What I do have:
- a 05-02 ML 270 CDI
- a 3-month old son
- a non-MB child seat (which is exactly the same make/model as the MB-branded one)

What I still need:
- The transponder / part that is added to the O.E.M. MB child seats that deactivates the passanger airbag.

Why I don't want to buy one from MB:
- It costs over 50% more to get an O.E.M. MB one (with the only difference being the transponder).
- The design is horribly ugly, and therefore vetoed by my wife. (honestly )
- I already have a good child seat, damn it!

I've checked with the local dealership to see if we could get a separate transponder (or whatever it may be), but they basically brushed us off, proposing to buy the complete child seat (yeah, right).

Anybody knows if the transponder is available separately, and what the MB part number is?

Thanks for all info,
Bram

Do you mean the passenger side airbag up front, or the side airbags in the back seats? Children are always safer in the back; we don't let our 6-year old up front yet, nevermind younger kids. Put the child seat in the rear center position; it's the safest in a crash, and disabling the airbag is a non-issue. Our kids never minded being back there by themselves, so you needn't worry about that. If they start to cry you can talk or sing to them.

__________________
Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)

Britax makes the child seats and they will not sell the transponder
grid seperately. We tell people to put their kids in the rear seats
in the center to be safest. Sorry but there is no way to defeat it without a real MB seat, even if they are hideous to look at.
Best of luck
DR.D

I'm talking about the airbag in the front passenger seat. (I don't have rear-side airbags in the back, only the front).
The specific seat I'm talking about is the maxi-cosi citi (available in Europe, don't know if they're sold in the US - see http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/motors/child_car_seats/maxi_cosi_citi_car_seat/). It is supposed to be put with the back of the seat facing forward, and fixed with the 3-point seatbelt. When driving with my wife and son they both sit in the back, but when travelling alone with him, it is quite frustrating for him that he can't see either of us. Just being where he can see me is reassuring enough for him to have a nice and quiet (and presumably safer) trip...

Bram

Without the proper MB child seat, if your son is in the front pass.
seat and the main airbag deploys. there is a very good chance your son will be seriously injured or even killed. The air bag will
smash the reverse facing child seat unless deactivated by a MB
child seat. Don't chance it. It's not worth the risk.
Put him in the rear or buy the MB seat.

As someone who went through the trouble of getting the MB seat when they were impossible(very very hard) to get in the USA, I'd have to say pass.

I got mine because I have a conv. and a truck. I don't agree with the people who say that kids are unsafe in the front, the danger is the airbag not the colliding car. My son in the front seat of either of my vehicles is safer than children in the center of the rear of 75% of the vehicles on the road.

However, here's the downside. The $500 carseat only disables the front passenger airbag and not the side airbag. Now that may be okay or even desireable. But that's all the seat disables. If I move him to the back there is no disabling of the rear airbags. This makes the transponder based system for disabling airbags about as well thought out as the MB implementation of integrated phone systems. In other words, they missed the mark on this one too!

We have Britax for the Honda and like the top-of-line seat much more than the MB model i.e. ease of adjustment, comfort etc.

All in all, I'd say if you don't have a conv., don't buy this gadget.

Rgds, Ed

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

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