
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, before driving off, always:
.,. Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly~ page 126,
.,. Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
~page 47 ,
.,. Wear safety belts p roperly ~page 136,
.. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect chi ldren
~page 166 .
In a coll is ion, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly. Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all t imes.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the air bag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal
coll isions¢ page 126, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢ page 47.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
¢pag e 166.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
142
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au
thorized Audi dea ler or qualified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ible modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov ers, and infla te between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The a irbags w ill deflate im
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see through the windsh ield aga in
without interruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move
ment. Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the ins ide of the vehicle while reduc ing the forces
acting on the occupant dur ing the crash . In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of 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 frontal
collisions. The triggering of t he a irbag system de
pends on the veh icle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con
trol unit. If this rate is be low the refe rence value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even tho ugh t he car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision . V ehi
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances wi ll vary considerab ly
between one co llision and another, it is not possi
ble to define a range of veh icle speeds that will
cover every poss ible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always trigger the airbags. Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the ca r hits, the angle of
im pact, vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will
..,.

Bulbs
Bulbs
Replacing light bulbs
For your safety, we recommend that you have
your authori zed Audi dealer replace burned out
bulbs for you.
It is becoming increasingly more and more diffi
cult to replace vehicle light bulbs since in many
cases, other parts of the car must first be re moved before you are able to get to the bulb.
This applies espec ially to the light bulbs in the
front of your car wh ich you can only reach
through the eng ine compartment.
Sheet metal and bulb holders can have sharp
edges that can cause ser ious cuts, and parts
must be correctly taken apart and then properly
put back together to help prevent breakage of
parts and long term damage from water that ca n
ente r housings that have not been properly re
sealed.
For your safety, we recommend that you have
your author ized Audi dealer replace any bulbs for
you, s ince your dealer has the proper tools, th e
correct bulbs and the expertise .
Gas discharge lamps (Xenon lights):
Due to the high electrical voltage, have the bulbs
replaced by a qualified technic ian . Headlights
with Xenon light can be identified by the high
voltage sticker.
LED headlights*
LED headlights require no maintenance. Please
contact your authorized Audi dealer if a bulb needs to be replaced.
A WARNING
Contact w ith high-voltage components of the
electrical system and improper replacement
of gas d ischarge (Xenon) headl ight bulbs can
cause se rious personal injury and death.
- Xenon bulbs are pressurized and can ex
plode when be ing changed .
- Chang ing Xenon lamps requires the spec ial
train ing, instructions and equipment .
238
-On ly an authorized Audi dealer or other
qualif ied workshop should change the bu lbs
in gas discharge lamps.
A WARNING
There are parts with sharp edges on the open
ings and on the bulb holders that can cause
serious cuts .
- If you are uncertain about what to do, have
the work performed by an author ized Audi
dealer or other qualified workshop . Ser ious
pe rsonal injury may res ult from improperly
pe rformed wor k.
(D Tips
- If you still prefer to replace the light bulbs
yourself, be aware that the engine compart
ment is a hazardous area to wo rk in
~page 189 ~.&.
-It is best to ask your authorized Audi dea ler
w henever you need to change a bulb.