ejenner

Hi all. Does anybody know if the drivers airbag is coded to the car with the chassis number and do only virgin bags fit if you want to replace it?

Heguli

No coding needed, bag itself does not have any control unit. Just two wires that trigger the igniter.

ejenner

That's good news. So I can get any air-bag off eBay and it'll be fine?

Heguli

Get one with the same part number and you should be good. Why are you replacing the bag?

ejenner

I've got a load of SRS faults logged and the dashboard SRS light is always on.

I've replaced the SRS control unit with a new one from Mercedes and coded it to the car. I had to do this because I broke the previous one with a soldering iron.

I've found a technical bulletin which discusses some of the symptoms I'm having and that involves removal of the drivers airbag and steering wheel to get to the wiring in the steering column. The electric column adjustment does not work properly either. So I think that's where my issue is.

Problem I'm having is that I'm not the first person to perform operations in this area and the last person who looked at it has mashed up the bolt which holds the airbag to the steering wheel. I put my probe camera into the hole where the torx screw is on the back of the steering wheel and the head for the screw on the right hand side is totally gone. The area is smooth so it has either sheared off or the head has been so badly damaged that there's nothing left. I can't remove the screw so the airbag is half-attached to the steering wheel and cannot come off. Without getting the airbag off I can't remove the steering wheel and after that I can't get to the column. So I'm going to have to break the airbag and the steering wheel to be able to get it off the car.

Luckily I've found a replacement on eBay which looks like it is in better condition than my original steering wheel so when it goes back on it will be a small upgrade.