My '87 300D-T (W124) has a sticker on the inside of the glovebox door stating that the airbag was due to be replaced 12 years ago in 1996. In other words, my airbag has never been replaced and is now 22 years old. I did some searching of this forum and other Internet sources and learned the following (a mix of facts and opinion):

1. Airbag replacement used to be specified every 10 years by Mercedes but has been extended to 15 years based on manufacturers' experience and testing.

2. An airbag will probably work even if it is 20 years old or more; the replacement policy is CYA on the part of the manufacturers, who understandably don't want to be sued when (if) an old airbag fails to deploy properly.

3. Mercedes (it is said) has never had an airbag accidentally deploy by itself.

4. Airbag replacement is said to be expensive -- $1000, more or less. I have been unable to get any hard cost numbers. The web sites that claim to sell airbags won't quote prices without a lot of personal information that I'm not ready to give. I have not been able to find a post from anyone who has actually had an airbag replaced other than those that have been deployed in a collision. Comments such as "more than the car is worth" abound as the reason why many choose not to replace an airbag.

5. Undeployed airbags taken from used cars can be purchased and self-installed. Whether they are any better than the airbags to be replaced is questionable. (There is some risk associated with this DIY job.)

Questions: Have you ever had an (undeployed) airbag replaced because it was out of date? or known anyone who did? and how much did it cost? Is there any data available (from dealers or independents) on the numbers or percentages of people who actually keep their airbags up to date? If the cost is really $1000, I suspect that there are a lot of old airbags out there, and more every day.

Caveat -- for the whiners lurking out there -- Yes, I always wear my seat belt, whether I'm in my '85 (no airbags), my '87 (one airbag), or my wife's '96 (four airbags).

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970