Advanced Airbags

Sections: MF Feature Jan 29th, 2005 39 Comments

mini

Among the many small changes made on January 1st for all MINI production are the new standard advanced airbags. This is a addition that hasn’t really been talked about before just recently so not much was know about the feature. It’s listed in the article we previously linked to by Sean Bartnik however, knowing that many readers might have missed it, I wanted to feature it within its own post. Here’s an excerpt of Sean’s description:

These airbags have weight sensors in the front seats and use the weight of the seat occupant to determine airbag deployment speed and force. This is why the sport seats are of a slightly different design on the bottom cushion for ’05 models — the scalloped portion at the front of the bottom cushion exists no more and the cushion shape is a little flatter for ’05.

If a passenger of insufficient weight sits in the front passenger seat and buckles the seatbelt, the sensor will detect the low weight and turn off the passenger side airbag. MINI has added a warning light on the ceiling in the same unit as the new ’05 map lights and waterfall lighting. It says PASSENGER AIRBAG on it and if the airbag is deactivated, a green light in the center lights up the word OFF.

I was worried that the light would be obtrusive, but it’s not. It turns out that the light will only come on if there is insufficient weight in the passenger seat AND the seatbelt is buckled. So if you are driving with no one else in the car, the warning light will not be on, unless you have a habit of buckling the front passenger seatbelt even when no one is in the seat.

The advanced airbags are a nice upgrade in the car’s safety equipment, especially for children or smaller people who ride in the front seats. With the new airbags, the sunvisor airbag warning decals have changed slightly but still offer the same general message as before, which is that the back seat is still the safest place for children.

There is still no way to manually deactivate the passenger airbag.

[ PHOTOS: Cooper S Auto/Other Jan. 2005 Goodies ]

BTW – does anyone else see the face in the picture above?

Written By: Gabe

http://www.lagparty.org/~jared/gallery/minipics/ Jared/pezboy

“unless you have a habit of buckling the front passenger seatbelt even when no one is in the seat.”

Actually, in the summer I do – because with the windows down the buckle smacks against the side of the car and it’s annoying. I run it behind the seat though so you can’t really notice.

Doesn’t matter for me though, I’m not trading up to an ’05.
http://www.geocities.com/jaw0012/beetlemain.html MrV

I have to say, I like the mechanics of this feature, but I have serious doubts as to whether I will like the look of this indicator light. Seems like it could have been made less intrusive.
Josh

I just don’t like that whole set of lights up in front of the mirror. They feel cheap and are attached only to the headliner, not to the roof of the car.

My only disappointments about the 05′s are those 2 interior lights, the clock, and the tail lights.
Josh

In case anyone was wondering about the integrated garage door openers, I saw the option at my dealer yesterday. They look nice and seem to be in a good place. The three buttons protrude just a little bit from the bottom left side of the mirror and feel very rubbery, yet upscale.
gmini

it’s a new MINI mascot (that face)!
dgszweda

This is extremely bad marketing by Mini. I asked about this feature to death with ASK-MINI, on the the message boards of Mini2.com and NAM, dealerships throughout the US including Classic Mini among others, someone at the Mini plant in Oxford, actually working on the line as well as Mini tour guides, and not a single person (maybe out of at least 30 that I talked to) said this was available in the US. This makes me extremely made, since this feature was shown on the http://www.mini.com website their international site, but not on any regional sites. I wanted to put a child in the front seat, and really wanted this feature, but with such a varied number of people all telling me no, I assumed it wasn’t happening. The said thing, was that I was still asking as late as the last week of November.

As far as the flow of correct information, Mini has got to be one of the worst companies in this area. If the official 1-800 line doesn’t even know about this feature only 5 weeks before it’s introduction, what good is the line for anyway.
05DSMCS

Even with this feature, you should NEVER place a child seat in the front seat of a car. This is to maximize the effectiveness of the airbag for those who use it, not a way to absolutely cancel the airbag in the passenger area.
gmini

curious, dsmcs, where did you get that information?

If the airbag is off, what is to say it is not off?
Rodney

I agree with gmini. When the “Passenger Airbag” light is lit the airbag is off. I pulled the following from the IIHS website (http://www.iihs.org/safetyfacts/airbags/kidsairbags.htm):

Infants shouldn’t ride in front unless there’s no alternative, as in a two-seat vehicle — and even then only if the passenger airbag is labeled “advanced”

Do your research before just saying that. The front seat is less safe than the back seat that is not to say you can’t put a child in the front seat. After market airbag cut off switches can be purchased if you have a special need that is approved. I had an airbag cutoff switch installed legally so I could ride my son around in my Miata. There are circumstances that unfortunately require the use of the front seat. It’s nice when a company realizes that and installs systems that can accommodate this.
eval

Not only good for kids, but now if the dog has to be in the front seat briefly I can harness him up, buckle the seat belt, and not worry about the airbag :)
05DSMCS

