Side Airbag and Hardwire Detector Install question.

[bozola]

Will the hardwire interfere with the side airbag. Specifically at the top of the A pillar where the wire goes from the headliner to the rubber trim..

[AntonV]

I want to do the same thing. Always been a little afraid of the airbag.

[gnat]

Pull off the A pillar trim (bolt under the "air bag" tag). It's easy to do and then you can run the cable so there is no chance it could cause an issue.

Many seem to argue that it won't cause a problem as the "air bag deploys fast enough that it would break the wire". I have seen phone wiring (which is what the V1 uses at least) take some pretty ugly abuse, so I wouldn't bet on that. Even if it did break the cable, now you likely have a bit of cable whipping about at high velocity.

Additionally, airbags are designed to deploy in fractions of a second and in a specific manner. Even if it can break the cable, doing so will delay that portion of the bag to some degree.

I honestly have no idea if it can break the cable or if the occurring delay could cause the system to not work as designed, but why risk it when the solution is as simple as a plastic tab and a bolt?

[DriveHard]

Ive run the wire for my radar detectors down the a pillar on all my BMW's ( 128, x3, 330) ive done it the same every time and it is just fine.

from your post it sounds as though you want to get from the rubber weather strip to the headliner buy going on the outside of the a pillar where the headliner and the a pillar meet...... DONT do that.

simply remove the torx screw under the "airbag" screw cover, pull down on the a pillar a little and then out towards the enter of the car. there are 2 beefy clips so some resistance will be met. remove the a pillar cover and runn the wire from the headliner towards the a pilar and then BEHIND the airbag. keep it behind the air bag untill you get to the bottom where you can then cross over again to get to the dash and your power point or remote display...

remember keep the wire from crossing over the face of the bag.

i did mine in 20 minutes in a dark driveway...

i hope that helps...

[Beach]

Originally Posted by DriveHard

Ive run the wire for my radar detectors down the a pillar on all my BMW's ( 128, x3, 330) ive done it the same every time and it is just fine.

from your post it sounds as though you want to get from the rubber weather strip to the headliner buy going on the outside of the a pillar where the headliner and the a pillar meet...... DONT do that.

simply remove the torx screw under the "airbag" screw cover, pull down on the a pillar a little and then out towards the enter of the car. there are 2 beefy clips so some resistance will be met. remove the a pillar cover and runn the wire from the headliner towards the a pilar and then BEHIND the airbag. keep it behind the air bag untill you get to the bottom where you can then cross over again to get to the dash and your power point or remote display...

remember keep the wire from crossing over the face of the bag.

i did mine in 20 minutes in a dark driveway...

i hope that helps...

To add on there is already a bundle of wires behind the airbag. I used electrical tape to add the phone cord to this bundle. This way there is no chance of it sliding in front of the airbag.