Hi all,

I'm curious if it's possible to retrofit a passenger's side airbag to an '86 300SDL. My interest in this is so my wife can be afforded equal protection in an accident, as what I have.

I preface this by saying that I'm aware this is not something to be taken lightly, and I suspect the better part of valor is to leave well enough alone. I'm aware that the presence of the passenger airbag means that I lose the glove box, and that it means certain trim modifications.

Right now, I have the driver's side airbag, so that means I have the network of sensors in, as well as the rest of the supporting network. Everything I've seen points to there being no (obvious?) difference in the components of the SRS system in the '86 compared to the '89 - '91 W126s (which had the passenger airbag as an option). It stands to reason the passenger airbag was a modular addition to the existing system, so adding it after the fact would be feasible. For example, th '86 and '90+ drivers' side airbags are identical, save for the addition of the emobossed horn logo (both are "type 3" wheels). Of course, there is a lot I don't know I don't know.

Has anyone thought of doing this? If so, is it feasible, or just a pipe dream? I would like to have this, but I'm also very cognizant that there are hazards that may outweigh any benefits. Plus the, "In 1986, they didn't have the passenger side airbag available anywhere, so how could you add it?" Any thoughts? I appreciate any help.

Casey

__________________
Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]

I would imagine that an airbag addition would not be safe to begin with and cost of such a modification would be great. I am pretty sure that even though the earlier and later 126s look the same that there were many internal improvements made to the cars.
For safety's sake I would go with a later model 420 or 560 that has a passenger side airbag.

In my wildest dreams I could not imagine being able to find someone who would take on this job. The liability factor would be so astronomical that you would probably go to jail if someone got hurt,,,, even if the airbag worked right. Let that job to the factorys.

__________________
95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

I'm starting to get a sense of what a bad idea it would be to add the passenger air bag. I wasn't even thinking of the "L" word (liability). I actually was thinking of doing it myself, taking parts from a later 126 with the passenger air bag. Now that I think about it, doing that myself makes things even worse.

Like many people in this forum, I'm an avid DIYer. I've been upgrading the interior of my car to make it look like the '89 + facelift, including adding the adjustable rear seat. For me, in addition to any perceived safety benefit from the passenger air bag, it also had the "kewl" factor. However, there is a big difference between truly cosmetic upgrades, like new door panels, and safety related things, like an airbag. No one will be injured if the door panel malfunctions ... Like the song says, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em." I'm folding on the passenger air bag.

__________________
Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]

Worst part about that venture would be doing all the work and never knowing if your efforts even worked until it's too late.

At this point in the game even the latest production W126's airbag is 14 years old. Flip a coin will it work properly? If you do do this at least buy a new airbag. Wear your seatbelt the W126 is safe enough, or buy a newer MB, W220's have tons of air bags and pre-safe.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

cooper, was it very hard to add the rear adjustable seat? I'd like to do that one. However, I bet you swapped the whole seat since you have the newer style like you said. Would it be too hard if I found a 560 in a junkyard and just took the motor/switches? Basically I want to know if it's a very feasible task. Are the brackets already there behind the seat? Do the power and non-power seats share seat frames allowing things ti just be bolted in and plugged in?

Thanks
David

__________________
_____________________________________________

2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

_____________________________________________

Why would you want to bother to add an airbag?

If your wife is properly belted in place with the lap belt and shoulder harness, the airbag isn't going to do anything.

Airbags were added to vehicles, at great expense, for the sole reason to ensure that the morons who do not use the belts won't get killed in a head on crash.

You could take your driver's airbag out of the SDL and be just as safe if you use the seat belt and shoulder harness.

Which leads to an interesting question: I have a nearly 19 year old car. I think MB extended the "lifetime" of the airbag once. I wonder if it still actually works. Maybe the charge would go off and the bag would immediately disintegrate with age! There would be no point in getting a used one because on a 560 I could get one only 3 years newer.

__________________
86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm

Which leads to a very disconcerting answer:

Guess who is sitting directly in the path of the old airbag when the charge goes off and the bag explodes.

Hmmm...well, what can I do? If I remove it, I'm almost sure that this would violate some law. I'll bet my insurance co or "their" insurance co would use this in an accident (knock on wood). If I leave it in it may not go off at all or may do more harm than good. Or, it might still actually work. I wonder if MB actually makes "new" 560sl airbags (not ones sitting around 10 years) and if they are three or four figures?

As these cars were among the first with airbags, some are getting really old now.

__________________
86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm

About the only thing that we all could consider doing is to disable the airbag. You would not remove it or tamper with it, but, I'm quite sure that it could be disabled.

You also could replace it with a brand new bag, but, I'm guessing that the bag would be close to $1K or so.

Another idea: upgrade the steering wheel to a W140 type (leather wrapped, feels great!) with airbag. The oldest you can go is 1999.

I wonder if it would be as simple as swapping out the wheels? The W140 airbag's might be different, larger, smaller, fire faster ect. A new airbag probably costs $1k and will add no resale value to the car.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Brian,

I agree that an airbag is going to do no more to save one's life than a seat belt, and that its primary function is to coddle to those who don't wear seatbelts. However, I'm convinced that an airbag will prevent serious injury, such as the breaking the clavicle, or trauma from one's head hitting the wheel/dash. My wife was in a major accident on our wedding day, driving her (former) Toyota Camry w/ airbags. The extent of her injuries was a rash from the seatbelt and a minor dislocation in her ribs. Based on what she told me, if it were not for the airbag stopping her, she would have some broken bones - but she would be alive.

I'm seeing from everyone's responses, that in the larger picture, the hazards of "retrofitting" the passenger airbag most definitely outweigh any benefit. Plus, as Hattarasguy pointed out, I would not find out if it worked properly until I got into an accident. In the meantime, there is always the hazard the thing would go off unexpectedly since it was not a proper "factory" install.

As a brief aside. I know a guy who was "t-boned" on the drivers side by a full size pickup running a red light at 40MPH while driving his '85 300SD. The truck was totaled - he sustained some injuries to his knees, but is still driving the car! I need to remember that airbags (side curtain, etc) compensate for less steel in newer cars, including the W220. The combination of the industrial strength of the W126 and seatbelts are plenty of protection. And I always make sure my passengers wear seatbelts!

__________________
Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]