turns the front air ­
bag on the passenge r side off, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay on
whenever the ignit ion is on .
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning prop­
erly cannot provide supplemental protection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag ind icator light
c> page 16
comes when the vehicle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer .
It is possible that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup·
posed to, or will not inflate when i t should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig. 168 Sec tion fro m t he in strument panel: PASSENGER
AIR BAG O FF ligh t
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is loca ted in
the center of the inst rument panel
c> fig . 168. ..,.

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@ Tips
If the weight-sensing mat in the front passen­
ger seat detects an empty seat, the front air­
bag on the passenger side will be turned off,
and
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF will stay on.
Repair, care and disposal of the airbags
Parts of the airbag system are installed at many
different places on your Audi. Installing, remov­ ing , servicing or repairing a part in an area of the
vehicle can damage a part of an airbag system and prevent that system from working properly in a collision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system will not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
A WARNING
-
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing an airbag from de­
ploying when needed or deploying an airbag
unexpectedly:
- Never cover, obstruct, or change the steer­
ing wheel horn pad or airbag cover or the in­
strument panel or modify them in any way .
- Never attach any objects such as cup holders
or telephone mountings to the surfaces cov­
ering the airbag units .
- For cleaning the horn pad or instrument panel, use only a soft, dry cloth or one mois­
tened with plain water. Solvents or cleaners could damage the airbag cover or change
the stiffness or strength of the material so
that the airbag cannot deploy and protect
properly.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the airbag system.
- All work on the steering wheel, instrument
panel, front seats or electrical system (in­
cluding the installation of audio equipment,
cellular telephones and CB radios, etc.)
must be performed by a qualified technician
Airbag system
who has the training and special equipment
necessary.
- For any work on the airbag system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Never modify the front bumper or parts of
the vehicle body.
- Always make sure that the side airbag can
inflate without interference:
- Never install seat covers or replacement
upholstery over the front seatbacks that
have not been specifically approved by
Audi .
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags in­
flate.
- Damage to the original seat covers or to
the seam in the area of the side airbag
module must always be repaired immedi­
ately by an authorized Audi dealer.
- The airbag system can be activated only
once. After an airbag has inflated, it must
be replaced by an authorized Audi dealer or
qualified technician who has the technical
information, training and special equipment
necessary.
- The airbag system can be deployed only
once . After an airbag has been deployed, it
must be replaced with new replacement
parts designed and approved especially for
your Audi model version. Replacement of complete airbag systems or airbag compo­nents must be performed by qualified work­
shops only. Make sure that any airbag serv­
ice action is entered in your Audi Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet under AIRBAG RE­
PLACEMENT RECORD.
- In accidents when an airbag is deployed, the
vehicle battery separates the alternator and
the starter from the vehicle electrical sys­ tem for safety reasons with a pyrotechnic
circuit interrupter .
- Work on the pyrotechnic circuit interrupt­
er must only be performed by a qualified
dealer -risk of an accident!
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter is
scrapped, all applicable safety precautions
must be followed.
165