switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected
c::> page 265. Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may p revent the Advanced
Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The f ront Ad vanc ed Airb ag Sy stem con sist s
of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measu re vehicle accelerat ion/ decelerat ion to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
- An electronic cont rol unit, with integrated
c rash sensors for front and side impacts. The
contro l unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . The contro l unit also "de
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
should be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ing
wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger.
- A capac itive passenger detect ion system under
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys
tem measures the electrical capac itance of the
person in the seat . The information registered
i s sent conti nuously to the electron ic cont rol
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad
vanced Airbag on the passenge r side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
li ght
mi n the instrument cluster.
- A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance between the respective seat and the
stee ring wheel or instrument panel. The info r
mation reg istered is sent contin uous ly to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Adv a need Airbags.
- T he
PASSE NGER AIR BAG OFF~; ON @ light
; comes on in the headliner
c:> page 265,
~ fig. 222 and te lls you the status of the Ad-
8 vanced Airbag on the passenger side. 0
3
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety be lt is latched or not and
transmits this information to the electronic control un it.
A WARNING ,.__
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre
vent the front airbag from working properly .
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from funct ion ing
p roperly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
pe rformed by qualified and properly trained
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passe nger seat.
- Never d isassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat. The capacit ive pas
senger detect ion mat in the front passenger
seat will not function p roperly if it is punc
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob
jects on the front passenge r seat. Such ob
jects ca n infl uence the capacitance reg is
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro
vided to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items unde r the front passenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys
tem from working properly.
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up
holstery that have not been specifically ap
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced A ir
bag System from recognizing child re
stra ints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth- erwise added to the front passenger seat ,
~
261
Airbag syste m
never insta ll any chi ld restraint system on
this seat .
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger seat .
The add itional layers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurat ely
measuring the capac itance of the ch ild safe
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
wor king properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, elect ronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
i f the device is conne cted to the 12 -volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket . Such
devices can influence the capacitance reg is
tered by the capac itive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro
vided to the airbag control unit .
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man
ufact urer 's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to
prope rly position the ch ild rest raint, make
c ertain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light comes on and stays on whenever
the chi ld restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light
does not come on and stay on, immediate ly
insta ll child restra int in a rear seating posi
t ion and have the airbag system inspected
by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im
mediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat, this can keep the a irbag system from work
ing properly and may , for instance, deact i
va te the passenger frontal airbag. If this
happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;;
light will come on and stay on togethe r wi th
the airbag ind icator
light E,I in the inst ru
men t cl uster.
262
- If liq uid is pooled on the seat, but has not
soaked in, th is may also keep the airbag sys
tem from working properly and cause the passenger fronta l airbag to be enabled
(turned on), even though there is a p roperly
installed child res traint system on the seat .
Wet towels or o ther we t things on the se at
cushion can have the same effe ct. If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned o n,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light light
wi ll go out .
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced A irbag System and the side
airbags supp lement the protection offered by the
front t hree-point safety belts with pretens ione rs
and load lim ite rs and the ad justab le head re
strain ts to help reduce t he risk of injury in a wide
r ange of accident and c rash s itu ations. Be sure to
read the important info rmation abou t safety and
heed the WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Adva nced A irbag System and
the activa tion of the safe ty belt pretensioners de
pend on the dece lera tion measured by the crash
senso rs and registered by the electronic contro l
u nit . Crash severity depends on speed and decel
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle o r object involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
use, the front passenger frontal airbag will be
turned off if the e lectr ica l capacitance measured
by the capaci tive passenger detection system on
the front passenger seat is less than the amount
programmed in t he e lectronic control unit . The
front passenger frontal a irbag w ill also be turned
off if the capaci tance measured by the system for
the fron t passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about one year o f age in one o f the chi ld sea ts
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem under Federa l Moto r Vehicle Safety Standard
208. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the front
Advanced Ai rbag System on the passenger side
has been turned off
Q page 265 . .,,.
_& WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward, sit
t ing s ideways or out of pos ition in anyway,
your risk of injury is much h igher.
- You will also receive serious injur ies and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 253.
More important things to know about front
a irbags
F ig. 221 Inflated front airbags
0 0 M
-..:, ... m
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the p roper seated position so
that a irbags can unfold properly and provide sup
p lemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi
tional protection for the chest a nd face of the
d river and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly
- the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag
- and the head restraints have been properly ad-
justed
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
great force, things you have on your lap or have placed on the seat could become dangerous pro
jectiles, and be pushed into you if the airbag in
flates .
~ When an a irbag deploys, fine dust is released.
8 This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
~ vehicle. Th is dust is made up mostly of a powder
co
Airb ag sys tem
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy. It
could irritate skin.
