scovit

Brought my car in today because passenger or not centr airbag light goes off...should stay on if there is no passenger.....

Only have 1008 miles on this car so I thought maybe there was a loose connection and the dealer would take care of it quickly. After sitting there for 2 hours they needed to keep the car longer because they can't find the problem. I do notice that the seatbelt warning light does not come on when a person disconnects their seatbelt. I was told that this was related.

Any ideas what this might be?

KirkP

That's the way mine works; it's supposed to be off normally. You wouldn't want a bright led glowing all the time just because no one is in the passenger seat. I believe it only comes on when a Smart Child Seat is installed which deactivates the air bag.

amdeutsch

KirkP is correct on the light.

On the seatbelt issue are you taking about a front seat passenger? If yes; that feature is disabled in the US spec cars. You will have to get the dealer to activate it if you want that.

scovit

Kirk P:

That would mean that if I got into an accident both airbags would deploy even if there is nobody sitting in the passenger seat.. The purpose of that airbag light being on is to deactivate the passenger airbag when there is no passenger......supposed to save money.....

Ok, at least this is what I think it should do. The airbag light was lit on my 05 CLK500 when nobody was sitting in the passenger seat. If somebody sits in that seat the light is off. It has to be the same for the C55...

KirkP

Not necessarily. On my previous BMW, the passenger seat had a sensor that deactivates the airbag if less than (I forget the exact number, but something like) 25 pounds of weight is in it. There was no warning light telling that the bag was disabled. I assume MB does the same thing. They only turn the light on w/ a BabySmart seat, to let you specifically know that the airbag isn't going to smash up your kid. At least that's what my dealer told me when I asked him about it.

I had a loaner C240 that did have the light on like you mention, the dealer told me that it *shouldn't* have been on in that car. So I'm assuming that your's and my car have it right, and the beat-on loaner was broken. I know I prefer it off, as it was distracting when on all the time in the loaner.

--kirk

scovit

Kirk P and amdeutch:

I am not trying to be thick here.

So the correct setting is that if nobody is in the seat the light is off?

And if someone is in the seat the light is also off?

Then what's the purpose of the light? Is it just an airbag fault light?

And why was it always lit on my 05 CLK500 with no passenger? And when a passenger was sitting in the passenger seat the light was off?

Confusing...

amdeutsch

You are now driving a C vs a CLK previously. Different vehicles have different features. Where the exact cutoff is for what is or is not included is up to MB. Plus being used to a system operating one way in one car and not in another doesn't mean that is was operating correctly or not. If it sounds confusing......... People sometimes accept a feature operation as gospel when they never had anything else to compare to it. Did you verify with the CLK forum about that feature in your old CLK? That may be you best bet in helping you understand the difference.

scovit

I will do so and thanks....I am supposed to bring the car down to the dealer in about an hour. Disturbing that they are not aware of this.

KirkP

scovit,

Yes.
Yes.
According to the manual, it works in conjunction w/ a BabySmart Seat.
Dunno why it worked different in your CLK.

Also, during the AMG Challenge last month, I drove a couple other C55's, and I never saw the airbag light come on when the passenger got out. Ditto for an SLK55 and SL55 that I drove solo. So I'm pretty sure that mine, yours, and these others were all working as designed.

--kirk

scovit

Kirk P:

Got it. Here were the dealer's comment:

"Connected S.D.S. to vehicle and performed short test. There are no relevant codes stored. Checked version coding and found it is correct. This vehicle is not equiped with the latest generation system, so there is no weight sensor for the right front seat. The system is operating as designed."

I know the front seat has "baby smart, at least I took the sticker off the side when I got the car.

The point is no cause for alarm, everything is working well.

Thanks for the input.