Angie's 5'2", and even pregnant barely weighs 130lbs. I've read a lot about airbags, and how 'specially older ones really aren't safe for little people (who have to sit closer to the steering wheel while driving). If I end up buying this behemoth, would it be better to deactivate/disconnect/remove the airbag? If so, what's the best way to go about it?

__________________
2003 E320 wagon, ~80k, "Sputnik"
1987 300 SDL, ~160k, "The Pimp Daddy" (sold April 2010)
1984 300 TD, ~200k, "Das Boot" (Demised March 2008)

Airbags are always safer.

However, airbags only have a 15 year lifespan so the chances your airbag would even work at all in an accident are not good.

We deactivated mine the first chance we got (on the grounds that the srs light was on, the computer probably wasn't working anyway, and we weren't going to buy an airbag computer for a 20+year old airbag that would half kill you when it went off.

We simply removed a lot of the stuff under the steering wheel - the bag itself is there but we disconnected the car battery and then disconnected the wire under the air bag that plugs into, presumably, the launch circuitry.

Somebody else will have to chime in if the only reason we didn't get killed doing that was that the airbag was already nonfunctional.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

I apologize for directly contradicting you, but that's factually incorrect. The National Institute for Highway Safety says:

Can airbags injure people?

Yes. Occasionally, the energy required to quickly inflate frontal airbags can cause injury. Fortunately, most of these injuries are minor scrapes and abrasions. Serious injuries and deaths are relatively rare. Since 1990, deaths attributable to airbag inflation in low-speed crashes numbered more than 270 according to NHTSA.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that small and pregnant women should use pedal extenders or use a tilt steering wheel to point the airbag away from their abdomens.

It also says (and I add this for posterity, in case anyone else searches) that it is illegal to disconnect an airbag. There's a bad-ass bureaucratic process to even get permission to install an ON/OFF switch.

__________________
2003 E320 wagon, ~80k, "Sputnik"
1987 300 SDL, ~160k, "The Pimp Daddy" (sold April 2010)
1984 300 TD, ~200k, "Das Boot" (Demised March 2008)

Personally, I wouldn't want to own an airbag equipped car, regardless of the size if the driver. Just kill the system and forget about it.

Same here......if the seat belt pre-tensioner works, then your head shouldn't hit the steering wheel all that hard anyways!

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I just try not to crash into anything. With or without an air-bag, I suspect my car is safer than my motorcycle.

Very true. So far in my 5 years/70k miles of driving I've been hit three times.....(none real serious)....but I have never hit anything....except for gently bumping our mailbox post when turning around in the snow(and appearantly ice under that snow)....I couldn't stop!

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I think they've changed that. I don't think it's indefinite, but they have at least extended the lifespan of an airbag since then. I remember reading some article (linked from this site) where MB crash tested a 1980 126 and everything still worked the way it was supposed to after all that time. Maybe someone can provide the link.

I do know the airbag worked on the 89 300E I recently parted out and posted pics of in the thread on OD where it hit a pole doing around 50mph and rolled 3 times. The driver only had bruises, no broken bones.

__________________


1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

I'd love to disarm the one in my car. Scared of it though...Ive seen guys at the wrecker yard shooting them off for fun. Hey this is Georgia, what'd you expect?

Anyway, if someone knows how to remove it, post it up!

__________________
Paul
Benz-less
I need an SDL !

When the air bag police come, I'll tell them that the computer had failed previously, and as far as I know it's certainly not illegal to NOT replace faulty parts, if one chooses not to invest in replacement parts. So the failure was a pre-existing condition.

I went to a yard and bought the steering wheel out of a 300SD (with the star in the center instead of the air bag) and tried to install it, but the bolt was different.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

If you remove it, you'll have no steering wheel cover. Just unplug the red connector under the false firewall in the passenger footwell. Then remove the SRS bulb in the gauge cluster. Then hope you aren't wrong

Sixto
87 300D

I left my bulb in and drive with it constantly glowing, for the simple reason that should I randomly get hit by lightning and my car be sold to a little old lady, I want the light functioning at the very least to serve as legal warning that the air bag is NOT working.... regardless of why, it'll be a chance for a future owner to know that it needs shop work if they want the air bag, and not be driving around assuming they're protected.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

It is a violation of federal law to intentionally disable an airbag, and I won't advocate breaking the law on a public forum.

However, if I ever end up buying a vehicle with airbags, my first mod will be to disable or remove them. You are free to draw your own conclusions.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

remove it and put an early W126 steering wheel in.. or a nardi wheel if you have the pocket change for it