It is important to remember that wh ile the sup
plementa l airbag system is designed to red uce
the likelihood of serio us injuries, other injur ies,
for example swelling, bruising and minor abra s ions, can also happen when airbags inflate. Air
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags supplement the three
point safety belts on ly in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle deceleration is high e nough
to deploy the airbags .
Fron t airb ags will not depl oy:
- if the ignition is switched off when a crash oc-
curs
- in side collisions
- in rear-end collisions
- in rollovers
- when t he crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the m in imum thresh
old needed for airbag dep loyment as registe red
by the electronic control unit
Th e front passenger airbag also will not
deplo y:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the e lectr ica l ca pacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detection system for
the front passenger seat indicates that the pas
senger s ide frontal a irbag must be switched off
by the electronic control unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
11,;; light ¢ page 265 comes on
and stays on).
A WARNING
-Sitt ing in the wrong position can increase the
risk of ser ious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags
inflate, the drive r and passengers must al
ways sit in an up right posit ion, must not
lea n aga ins t or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi tion
or too close to the airbag c an be serio usly
inj ured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye¢
page 254. ~
263
Airbag syste m
front seat p assenge r's frontal Advanced Airbag.
Th e PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light:
-will come o n if the front pa ssenger seat is not
occupied;
- will come on if the e lectr ica l capacitance meas
u red by the c apac itive passenger detec tion sys
tem for the front passenger seat equals the
combined capacitance of an infant up to about
one year of age and one of the rearward-facing
or forward-facing child rest raints listed in Fed
eral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Ai rbag System in your veh i
cle was certif ied; Fo r a listing of the child re
straints that were used to cert ify your vehicle's
compliance with the U .S. Safety Standard
c=> page 279.
- will go out if the front passenger seat is occu
pied by an adult as reg istered by the capacitive
passenger detection system.
- T he
PAS SENG ER AIR BAG OFF~; light must
come on and s tay o n if the ignition is on and . ..
- a car bed has been insta lled on the front pas
senger seat, o r
-a rearward-fac ing ch ild restrai nt has been in
stalled on the front passenger seat , or
- a forward-facing child restra int has bee n in stal
led on the front passenger seat,
- and if the e lectrical capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is equa l to or less than
the comb ined capac itance of a typical 1 year
o ld infant and one of the rearward-fac ing o r
fo rward -fa cing chi ld restrain ts lis ted in Federal
Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208 with w hich
the Advanced Airbag System in yo ur vehicle was
certified .
If th e fron t passe nger seat is no t occ upied, the
front ai rbag w ill not dep loy, and the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF~;
light wi ll stay on.
Never i nstall a rearward-facing child rest raint on
t he front passenge r sea t, the safes t place for a
chi ld in any k ind of child restraint is at one o f the
seating positions on the rea r seat ¢
page 254,
Child restraints on the front seot -some impor
tant things to know
and c:> page 2 7 7, Child safe
ty .
266
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
com es on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes
on when one of the condit ions listed above is
met, be sure to check the light regularly to make
certain t hat the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~;
light stays on cont inuously whenever the ign ition
i s on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not appear on and does not stay on all the
time, stop as soon as it is safe to do so a nd
- reactivate the system by tur ning the ignit ion
off for more than 4 seconds and then tur ning it
on again;
- remove and re install the ch ild restraint. Make
sure that the child restra int is prope rly insta l
led and that the safety belt for the front pas
senge r sea t has bee n corre ct ly rou ted th rough
t he child restraint as desc ribed in the ch ild re
straint man ufact urer's inst ruc tions;
- ma ke sure that the convert ible loc king retr ac
to r on the safety belt for the front passenge r
seat has been activated and that the safety belt has been pulled tight .
- ma ke sure that no e lectrica l device (s uch as a
laptop , CD p layer , e lectronic games device,
power inverte r or seat heater for chi ld seats) is
placed or used on the front passenger seat if
the device is connected to the 12-volt socket or
the c igarette lighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been retro
fitted or otherw ise added to the front passen
ger seat;
- make sure that noth ing can interfere with the
safety belt buckles and that they are not ob
struc ted;
- make sure that there are no wet objects (such
as a wet towe l) and no water or other liquids on
the front passenger seat cushion .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light still
does not come on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light st ill
does not come on and does not stay on cont in u
ous ly (when the ign ition is switched o n),
- take the child restra int off the front passenger
seat and install it properly at one of the rear
ll-
<( a, .... N ,....
N .... 0 0
3 a,
seat positions. Have the airbag system inspect
ed by your Audi dealer immediately.
- move the chi ld to a rear seat position and make
sure that the child is properly restrained in a
child restraint that is appropriate for its size
and age.
Th e PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~ ; light
s h ould NOT com e on ...