Sorry if anyone took offense to what I said, I just wouldn’t trust my small child in a child seat in the front unless I had the cut off switch. Relying on weight to cut the bag operation completely off is much too risky in my opinion. In an emergency manuver, whose to say that g forces wouldn’t register a higher weight and end up deploying the airbag should you end up getting hit.
http://users.adelphia.net/~rocketboy/index.html Rocketboy

Yay for the upgraded airbags… ‘Deathtrap’ my ass… boo for the horrible warning light… Why not just but a giant strobe light on the dashboard, and play the robot from lost in space saying ‘Warning! Warning!’ when it’s deactivated?
EBMCS03

AHhhh more BMW features!
Steve

A great upgrade! I still feel that the rear seat is best for children under 90 lbs. but occassionally I must take all three kids sometimes. I was worried about that when I ordered my MINI, but now it looks like that problem is fixed. Just another justification point for my wife who had already figured out I couldn’t take all 3 kids. Shoot, I may have to order another one!
MassMINI

I’m with dgszweda. It’s maddening that MINI did not inform that this was one of the Jan ’05 features. All my searching, forum posts, and MA discussions revealed only that it was a UK feature not offered in the US. Had I known I might have waited.
TJKonarski

I also think it looks terrible and cheap. It’s in an overtly obvious place. I realize it needs to be obvious, but c’mon! And even if the location were acceptable or truly necessary they could’ve come up with a better design. It LOOKS like an afterthought! It looks like one of those cheap, after-market gadgets I can buy from the local auto supply store for less than $10 — And installed it myself!

It needs a cleaner more refined design and needs to be better integrated into the cabin to look as if it really belongs and was always meant to be there.

If this kind of stuff keeps up this car will start looking like a used car with cheap at-home modifications rather than a brand new car of BMW engineering and design.
TJKonarski

…Especially on the convertible. Gabe, you didn’t include the picture of it’s location on the convertible. That application is the worst and really looks cheapest and most like an afterthought.
Timothy Sipples

This new feature does look like an afterthought probably because it is. That said, in all the boring rental cars I get to drive, this same feature looks equally “slapped on,” like somebody went down to Pep Boys or NAPA to rig up an indicator light.

One would hope the next redesign will better incorporate this feature into the standard instrument cluster, much like the tire monitor. FWIW, I thought the map lights were perfectly fine and didn’t need “improvement,” especially if it meant adding clutter above the rearview mirror.
Mark Pierce

In the UK we’ve had the option of a cut off switch for the passenger airbag since last summer at least when the 05 model came out.

You open the passenger door and in the side of the dashboard there is a key hole where you use the car key to turn the airbag on or off.

We also have the same light to warn when the airbag is swtched off but it hasn’t got “Passenger Air Bag” written on it like the one in the picture so it looks a lot less intrusive especially if you have the anthracite headliner.
TJKonarski

Any other American MINI owners ever feel like the step-child? Our MINI’s always seem to be left out or ignored with some things. I wonder why… Is it expense? Is it manufacturing issues? Is it U.S. regulations? Is it a perception that Americans wants, needs and styles are really that much different than those in other countries? All of the above?…
Ryan

American regulations are always in the way of different options available to us here in the States. I have never liked this new revised lighting above the mirror. I don’t know why MINI felt the need to chage it. As for this new upgrade, it’s a cool new addition, but nothing all that special. Now, bringing back the clock to the top again – that my friend is something to write home about. (if only.)
Mark Pierce

While I agree that the new light arrangement on the rooflining isn’t the most attractive, I wouldn’t want the clock back up there. I found it difficult to read and you had to look up and away from the road to see it. I much prefer the new location of the clock if only the numbers where a bit bigger. How about if they incorporated the clock into the on board computer display in the rev counter?
Ryan

Did you have a Mini with the clock on the headliner?
Mike

I currently have two MINIs. One 2002 with the clock on the headliner, and one 2005 with the clock in the gauge cluster. I’m afraid that I’m going to have to agree with Ryan on this one. I can’t stand having to look way up to the headliner in order to see the clock on my 2002 MINI as it is very distracting. I find it much easier to look at the clock in the instrument cluster on my 2005 MINI. However, I will admit that the clock is a bit too small in the instrument cluster (and so it is hard to see in direct sunlight). As Ryan mentioned, it might be better if MINI moved it to the OBC and made it bigger (although I guess that not every MINI has the OBC and so that would present a problem for making things uniform across all of the cars).

No matter where they put the clock though (back on the headliner, keep it in the gauge cluster, move it to the radio, etc.) someone will always complain about it. I find it really funny how people constantly complain about every single change that is made to the car (such as with the new air bag off warning light, etc.). They complain when things stay the same, and they complain when they change, etc., etc…. No one’s ever happy! The one that makes me laugh the most is the center speedo argument. I can tell you that I really dislike having the speedo in the center of the dash for the same reason I dislike having the clock up on the headliner (i.e. it is very distracting for me to have to take my focus off of the road and look way over to see the speedo). Thus, I much prefer having the speedo on the steering column (and yes, I have driven both types). However, I don’t go around complaining about it in every post I see where someone mentions the new chrono pack or the sat nav system as a lot of people tend to do. Instead, I simply take pride in the fact that MINI offers such a wide variety of options for the car and so if I don’t like the speedo in the center of the dash I don’t have to have it that way. Some view that the center speedo is so closely tied to the history of the car that it should be the ONLY option available (or they complain loudly when folks mention the chrono pack, etc.) and I certainly don’t agree with that.

