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[nealpina]

I remember reading sometime ago that either after 10, 12 or 15 years the gas in the airbags need to be recharged, or the airbags need to be replaced?

Any thoughts?
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ALPINA B3 3.2 Coupe Switch-Tronic ALPINA Blue
ALPINA B10 3.3 Saloon Manual Mora Metallic

[MarkWG]

Hi Neal: I've heard similar, for example, our Alfa has a sticker on the door to similar effect, however, I don't think they have gas in them, they have a chemical which produces the gas when triggered.
The debate is about whether this reaction becomes less effective over time, such that the bag won't operate correctly in an accident. I believe the only way of testing that is to set it off... : so I take the view that the airbags here are designed to work in partnership with the seatbelts, which we're obliged to wear. However wearing belts is not mandated everywhere, so there's a risk the car could crash, the occupants are not strapped in & the bags don't trigger, hence the manufacturers err on the side of safety & put a "Best Before..." date on them.
We have to wear belts (well, you do if I'm driving!) & I'm not about to chuck out what could be a perfectly servicable unit & replace it with one that could be faulty because of a date stamp. So my view is basically, sail on, nothing to worry about here!

[John_C]

The original ten year recommendation was applied when airbags were new tech and it wasn't known how long they would live in the real world. I remember reading doom-laden prophecies at the time about the death of the used car because of the huge cost of replacing airbags as they aged

It was then extended to fifteen years by many manufacturers when it became apparent that they weren't degrading and there were next to no reports of "old" airbags failing to deploy.

So far as I know they are now considered to last the life of the car whatever that may be.

Cheers,
John
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1997 B10 V8 #071
With facelift lights and Prins VSI LPG

[joylove]

I recall seeing a channel 5 Fifth Gear crash test on a very early airbag equipped car. Needless to say it operated perfectly. If you can dig out the old video, the level of testing they undergo is incredible, detonations after deep temperature cycle of heat and ice.

Edit: The video

[Alpina Jim]

[MarkWG]

[nealpina]

Thanks all

I forgot about that fifth gear video, cheers

Just a thought, it is fairly common for the BMWs airbag light to come on. Often the straightforward thing to do is to reset it. Just out of interest could the airbag system be detecting a leak with the chemicals or another malfunction? Therefore it knows that the strength of when it explodes will not be to the manufacture requirements? Also am I just thinking about this a bit too much
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ALPINA B3 3.2 Coupe Switch-Tronic ALPINA Blue
ALPINA B10 3.3 Saloon Manual Mora Metallic

[John_C]

The system isn't that clever, airbag warning lights are almost always due to a wiring/sensor fault rather than failure of the airbag itself.

Seatbelt pre-tensioners are included in the airbag warning light system along with the impact sensors etc, there is plenty to potentially go wrong

Cheers,
John
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1997 B10 V8 #071
With facelift lights and Prins VSI LPG

[MarkWG]