Mercedes-Benz E 300 Operator's Manual page 55

Airbags
1 Driver airbag
The most effective occupant restraint
system yet developed for use in
production vehicles is the seat belt. In
some cases, however, the protective
effect of a seat belt can be further
enhanced by an airbag.
The driver airbag is located in the
steering wheel hub.
2 Front passenger airbag
The passenger front airbag is located in
the dashboard ahead of the front
passenger.
The side impact airbags are located in the
doors.
The window airbags (5, on next page) are
located around the door windows behind
the door frame trims.
In conjunction with wearing the seat
belts with emergency tensioning
retractors, the airbags can provide
increased protection for the driver and
front passenger in certain major frontal
(for front airbags), and side impacts
(for side impact airbags).The
operational readiness of the airbag
system is verified by the indicator lamp
"SRS" in the instrument cluster when
turning the electronic key in steering
lock to position 1 or 2. If no fault is
detected, the lamp will go out after
approximately 4 seconds; after the
lamp goes out, the system continues to
monitor the components and circuitry
of the airbag system and will indicate a
malfunction by coming on again.
The following system components are
monitored or undergo a self-check:
crash-sensor(s), airbag ignition
circuits, front seat belt buckles,
emergency tensioning retractors, seat
sensor.
Initially, when the electronic key is
turned from steering lock position 0 to
positions 1 or 2, malfunctions in the
crash-sensor are detected and
indicated (the "SRS" indicator lamp
stays on longer than 4 seconds).
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