Transporting children safely, The right place for children, Installing child-restraint systems – BMW 645Ci Coupe 2004 User Manual

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Transporting children safely

The right place for children

Children always in the rear

Accident research shows that the safest
place for children in a vehicle is in the rear
seat.

Older children should be tightly secured
with a safety belt, after they have outgrown
a booster seat that is appropriate for their
age, height and weight.

Child-restraint system in the rear

Children under 13 years of age and
children less than 5 ft/150 cm tall

should always ride in the rear and the
restraint systems should be secured with
the vehicle's safety belts.

Younger children should be secured in an
appropriate forward-facing child-restraint
system that has first been properly
secured. We strongly urge you to carefully
read and comply with the instructions for
installation and use provided by the child-
restraint's manufacturer whenever you use
such a device.

All rear sitting positions in your vehicle
meet the recommendations of SAE J1819,
an industry-recommended practice for
securing child-restraint systems in motor
vehicles.

Exception for front passenger seat

Should it become necessary to use
a child-restraint system on the front

passenger seat, the airbags on the passen-
ger's side must be deactivated. Deactivat-
ing the passenger airbags is only possible
on the Coupe. Your BMW center will be
glad to advise you.

Never install a rearward-facing child-
restraint system in the front passen-

ger seat of this vehicle if the passenger air-
bag is not deactivated. If you do so, the
child could be severely injured when the
airbag is triggered.
Your vehicle is equipped with an airbag
supplemental restraint system for the front
passenger. Because the backrest on any
rearward-facing child-restraint system – of
the kind designed for infants under 1 year
and 20 Ibs./9 kg – would be within the air-
bag's deployment range, you should never
mount such a system in the front passenger
seat, since the impact of the airbag against
the child restraint's backrest could lead to
serious or fatal injuries.

Installing child-restraint
systems

Before installing any child-restraint system
or child seat, read the following:

Observe the child-restraint system
manufacturer's instructions for instal-

lation and use. Otherwise the degree of
protection can be reduced.
After an accident, have all parts of the
child-restraint system and of the relevant
vehicle safety belt system checked by a
BMW center and replaced if necessary.

Commercially-available child-restraint sys-
tems are designed to be secured with a lap
belt or with the lap belt portion of a combi-
nation lap/shoulder belt. Improperly or
inadequately installed restraint systems
can increase the risk of injury to children.
Always read and follow the instructions that
come with the system.

This manual is related to the following products:

645Ci Convertible 2004