Are there any airbags where marked...??

[iguassu]

Yesterday I had occasion to install a hands-free telephone kit for my Nokia GSM phone in my NEW X5. When I removed the rear panel where the seat-belt is in the back (the panel marked with "AIRBAG") I noticed that there is NO airbag where marked.
Amazingly, today I started to install the same GSM phone kit in my wife's X3 and lo-and-behold the similar panel marked "AIRBAG" next to the rear seat-belt has no airbag behind the panel.
What the fudd is going on here..?
Are the airbags just imaginary or is this some cunning way of charging us for something then maximising profits by not installing the item.
I suppose that there would be very few complaints following a major side impact where the airbags did not deploy since they were not installed in the first place. Dead persons are not really very vociferous when it comes to complaints - are they...??

Anyone out there found the same thing...??

Tomorrow, I shall be opening all the panels marked "AIRBAG" to see if there really is such a thing in the BMW stable...!

Naturally, I shall then take-up the matter with local Trading Standards office as well as the DOT and will write a stern letter to both the Minister for Transport and to BMW-UK as well as emailing the same or similar to ALL the directors of BMW-AG.

I am really extremely bewildered having discovered such a fact.

Maybe I'll just deliver the damn car back to the dealer with a rejection letter and demand recompense.

This is the fourth brand-new BMW I have purchased and the experience is far from what they claim.....!

Any feedback welcomed.

Paul..

[beaur]

Here in the US the rear airbags are an extra cost option. I can't answer whether you got them or they standard where you took delivery.

[dave_p]

Same here in the UK - optional at a cost. My X5 didn't have them as I didn't want them (can be even more dangerous with a kids head in close proximity!!), but there is no marking on the door panel for them.

As far as I'm concerned, if there is a marking stating 'Airbag', then there should certainly be an airbag behind it. Either yours have been taken out or they have not been fitted at the factory. The fact that you have a marking means that they certainly should be present.

[AzNMpower32]

I think he's talkin about the side curtain airbags which are standard on the X3. The sign is just there for reference; if you've ever seen them deploy they deploy from the ceiling above the windows downward to cover the windows. They dont deploy sideways from the B and C pillars.