Just my $0.02…
Mike

Oops! I meant Mark and not Ryan. Sorry about that…
TJKonarski

Our voices are how things get changed for the better — But to some it would be considered worse. Not 100% of the people can be please 100% of the time.

Motoringfile is a place for all of us to bitch and complain, revel and praise, learn and teach. Hey, Mike — Get Over It!
Mike

TJKonarski,

I’m afraid that I actually don’t have a problem with any of the vehicle changes (original or otherwise) and so there’s nothing for me to “get over” as you’ve so kindly pointed out. Thanks for your very constructive feedback though as you’ve been a big help! :p
TJKonarski

You need to get over the fact that with all the good, all the fun and all the help here on Motoringfile that at times there will be a barage of complaints or criticism. Really, it’s quite normal and I think quite healthy.
Mike

Hi TJKonarski,

Yes, indeed you are quite right. Thanks for pointing that out.

I just get a bit tired of seeing it as it happens over and over again and it really starts getting old after a while (especially since I see it here, on NAM, and on MINI2 on a daily basis). Guess that I’ll just have to learn to ignore it is all. :)

Thanks!
http://users.adelphia.net/~rocketboy/index.html Rocketboy

Mike.. ok, so how’s this for a good reason… eventually, I’m going to buy another MINI to add to my collection. My ’02 S then becomes the standard to which I will judge my future MINI on. Some changes, I like. Others, I don’t. Added to that, the fact that MINI does read message boards, and does check out Motoringfile (heck, my little blog gets hits from a german BMW IP address on occasion). MINI/BMW is listening to us.

Erik…

(PS- I gave up on the message boards a LONG time ago, so I for one wouldn’t blame you if you gave up on them.. which is why MotoringFile is the perfect place to read the latest MINI news, and still have our say/discussions).)
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Ah that’s nice to hear :)
Mike

Hi Rocketboy,

Yes, that does sound like a good reason. However, my shoe is on the other foot from yours so to speak. I started as a late comer with a 2005 MCS and I really liked everything about it (the clock position, the larger rear view mirror, the shorter gearing, the three-spoke wheel, etc., etc.). Well, it turned out to be a lemon and I ended up with a 2003 and a 2002 MCS as a loaner for the five months it taking to get a replacement 05. While I like the older cars too, I started out in the 05 and so it was what I was used to.

BTW, I totally agree with you about the message boards. I think that Motoring file is THE place to be for sure, but the boards can still be fun too. I’m sure that I’ll get tired of them eventually, and will visit them less and less as time goes on. For now, I’m still in hyper mode as I’m expecting my replacement 05 MINI to arrive around the middle of next month.

Thanks for your comments.
TJKonarski

Mike: What was wrong with your ’05 MINI? I ask because my 4 month old MCS Convertible had spent 28 accumulative days in service. Last week they finally fixed the problem with this terrible creaking/ticking sound coming from the window. But until the recent repair I thought I might’ve been heading down the lemon road, too.
Mike

I think that 28 days in the shop takes you pretty close to qualifying for the lemon law. In California (where I am), I think that the lemon law comes into play once the car has been out of service for 30 days or more. I guess it all depends upon your state though.

I only had my car for just over a week and a grand total of 168 miles. It has been “in the shop” ever since (it went in back on October 29th 2004 and I haven’t seen it since!). However, the dealership quickly agreed to replace the car and ordered us a replacement MINI within a week or two. They also gave us a loaner MCS to drive until our replacement car arrives (which is on the boat right now).

As for what exactly happened with our car, I have an old thread on MINI2 where I talk about it. If you’d like, you can read it here:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1228076&postcount=85
TJKonarski

Wow! My situation was small compared to yours. Good luck with your next new MCS! ;-) I wish you all the best!

And yes, 30 accumulative days in service qualifies for the lemon law in Michigan, too. I had been corresponding with an attorney regarding my car, but really just kept him on a back-burner. I love my car and just wanted it fixed. I really didn’t want to go through the hassle of the lemon law, reordering and replacing my MCS Convertible. It’s been about a week and the problem seems to be gone — The longest time period so far. The past attempted repairs either worked for only a few days or not at all.

Keeping my fingers crossed…
Barry / 10 Ball

The warning light mounted between the map lights is really a hidden camera that records your every shift and move. The MPEG-4 video stream is downloaded when you go to the dealer and the diagnostics port connection is made…

B^)
Ellen

How does the advanced air bag affect the functioning of the driver’s air bag?
Steven

The way I get around the belt buckle smacking the side is to roll up the passenger window about 3 inches. No more smacky. Easier than buckling.
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