Hey everyone, I've done a search and it looks like the mercedes duo plus baby seats have the baby smart system to deactivate the airbags. The problem is that they seem to be discontinued. Anyone have any alternatives that will deactivate the front passenger airbags? Even better, something that is Canadian compliant?
Nothing except the Baby Smart seats can deactivate the passenger airbag on the 458 series cars; you can try to ask your Ferrari dealer about where to get a Baby Smart compliant baby seat.
The dealer offers baby and toddler seats from Ferrari that are Baby Smart equipped but they are not Canadian compliant and cost approximately $3500 CAD when I checked a few years ago.
The airbags should turn off automatically if the passenger weight limit is not met (I think over 40pounds). The manual switch is always a good idea but I think auto disable for weight is a US mandate which is why most of these special seats are unavailable.
Thanks everyone for their input. Just had an idea. I see that eBay.de sells the actual transponders that deactivate the airbags. I wonder if placing that under a Canadian compliant seat will do the trick? This way I can use whatever car seat I wish!
There is no manual passenger airbag deactivation switch on the 458 series cars; on the other had if memory serves me well the 430 series cars did have them.
Good thing I won't ever get a chance to drive the 458 in Switzerland then. Lol In Canada, minors are allowed in the front passenger seat of a 2-seater car as long as they are in a canadian compliant baby seat and the front airbag is deactivated. Don't get me wrong, I know it's not the safest place for kids to be in the front, so it's not going to be daily where I put my kid in the front. I'm just preparing for those rare occasions where the need may arise. And if it does, I want to do it legally and as safe as possible.
I think dealer cannot sell the baby seat or booster for 458 in Canada, because the seat doesn't have the hook (tether anchor).
If it's a NA car it does have the hooks. At least mine did. I had the same question with my 2014 458 and my 4 year old. I know there is no manual switch but the specialized seats aren't needed was my point. The seat will detect low weight and automatically turn off the airbag. With my 8 year old it was a different story as the car would keep the airbag on because the weight was acceptable. This was the only time I wished for a manual switch.
Yes, Canadian law doesn't allow only seat belt to secure the booster, must be attached to the latch as well. Only FF's rear seats have the latch. I've checked about this back in 2013.
While I don't doubt your research, a quickie Google search dosent mention anything about a car seat that must be secured by a LATCH or ISOFix system in the front seat. Can I drive with a child in a two-seater car? - The Globe and Mail I obviously haven't read through the highway traffic act, but if you have, can you point me to the section where it says you MUST attach a front car seat with a fixed system rather than just the regular seat belts?
Sorry, I just re read your post. Are we talking about the same thing? Tether Anchor:http://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/non-make/carsafety/carsafety_321_300.jpg LATCH/ISOFix:http://static2.consumerreportscdn.org/content/dam/cro/news_articles/cars/Latch-Anchors.jpg
you don't need the latch/tether with the baby smart - put the booster in the front seat and the airbag goes off instantaneously. ive been using the MB seat for a cple years in my 458 and FF
Just to update. I recently purchased the AKSE sensors off ebay and they work like a charm! Just place the two sensors (left and right) on the seat and the passenger airbags are deactivated. Now, I can use any car seat/convertible/booster and not just the Mercedes one(which by the way is out of production).
When our kids were younger, I paid the insane $$ for the Porsche baby seats, which was the only way to deactivate the 911 airbags. Just as a thought for your comment (above), one of the reasons for the seat weight sensor is to reduce/eliminate (expensive) airbag deployments in an unoccupied seat, plus to reduce the risks that go with any airbag deployment (i.e. one less explosion is a good thing). I'd bear in mind that the g-forces in an accident often work in all three axes; the vertical loads can easily exceed any weight threshold. Said otherwise, I would not rely on the "they are light enough, it's inactive" theory to lead you to believe they are unarmed. We did use the actual Baby Smart systems, but not recently since the kids are older. I am not familiar with the AKSE product, if it were me, I'd cross-check to actually confirm that the airbags are deactivated. Apologies if this is coming across as preaching, but I've been in enough, and seen enough, that "safety systems" are a hot topic for me. Regardless, I think it's great to share these cars with your kids, going for ice cream at a shop 30 miles away is one of the more common reasons for a weeknight drive...
The AKSE is the actual sensor in the Baby Smart seats. Its as if I were to buy the Mercedes Duo Baby smart seat, and rip the sensors out of the bottom of the seat. The sensors can now be used with any baby seat instead by placing it under the new baby seat.
Great sollution to the problem, I googled AKSE on ebay and I found the mat and the transponders seperatly, do I have to buy both?
Richard are you sure? I''m pretty sure this isn't the case for a 2 seater car and the correct child safety seat.
The AKSE products on Ebay are all for various Mercedes models. Does it matter which model transponder I buy for a 488?
