Baby car seat for a W202??

[larby]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone here had experience of car seats in a W202 c class?
I went to have a look at a couple today and both seemed to almost touch the roof of the car wen fitted in either the rear of front seat, it just wasn't going to work out!

I'm not sure if i can get away with buying a seat which fits birth to 4 years, or whether i'll have to buy a second one as the baby gets older?

Also, does anyone know if i can disable the passenger side airbag?

Any ideas greatly appreciated!

Thanks and merry christmas!

James

 

[Alps]

i used the following

- maxi cosi cabriofix until my girl was 1
- bebe confort axiss after that (swivel base)

both are pretty close to the front seats with th front seat having enough legroom, but still comfortable enough for the littlun.

 

[larby]

Grand, thanks for that, I'll have a look into them!

The problem i've been having with the ones i've seen so far is that they have such a huge base the top of the seat nearly touches the roof of the car!!

 

[Darrell]

I am pretty certain you cannot get a baby seat from birth up to 4 years old.The seat we have now is a sturdy looking Mama's and Papa's.The top of the seat comes about a third of the way up the headrest.

I haven't got a clue about the side airbag, I didn't realise it had one.I better get the manual out!!

 

[larby]

When i said passenger side airbag, i just meant the airbag for the passenger, ie the one in the dash...

On the bright side, just found out the car seat we have as part of our buggy is the maxi cosi cabriofix so we'll just get another one of those, and i really like the look of the swivel one!

Darrell - There are car seats from birth to 4 years, they kind of cheat by having lots of inserts that you remove as the baby gets bigger. I must admit i prefer the idea of getting age specific ones...

Anyone know if i can turn my airbag off?

 

[Wookiepelt]

Anyone know if i can turn my airbag off?

Not sure if its the same on your W202 but I bought a pair of transponders (similar to these) off ebay for my recently acquired 211 E-class estate that did the trick. A lot cheaper than buying a new MB baby seats and twice the original model's price!

All that was required was for the transponders to be placed on the passenger seat and it will turn off the passenger air-bag. I went the extra step and stuck them onto the bottom cavities of my daughter's existing Maxi-Cosi Rodi XP. It also worked for my son's Maxi-Cosi Priori XP too.

 

[larby]

Ooh, sounds like a good idea, i don't know if mine is that high tech though! Can anyone confirm that for me? Is there anything in the car that confirms that the airbag is off when you use the transponders?

 

[Alps]

larby, sry, i may have misunderstood, i always used the seats in the back as the only way of turning the passenger airbag offis by using an oem mercedes baby seat, but they arent the nicest IMO

 

[larby]

No worries! When i read back my thread i realised i hadn't exactly written it very well!

Looks like back seat may be the answer then unless these transponders work with mine?

James

 

[Alps]

No worries! When i read back my thread i realised i hadn't exactly written it very well!

Looks like back seat may be the answer then unless these transponders work with mine?

James

never tried the trnsponders, the cost of them didnt seem worth it, back seat was just fine and still is

 

[Lord Lucan MK]

try the Recaro items I have these and they can be utilised upto the age of 12 if need they have a low base height as well you can get them from the following website: http://www.capitalseating.co.uk/productlist.asp?type=s&view=apps&appid=85&appgrpid=15

Forgot I got the Recaro young sport

 

[willy]

I can recommend Concord Ultimax as 0-4 yr child seat if you don't need a removable seat. Its a very comfortable seat with excellent neck support, 0-12months its a rear facing seat and then 12+ months it becomes a front facing seat.

 

[Wookiepelt]

Ooh, sounds like a good idea, i don't know if mine is that high tech though! Can anyone confirm that for me? Is there anything in the car that confirms that the airbag is off when you use the transponders?

My E-class (W211) has a "Passenger Airbag Off" light above the warning light switch which comes on when the transponders are in position on the passenger seat.

According to the C-class (W204) online manual, there is a similar indicator below the warning light switch as well. Not sure if its the same on the W202 though.

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
If your car can recognise the transponder i believe your car will have a small yellow light between the drivers side window switches which will illuminate when the airbag is disabled.

 

[larby]

Thanks for all the responses everyone, I really like the recaro seats so i think i'll have a look into them once we're past the 6 month 'rear facing' seat.
I'll have a look for the little light for the passanger airbag, I'd rather have her in the front if possible...

 

[NicDale]

Another vote for the Recaro seat here, really well built, nicely padded and they are rated highly for safety.

 

[219]

I looked at a number of infant carriers ( these generally do from 0 to 9 months , after which you get a child seat from 9 months to 3 or 4 years .

They were all much of a muchness and eventually we went for a Graco infant carrier plus two bases ( one for my car and one for her ladyship's Hyundai Coupe ) .

The bases are held rigidly in place by the seatbelts and allow the infant carrier to be 'clipped' in and out . On most cars , the seatbelts are not long enough to go all the way round the infant carrier to allow fitment without the bases . New cars often have the ISOFIX system but this has only been introduced in the last few years .

At the time I was running the 190E as my 'daily driver' and things were tight in the rear , both in terms of the length of the infant carrier restricting adjustment of the front seats ; also it is difficult getting the carrier in through the doorway and onto the base as it needs to be higher than the top of the door opening . I did try the infant carrier in the front passenger seat ( not being afflicted by airbags ) and found that the carrier completely blocks my view of the nearside door mirror , so not an option . The 202 series , being based on the 201 , I would expect to be very similar in these respects .

In the end I decided I needed a bigger car so ended up buying the W126 500SEL as I didn't fancy either a 4x4 or a 'people carrier' . Both my older cars are plenty big enough but don't have seatbelts fitted and I'm not about to start drilling holes in them just so I can fit a child seat .