First read and observe the introductory information
and safety warnings
The airbags can protect vehicle occupants during frontal and side collisions by reducing their movement in the direction of the collision.
When an airbag is triggered, it is inflated by a gas generator. This causes the airbag covers to break, and the airbags inflate forcefully to cover their deployment zones within milliseconds. Once a vehicle occupant wearing a seat belt starts to sink into the inflated airbag, the gas inside the airbag starts to escape to cushion the occupant and slow down their movement. This can reduce the risk of severe and fatal injuries. A triggered airbag will not always prevent other injuries such as swelling, bruising and grazing. Deployment of a triggered airbag can also result in frictional heat.
Airbags provide no protection for the arms or lower parts of the body. Exception: in vehicles with a knee airbag, the knee area of the driver will be protected.
The most important factors for triggering the airbag are the type of accident, the angle of impact, the vehicle speed and the type of object with which the vehicle collides. Therefore, visible damage to the vehicle does not always mean that the airbag should have been triggered.
The triggering of the airbag system depends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by the collision and registered by the electronic control unit. If this rate is below the reference value programmed into the control unit, the airbags will not be triggered, even though the vehicle may be badly damaged as a result of the collision. Vehicle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehicle damage in an accident do not necessarily give an indication of whether an airbag should inflate or not. It is not possible to define a range of vehicle speeds and reference values, since the circumstances will vary considerably between one collision and another. It is therefore impossible to cover every possible kind and angle of impact that would trigger the airbags. Important factors in the triggering of the airbag include the nature (hard or soft) of the object that the vehicle hits, the angle of impact, and the vehicle speed.
Airbags only serve as a supplement to the three-point seat belt in some accident situations when the vehicle braking is sufficient to trigger the airbags. Airbags can only be triggered once and only in certain situations. The seat belts are always there to provide protection in situations in which the airbags are not triggered or have already been triggered. For example, if the vehicle collides with a further vehicle following the initial collision, or is hit by another vehicle.
The airbag system is part of the vehicle's overall passive safety concept. The
airbag system can only work effectively when the occupants are wearing their seat
belts correctly and have assumed a proper sitting position
.
Components of the vehicle safety concept
The following vehicle safety equipment makes up the vehicle's safety concept to reduce the risk of severe and fatal injuries. Depending on the vehicle equipment level, some of the equipment may not be fitted in your vehicle. It may not be available at all in some countries.
Situations when the front, knee, side and curtain airbags will not be triggered:
Removing and installing bulbs for cornering light -L148-/-L149-
Note
Left cornering light bulb -L148- and right cornering light
bulb -L149- are only fitted on gas discharge headlights.
Removal and installation are described for the left side.
Removal and installation on the right ...
Removing and installing rain and light sensor, vehicles without front camera
for driver assist systems
Note
The rain and light sensor has a silicon layer (coupling pad)
which forms the contact surface to the windscreen.
The rain and light sensor has been designed so that it can
be used again. A prerequisite for re-use ...
Saw-tooth wear
Saw-tooth wear is a stepped wear pattern on the individual
tread blocks → Fig.
that can cause increased tyre noise. The saw tooth is caused by
uneven deformation of the tread blocks in the tyre's contact
patch. Saw-tooth wear is more pronounce ...