BMW M5 Owner's Handbook Manual page 172

CONTROLS
Knee airbag
Depending on the equipment version:
The knee airbag supports the legs in the event of
a head-on collision.
Protective effect
General
Airbags are not activated in every collision, for ex‐
ample in minor accidents and rear-end collisions.
Notes on achieving optimum airbag
effectiveness
WARNING
If the seat position is wrong or the deployment
area of the airbag is restricted, the airbag sys‐
tem cannot provide the intended protection, or
may cause additional injuries when it deploys.
There is a danger of injury or even death. Ob‐
serve the following to achieve optimum protec‐
tive effect.
▷ Keep your distance from the airbags.
▷ Always grip the steering wheel on the steer‐
ing wheel rim. Place your hands in the
3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions to minimise
the risk of injury to hands or arms when the
airbag deploys.
▷ Make sure that the front-seat passenger is
sitting correctly, in other words with feet or
legs in the footwell, not resting them on the
dashboard.
▷ Make sure that vehicle occupants keep their
head away from the side airbag.
▷ Do not position any other persons, animals or
objects between the airbags and persons.
▷ Keep the dashboard and windscreen in the
area of the passenger's side free, for example
do not attach adhesive foil or covers and do
not fit brackets for navigation devices or mo‐
bile telephones.
172
Safety
Online Edition for Part no. 01402989787 - II/18
▷ Do not attach anything to the airbag covers
with adhesive; never cover them or modify
them in any way.
▷ Do not use the front airbag cover on the front
passenger's side as a tray.
▷ Covers, seat covers, cushions or other ob‐
jects not specifically suitable for seats with in‐
tegral side airbags must not be fitted to the
front seats.
▷ Do not hang items of clothing such as coats
or jackets over the backrests.
▷ Do not modify individual components of the
system or its wiring in any way. This also ap‐
plies to the covers of the steering wheel, the
dashboard and seats.
▷ Do not dismantle the airbag system.
Even if all these notes are complied with, de‐
pending on the circumstances in which an acci‐
dent occurs, certain injuries as a result of contact
with the airbag cannot be entirely ruled out.
The noise caused by the deployment of an air‐
bag may lead to temporary hearing loss for vehi‐
cle occupants sensitive to noise.
Operational readiness of the
airbag system
Safety notes
WARNING
Individual components of the airbag system can
be hot after airbag deployment. There is a dan‐
ger of injury. Do not touch individual compo‐
nents.
WARNING
Work carried out incorrectly can lead to a fail‐
ure, a malfunction or accidental deployment of
the airbag system. If there is a malfunction, the
airbag system might not deploy as intended in
an accident, in spite of the accident being of
the appropriate severity. There is a danger of