Airbags - are they really there 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..

[The Big Easy]

Although the X is marked on the inside "AIRBAG", certain airbags (like the rear ones) are not standard issue in some countries. Having lived in 3 different countries, standard options do vary and need to be read in the "fine print". You should definately have the front airbags !!

Hope this helps, cheers

[JCL]

Wrong forum, but the admins can fix that. Should be the E53 X5 forum.

I just checked www.bmw.co.uk, and they clearly show the rear side airbags as an extra cost option for the X5. Front airbags are standard, for driver and passenger. It may vary with which spec package you have, but I didn't have that info.

Unless your dealer specifically charged you for this option, I don't think there is an issue. If you were charged, the complaint would appear to be with your dealer, who perhaps forgot to order them. Is there a trading standard that requires these airbags as standard equipment in the UK?

If you do open the front panels up, take care. Accidental activation can be expensive, and dangerous.

[AWD-X5]

I guess I had better check mine too!

[vinuneuro]

In the US as well....front, side and curtain airbags are standard, as are rear curtain airbags. Rear side airbags must be activated. This is what I read in a brochure.

[PAPI]

I´m not an expert but:

It has to be there, were marked;

if it is a new car, and the bag is not there, it will be "misleading"

if it is a used car, and the bag is not there, means somebody removed it after a chrash....

regards

P.S. in the rear, mine has only covers, no "airbag" signs as in other X5 with "Topline" equipment....

[iguassu]

Well folks - I have checked with dealers and am informed that the rear airbags are definitely an "extra". The remarkable thing is that the panel covers have the "Airbag" badge on them. BMW-AG advise that they should not be there there should just be a plain insert not one marked with "Airbag".
I have found a few other things that re not quite correct with the car though - such as no heat to drivers footwell because the ducting is not properly fitted and has a broken latch slot so will never be able to connect correctly. Will demand it be replaced when next in to dealer with the rest of the list...!
Thanks for the comments, I suppose I was right to be confused when a panel is marked "Airbag" when it shouldn't have been - on TWO new cars...!
Thanks again.