The PASS ENGER AI R BAG OFF ~ ; light should
NO T come on when the ignition is on and an
adult is sitting in a proper seating position on the
front passenger seat . If the
PASS ENGER AIR
BAG OFF ~;
light comes on and stays on while
driving, under these circumstances, make sure
that :
- the adult on the front passenger seat is proper
ly seated on the center of the seat cushion with
his or he r back up aga inst the backrest and the
back rest is not reclined,
- the adult is not tak ing weight off the seat by
ho lding on to the passenger assist handle
above t he front passenger door or supporting
their weight on the a.rm rest,
- the safety belt is be ing properly worn and that
there is not a lot of slack in the safety belt web
bing,
- there are no aftermarket seat covers or cush
ions or other things (such as blankets) on the
front passenger seat that migh t ca use the ca
pacitive passenger detection system to miscal
cu late electrical capacitance .
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
-If the status of the Adv a need A irbag System
has changed while the vehicle is moving, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; ON @ light
blinks for about 5 seconds to catch the driv
er's attention .
If this happens, always stop
as soon as it is safe to do so and check the
steps described above .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light
does not go off when an adult who is not
very small is s itting on the front passenger
-
Airb ag sys tem
seat after taking the steps described above,
make sure the adu lt is properly seated and
restrained at one of the rear seating posi
tions . Have the a irbag system inspected by
your author ized Audi dealer before trans
port ing anyone on the front passenger seat.
A WARNING
f-
An a irbag system that is not functioning prop-
e rly cannot prov ide supplemental protect io n
i n a front al crash.
- I f the ai rbag ind icator light~
page 33
comes when the veh icle is being used, have
the system inspected immedia tely by your
authorized Audi dealer . It is possib le that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup
posed to, or will not inflate when it should.
A WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a ch ild without a
chi ld restraint, or in a rearward-facing child
safety seat, or in a forward-fac ing child re
stra int that has not been properly insta lled
will be seriously injured and can be killed.
- Even though your vehicle is equipped with
an Advanced A irbag System, make certain
that all children , espec ially 12 years and
younge r, always ride on the back seat p rop
erly rest rained for the ir age and s ize .
- Always install fo rwa rd or rear-facing child
safety seats on the rear seat - even with an
Advan ced Airbag System.
- I f you must install a rea rwa rd-facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of excep tional circums tances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;, light does not
appear and stay on, immediate ly install the
rear-facing chi ld safety seat in a rear seat ing
position and have the a irbag system in
spected by your authori zed Aud i dea ler.
- If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat, always move the seat into its rearmost position in the seat's
fore and aft ad justment range, as far away
from the a irbag as poss ible . The back rest
m ust be adjusted to an upr ight position .
267
-For safety reasons in severe accidents, the
alternator and starter are separated from
the vehicle battery with a pyrotechn ic circuit
interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circ uit interrupt
er must only be performed by a qualified
technicians who have the experience, in
formation and special tools necessary to
perform the work safely.
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter is
scrapped, all app licab le safety precautions
must be followed .
@) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les a nd pretension
ers might be classified as Perch lorate Materi
al -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc .ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo
rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re
straint system including airbag modules and
safety belts with pretensioners are scrapped,
all applicable laws and regulations must be
observed. Your authorized Audi dealer is fa
m iliar with these requi rements a nd we recom
mend t hat you have you r dealer perform this
service for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced Airbag System
performs in a crash . For example, using tire-r im
comb inat ions not approved by Audi, lowering the
ve hicl e, chang ing the stiffness of the suspens io n,
in clud ing the spr ings, suspens ion str uts, shock
absorbers et c. can change the forces that are
measured by the airbag sensors and sent to the
e lectronic contro l unit. Some suspension changes
can, for example, increase the force levels meas
ured by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in crashes in wh ich it would not deploy if
the changes had not been made. Other ki nds of
changes may reduce the fo rce levels meas ured by
the sensors and prevent the airbag from deploy
in g when i t should .
Airbag sys tem
A WARNING
-Changing the vehicle's suspension including
use of unapproved tire-rim combinations can
change Advanced Airbag performance and in
crease the risk of serious persona l injury in a
crash.
- Never install suspension components that
do not have the same pe rformance charac
teristics as the components o rigina lly ins tal
led on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations t hat have
not been approved by Audi.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supplemen
tal protection to prop erly restrained front sea t
occupants.
F ig. 223 D river 's knee a irbag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument panel
u nderneath the steering whee l
~fig. 223, the
airbag fo r the p asse nger is at about the same
height in the instr ument pane l underneath the
glove compa rtment.
T he knee airbag offers add itiona l protection to
the driver's and passenge r's knees and uppe r and
lower thigh areas and supp lements the protec
tion provided by the safety be lts .
If the front airbags deploy, the knee airbags a lso
deploy in fron tal coll is ions when the deploymen t
threshold stored in the cont rol un it is me t
~ page 263, More important things to know
about front airbags.
