Around April 2012 my FFRR will be 10, so the service manual says change the air bags. Other than the fact that they have been silent for 10 years, tucked away in their little pockets, what benefits will be derived from having them changed, what else gets sorted when they are changed, and what are the risks of leaving them alone? Not planning on selling for a couple of years yet... .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

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Last edited by Joe90 on 18th Sep 2011 1:51pm. Edited 1 time in total

I've never known anyone to change the air bags at 10 year intervals. So much trim would have to be replaced too.

For the FFRR I would guess at around easily 10K to replace them all. 

Ive never known anybody change them either, I can't honestly see why their condition should deteriorate after 10 years. Might as well declare they should be changed at 8 or 10 or 12 or ...... years.
I've no intention of changing mine when the time comes, I didn't on my Discovery and it was 17.5 years when sold.

if you are going down this route the seatbelt pre tensioners should be changed at the same time...!!! Current: TDV8 (3.6) RRS HSE



Past: TDV8(4.4) Vogue
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TD6 Vogue
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I thought it was 15 years?? FFRR TD6 HSE
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i thought you were talking about changing the wife..  ... - .- -.




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GregP wrote:

I thought it was 15 years??

You're kidding, right?

If LR say it's OK for 15 years - and then export the RR to the Land Of Lawsuits with multi-million dollar punitive damages judgments waiting in case of error - it will be OK. I have a family and I worry about their safety as well. It will be OK.


I'll gladly supply my Paypal address to anyone with too much money  
RRC 2Dr, RRC 4Dr,
P38, and 2 L322s
(wife thinks I'm nuts - prob right, too)

Last edited by SteveMFr on 18th Sep 2011 12:02pm. Edited 1 time in total

OK, thought I was going mad (or you guys did!), but here are the pages from my Service Portfolio, which one should I follow?

Is this just some sharp practice by the dealer?

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

I wouuld take PRINTED MANUAL over handwritten DEALER writing. Its in there interest to do all work early.....

IIRC the physical bags don't get changed it is the explosive charge / detonator for them that deteriorates and needs to be replaced. We carry container loads of them around the world from China. The bags are inspected to see that they have not suffered from condensation damage / rotting. 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

EVOeng wrote:

I am tempted to change mine early though, just for the peace of mind.

Do you money!?

You'll be looking at around £1000 per unit.

£1300 for the drivers, £1000 for the passenger. I cant find the 4 curtain air bag prices or the 4 side air bag prices or the two pre-tensioners, they aren't going to be cheap.

But if they are 1K each then that's £12,000 - unless you take a chance on just replacing the front air bags? In which case sods law means you'll have a side impact!

It doesn't add up I'm afraid. 

Back in the 90s I worked with a large Company called Autoliv. (Safety Restraint & Airbag Systems used by nearly all leading automobile manufacturers)

The main reason they put those dates on is as Tim said, the explosives can (but does not mean they will) deteriorate.

The date is basically so that if there is an accident after that time, and the airbag failed to go off (which to be fair, is still highly unlikely), then the Car Manufacturer cannot be sued (which would have then been Autoliv that was sued).


Incidently, from the AA;

"When cars were first fitted with airbags there was a lack of knowledge and confidence about the long term reliabiilty of the systems . Car manufacturers and manufacturers of airbag systems agreed to validate (or test) them for a 10 year life span.

A sodium azide tablet produces the gas which inflates the airbag, and this tablet and the explosive device are sealed. Although some moisture ingress is possible it should not affect performance. There will also be some natural chemical decay, but again this shouldn't stop the airbag from working.

There was also some concern in the early days that the airbag cover could become brittle through aging and a flying fragment cause eye damage.

Manufacturers increased the validation period to 15 years on later cars without making major changes to design and we are not aware of any airbag failures atttributed to ageing"

I would say that air bag detonator will go many years past that date.

At the end of the day its your money, your choice.

And for the kind of money to change the lot, you would probablly be better buying a newer car!!! Reformed

Last edited by Reformed on 18th Sep 2011 4:07pm. Edited 1 time in total

Reformed wrote:

There was also some concern in the early days that the airbag cover could become brittle through aging and a flying fragment cause eye damage.

Scarey kindly supplied an illustration of what this look like in another thread:

[/quote]

 
RRC 2Dr, RRC 4Dr,
P38, and 2 L322s
(wife thinks I'm nuts - prob right, too)

Thanks to everyone for useful comments and discussion. Got at least five years, but I probably won't have the car by then  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999