For all those who have US spec MINIs who would like to manually turn off your passenger side front airbag, MINI has your product, and we have your official retrofit guide.
Now we here at MotoringFile don’t recommend doing this type of work if you are not skilled with electronics and don’t mind an incredibly expensive airbag blowing up in your face. But at the very least, it’s interesting to see what goes into these systems. (for R50s, R52s, and R53s built from 07/04 on)
[ Airbag Shut-off Retrofit Kit ] Official MINI PDF
From our understanding, this option is actually standard in parts of the world but not available typically in the US.
I’m suprised this is available. We tried to get something like this for my wifes BMW Z3 and the dealers acted like we were asking for something highly illegal.
Or you can just take them out and loose the weight. It will take less than 4 hours too.
-Brian
I can hear the complaining now. “I was in an accident and my airbag didn’t go off, I think I need to sue!”
I called ASK MINI today (1-866-ASK-MINI) to get the whole scoop on this modification.
According to US MINI this kit is not offered by MINI.
I took my 2006 MCSC to the dealership to have this installed on Monday and they were clueless about the kit, and apparently rightfully so.
Too bad, I see the Pros and Cons for this feature. For me, I have a child with more than 1 friend. Therefore the need to have three children in my car is an ongoing issue, I would like to be able to turn the air bag off when needed.