airbag on model 325i (year 2001)

It can not be switched off.

Allow me to shift gears a bit, it can not be turned off in the USA. We have federal rules that require there be airbags. I noticed you are posting from the UK, your rules may be different, but I doubt it. It is certainly possible to defeat the system, but it's illegal to do so.

They are. In the UK many cars have rear facing child seats fitted in the front and these require the airbag to be switched off.

On our side, if one has a child that rides in a rear-facing seat, that child should be placed in the back seat of the car. ONLY trucks that have no back seat have the capacity to disable the Passenger Side air bag, and in that case only the passenger bag can be disabled. The driver bag can not be disabled.

Being a 2 seater, the Z4 also has this capability.

Tom K.

Speak to your local dealer.

They will probably ask you to sign a disclaimer for switching off the passenger airbag, so that you can use a rear facing child seat in the passenger seat.

"Jeff Strickland" wrote

Jeff, this no longer is true. Many cars have detection systems, and the associated warning lights, that disable the passenger-side airbag if no one is sitting there, or if something "light" is there. For instance, our '04 Toyota Highlander.

FloydR

Good call. The determining factor is the lack of any other place to park the kid. Trucks fit this description, but so does the Z3, Z4, and any other make that is challenged for places to seat its occupants.

Tha tmay be true, but is beside the point, given the OP's original question.

He wanted to disable the airbag(s), and was not clear as to whether he wanted the driver bag, or passenger bag, or both disabled.

"Jeff Strickland" wrote

Actually, it's *NOT* beside the point, as I was responding to your blanket statement about "ONLY trucks". Now, you might argue that a Toyota Highlander is a truck (I would argue car since it's a Camry), but I felt that your statement needed correction.

FloydR

Well, the truck part was not entirely accurate. The passenger side airbag can be disabled and re-enabled via a key on any vehicle where there are only front seats. The OP hasn't got one of those, so the distinction seemed meaningless at the time.