[XutvJet]

My 70lb daughter trips the airbag activation and she did it when weighing 60lb.

I could have sworn the airbags in all cars are now variable is terms of explosive force to account for the weight in the seat.

It does suck the amount of work you have to go to turn off the lights.

Lastly, are you certain the car won't stay in Comfort mode if it thinks there's an airbag fault?

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by CP911

Thanks so much!

Maybe you are right, though, about leaving the rear seats in. I don't know how comfortable I am with the idea of a 6-12 year-old child riding in the front even without airbag activation, and I definitely don't want him in there if the airbags are activated and ready to deploy. I guess I was thinking the risk is not that great without airbag activation as I wouldn't be doing anything stupid with him in the car to be expecting a collision. That, and the, "Well, when I was growing up, we didn't have them..." mindset, which probably isn't the right way to approach this. Then again, are the rear seats legitimately safer than riding in the front with no airbag activation in a car of this size???

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/rea...with-the-front

The industry recommendation has been to keep kids in the back until at least age 12, although age has usually been a surrogate guideline for height and weight. The study in the link above casts a new light on the relative safety of the front seat, primarily due to the supplemental inflatable restraints. However, these will no longer be active in your car, most likely resulting in the rear remaining superior indefinitely. Speculation...no data.

I agree with you that the "when I was growing up..." mindset shouldn't apply as the only people who get to think that are those who survived.

Do you have another car for family outings? That new front right seat should probably stay vacant. You won't want to be filled with regret some day...

[CP911]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

My 70lb daughter trips the airbag activation and she did it when weighing 60lb.

I could have sworn the airbags in all cars are now variable is terms of explosive force to account for the weight in the seat.

It does suck the amount of work you have to go to turn off the lights.

Lastly, are you certain the car won't stay in Comfort mode if it thinks there's an airbag fault?

Thanks for the info. I did not read anything about the car staying in Comfort mode and do not have any reason to believe it would. Comfort mode is still plenty quick, so I can't see any reason BMW would have to default to this for safety purposes. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Originally Posted by Sportstick

Do you have another car for family outings? That new front right seat should probably stay vacant. You won't want to be filled with regret some day...

I do. A 2019 Nissan Armada. If I decide to delete the rear seats later on, the kiddo will just have to accept that pretending to drive in the front seats is the most fun he will get to have in the bimmer. We already have a nightly pretend driving routine after his bath.

Thanks for all the input, fellas!

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

I will try to ask one of our engineers tomorrow. We are a seat supplier to the auto industry, but I'm not an engineer.

I received a response today. The target threshold to allow air bag deployment is approximately 46kg (~101 lbs) regardless of which sensing technology is used. He advised against attempting a sensor transplant to your new seat as unlikely successful, which you could not validate anyway. His bottom line was always to keep the front right seat vacant of any age passenger.