Thanks for the replies. I would imagine that the fabrics would be the reason why they think it would not function properly, but I do not think the airbag fabric on newer cars is much different. I was just wanting to know if I were to have a accident in a 86-88 Mercedes- if the bag would inflate properly and wanting to get some input here.
My grandmother had a 1974 Oldsmobile Toronado back in the late 70s and owned it through the mid 1980s. They removed the engine from it before they took it to the junk yard and I remember them hitting the sensor and the airbags still inflated. That car was about 11-12 years old and it was a even older airbag design. GM cars were the first production cars to have airbags. They were optional only on the full-size 1974-1976 Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac- except convertibles and wagons. Only about 10000 had the option from 74-76 and it was not offered again for the 1977 downsized restyle. I also found it interesting when I learned they were dual airbags. GM did not offer airbags again until 1990. I have heard that GM offered a driver airbag as a option as early as 1973 on all full-size Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac models. Some cars as early as the very late 60s and very early 70s had airbags, but were experimental cars for tests. Believe it or not- Ford Motor Company offered a optional driver-side airbag on the 1986 Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz. It remained only as a option from 1986 through 1994, when the car was redesigned and renamed Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique in 1995. I wonder if those also supposedly had a limited "life" expectancy.

Thanks again.

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2004 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4wd
1991 Lincoln Town Car Executive
1991 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1988 Mercedes 300SEL
1972 Chevrolet Caprice Kingswood Estate 9-passenger wagon
1973 Pontiac Grand Ville
(Prior MB's: 1974 240D, 1985 380SE, 1984 190D, 1993 400SEL)