Air Bag Disabling on ML 320 - Please Help (Baby due 14 April - its urgent!)

[surreyian]

We are expecting our second child soon (14th April!) and I phoned the MB dealership to book the front airbag to be disabled to accomodate our rear facing front car-seat (which clips into the pram so its easier to carry especially for my wife when she has to lug the newborn and 3 year old around)(the first baby was carried as a newborn in a BMW hence this is a new problem to us)

To my amazement the dealer said the ONLY way was to buy a MB baby seat as it has a built in transponder that de-activates the seat. I offered to buy only the transponder but thats not an option. On my BMW they disabled it pronto no problem. The main issues is not the cost but the fact that the seat doesnt clip into a pram so its constant moving of baby from one seat to another - seems crazy to me.

Seems like a brand-extension policy to me - does anyone know who can do this for me - ideally I would like MB to do this and the last thing we want is a botched half job as these airbags are highly dangerous if activated at inappropriate time.

Question - must I just accept this or is there a way to safely disable this airbag?

Thanks for taking the time to read this

 

[LANDR0VER]

If you check back on older posts this was covered in great detail.

 

[kkmfo]

You won't find a dealer that will disable the airbag. They say they can't do it because you could sell the car on and not tell the new owner that the bag is disabled. This is MBUK policy and they won't shift on it.
You will also struggle to find an independent specialist who will agree to do it.
Why not put the baby's car seat in the back? It will be the easiest option in the long run.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

unless you buy a baby seat with a transponder you are gonna have to put up with this....but you will only have to put up with for as long as you have the rear facing seat in the front. if i remember right most seats for 1yr olds and above face forward so issue is lessened by then.

if they were to de-activate your airbag would you re-activate it everytime someone else sits in the car?

go on ebay. buy a second hand seat with transponder and shove it in the footwell then you can safley use you own seat without the airbag going off and no changing of baby from seat to seat.

and if you cant find one buy a older child MB seat for when the new baby grows up a bit and do the same with that.

for the seat to de-activate the sensor it doesnt need to be in situ on the seat.

and congratulations on the baby too.

 

[panason1c]

"They say they can't do it because you could sell the car on and not tell the new owner that the bag is disabled"
--------------------------------------------------


Except that, as i understand, if the bag is disabled then a warning light stays on.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

"They say they can't do it because you could sell the car on and not tell the new owner that the bag is disabled"
--------------------------------------------------


Except that, as i understand, if the bag is disabled then a warning light stays on.

not if it is disable electronically.. they disconnect the senor that activates the light.

 

[jberks]

If the sensitivity is pretty good, why can't you get a transponder (though admittedly where from?) and just sit it under the front seat. I imagine MB won't sell just the transponder. - maybe there is an old seat on Ebay you could strip down.
There's a market for an electronics guru to make transponders for those that don't want the overpriced Merc child seats. Anyone know what's in a transponder - can't be that complex.

 

[panason1c]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2987&item=4367666738&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW