Disable airbag?

[alexk]

Hi, we have a new infant and would like to put the baby in the front passanger seat. Need to disabled the airbags for this though and wondering if anyone had experience of this. Apparently not possible to only disable the passenger one. Thanks

[gregers]

not totally sure you can,maybe vag-com can turn off the individual airbag??
chris or mark will know if this is possible.

[Mirez]

No, not possible on the Mk1 or Mk2.

[alexk]

My mechanic said although he wasn't allowed to do it I could simply unplug that airbag or alternatively if I wanted to trick the ecu also I could get a resistor and wire it in place if the airbag. Any thoughts?

[insanitybeard]

I would mess around with airbag wiring at your peril to be honest, it may be possible in theory but do you really want to take the risk of modifying an airbag system, especially with children involved? if you must disable it it's probably safer just to disconnect the control module, with the disadvantage that this will disable the whole system.

[Chrispb]

I would be very wary tampering with any wiring of the SRS, warning light would most probably stay on and you could inadvertently set off all the airbags, very expensive to replace.

It may be comforting for both you and baby to have eye contact especially if you would be driving alone with baby but also think how distracting it could be for you whilst driving.

Personally I have allways placed children in the rear seats, some european countries also have age restrictions on front seat passengers so it's not even an option.

[alexk]

Thanks for all the input. On balance I think I'll the airbags alone. Thanks