Has anyone ever heard of a W123 240D that has been retrofitted with an airbag? As much time as I spend in the car it would be nice if it was not too $$$. I have no idea what’s involved with airbags but I’m interested in one for the driver’s side only since I’m the only one ever in it (work commute care). Don’t know if other model’s steering wheels could be retrofitted into it or not. Also don’t care if cruise still worked or not.

JohnM 1983 240D 4sp manual 157Kmi

I am sure you can do this, but it will probally cost lots of money. I remember seeing a 1985 euro spec 300D on eBay a year ago, and i thought I remember the owner claiming it had ABS and an air bag.

I personally dont like air bags. My friend was in a really bad car accident with no air bag and he was perfectly ok, but some of my other friends were in a subaru with air bags and it broke my friends ribs and his arm because his arm got flown through the window. I dont like them. If you are worried about it, maybe you should get like a w124 diesel car instead of the w123 diesel car because I bet you will spend the same amount of money trying to do it as it would to upgrade, plus it could blow when its not stupposed to and cause you to kill someone, like lets say it went off on the freeway and made your arm pull the steering wheel into another car...Just my thoughts

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Current Stable:
1994 S500 v140, 210k miles, white with grey.

Former Mercedes in the Stable:
1983 300CD Turbo diesel 515k mi sold (rumor has it, that it has 750k miles on it now)
1984 300CD Turbo Diesel 150 k mi sold
1982 300D Turbo Diesel 225 sold
1987 300D Turbo Diesel 255k mi sold
1988 300 CE AMG Hammer 15k mi sold
1986 "300E" Amg Hammer 88k mi sold (it was really a 200, not even an E (124.020)
1992 500E 156k mi sold
etc.

It's impossible to argue with the proven life saving statistics in favor of air bags. They have saved lives, period. You are statistically safer with them than without them. It's a fact.

That said, forget about an airbag retrofit. It's absolutely not practical. It would cost more than what even the very nicest low mileage 123 car can be worth.

If you want them, it's time to consider a later model car. The 124's are now down in cost, and they all have a drivers side airbag, at least I know the '88 does.

Good luck,

I agree, do not waste your time with retro fitting. There is a whole lot more involved than bolting on an airbag eqpuiped steering wheel. There are a whole series of sensors that are specifically placed through out the front end. Unless you are an engineer in crash testing and the exact physics of that particular chassis, you're not going to be able to do it.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

I worked for Ford Motor almost 30 years ago, and they were testing air bags at that time. Early testing consisted of trial and error as was the case with most automotive designs of that day....most of the air bag designs consisted mainly of error. They didn't perfect them for several more years and many crash tests later. To retrofit them onto a car that didn't originally have them would be beyond an individual's capacity. Even if you could design something you thought would work, it would have to be crashed tested to know for sure.

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1976 240D
1987 560SL
2007 E320 Bluetec
1998 C280 (now son’s car)
1982 240D Manual - Sold

Our 1996 Chevy Tahoe used to have an "inertial airbag" which I believe was contained only within the steering assembly, rather than a host of bumper sensors and assorted electronics.