269
Airbag system
In addition to their normal safety function, safe
ty belts help keep the driver or front passenger in
position in a frontal collision so that the airbags
can provide supplemental protection.
The airbag system is not a substitute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occu
pant restraint system in your vehicle. Always re member that the airbag system can only help to
protect you if you are wearing your safety belt
and wearing it properly . This is why you should
always wear your safety belt, not just because
the law requires you to do so ¢
page 245, Gener
al information.
Remember too, airbags will deploy only once and
only in certain k inds of accidents - your safety
belts are always there to offer protection in those
accidents 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
not a substitute for the safety belt. The a irbag
system works most effectively when used with
the safety belts. Therefore, always wear your
safety belts correct ly.
It is important to remember that while the sup
p lemental knee airbag system is designed to re
duce the likelihood of serious injuries, other inju
ries, for example, swe lling, bruising and minor
abrasions and friction burns can also occur when
an airbag inflates .
The knee airbag system basically consists of:
- T he electronic control module
- T wo inflatab le airbags (airbag and gas genera-
tor), one for the driver and one for the front
passenger
- The airbag indicator ligh t in the instrument
panel
The knee airbag system will not deploy:
-whe n the ignition is switched off
- in frontal collisions when the deceleration
measured by the control un it is too low
- in side collisions
- in rear-end collisions
270
- in rollovers
-in the event of a system malfunction (warning/
ind icator light is on)
¢page 33.
A WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system can only
provide protection when occupants are in
the proper seating position
¢page 263.
-If the airbag indicator light¢ page 33
comes when the veh icle 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 it should.
How knee airbags work
The risk of injury to the leg area con be reduced
by fully inflated knee airbags.
Fig. 224 In flated a irbags protect ing in a fro nta l coll ision
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the airbags for the dr iver and front passen
ger dep loy in certain but not all fronta l collisions .
If the front airbags deploy, the knee airbags also
deploy in frontal collisions when the deployment
threshold stored in the control unit is met .
When the system deploys, the airbags fill with a
prope llant gas, and inflate between the lower
part of the instrument panel and the driver and
the lower part of the instrument panel and the
front passenger ¢
page 263, fig. 221 .
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in this way they can
help to reduce the risk of injury to the lower ex
tremities.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the airbags have deployed . The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and it is important for
occupant safety that nothing should be in their
way when they deploy .
Fully inflated airbags in comb ination with proper
ly worn safety belts slow down and limit the oc
cupant 's forward movement and help to reduce
the r isk of injury .
Important safety instructions on the knee
airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . Always
wear safety belts correctly and ride in a proper
seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers must
know and do to help the safety be lts and airbags
to provide s upplemental protection .
,& WARNING
An inflating knee airbag can cause ser ious in
jury. Wearing safety bel ts incor rectly and im
proper seating posit ions increase the r isk o f
serious personal injury and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
- The knee airbag system cannot protect you
prope rly if you are seated too close to any of
the a irbag locat ions. When ad justing their
seat positions, it is important that both the
dr iver and the front passenger keep their
upper bod ies a nd knees at the following
min imum safe d istances:
- at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
chest and the steering wheel/instrument
panel.
- at least 4 inc hes (10 cm) between the
knees and the lower part of the instru
ment panel.
- The risk of persona l injury increases if you
lean forward or to the side, or if the seat is
improper ly positioned and you are not wear
ing your safety belt. The risk increases even
more should the a irbag deploy.
- Always make sure that the knee airbag can
inflate without interference. Objects be-
Airbag sys tem
tween you and the airbag can increase the
risk of injury in an accident by interfering
wit h the way the airbag deploys or by being
pushed into yo u as the a irbag deploys.
- Never let anybo dy, especi ally children or
anima ls r ide in the footwell i n front of the
passenger seat. If the airbag deploys, this
can result in serious o r fatal in juries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the foo t
well area in front of the driver's or pas
senger's seat . Bulky objects (shopp ing
bags, for example) can interfere with or
prevent proper dep loyment of the airbag.
Small objects can be thrown th rough t he
vehicle if the airbag deploys and injure you
o r your passengers.
- Make sure the re a re no cracks, deep scratch
es o r othe r damage in the area of the inst ru
ment panel where the knee airbags a re lo
ca ted.
- If ch ildren are incorrectly seated, their risk
of injury inc reases in a coll is ion
~ page 2 7 7, Child safe ty.
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants.
Fi g. 22 5 Side a irbag locat ion in the drive r's sea t
The side airbags are located in the s ides of the
front seat backrests~
fig. 225 and the rear back
res t* facing the doo rs.
The side airbags installed for the front seating
pos itions have been des igned and certified to
help reduce the risk of in ju ry that can be caused
by a irbags when they inflate, pa rticul arly when .,.
271