Children in the back of R129 SL?

[oscarisapc]

Can you legally and safely put a child's seat in the rear of a R129? Views have changed since the days when our young 'uns were just slung in the back without any restraints at all, and my daughters now insist, quite rightly, that their children and our grandchildren must at all times be properly strapped into an approved seat. The Britax child's seat we use is held in place by a lap and diagonal seat belt, so we need some sort of approved alternative.

 

[grober]

I would have the roll bar in the "up" position and the hardtop on [ penetration injury ? ] at all the times if contemplating this - wouldn't want any possibility of it deploying and interfering with any safety seat.You might find it difficult to find good seat anchorage points. There's a lot going on in that rear bulkhead area- roll bar hood etc.
BT500 gave a fairly definitive response here.
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/interior/137130-r129-sl-rear-child-passengers.html

 

[oscarisapc]

May not be such a good idea

Thanks. This may not be such a good idea as the intention is to have our second car as a "fun" car which obviously the grandchildren would want a ride in. I have already moved on from thinking about an R230 which my wife has vetoed for the same reason but it seemed as though the R129 had more space since it doesn't have the folding roof. Ah well, back to a CLK as a practical alternative - not that there is anything wrong with that but I still hanker after an SL.

 

[BTB 500]

As mentioned there are several previous threads on this. Yes the R129 does have more space - the R230 has no rear seats at all!

The rear seats in the R129 are specifically designed for carrying children. M-B spent more developing the safety aspects of this car than on anything else (e.g. the pop-up roll bar) and I'm quite happy for our kids to go in the back on an occasional basis. The seats are deeply 'sculpted' (like bucket seats) and they are quite secure with a lap belt. Legally they would now need a booster ... which as you say is not possible.

In previous threads you will see that it is possible to get 3-point belts fitted in the back. You could then perch a booster on the back seat and it would be legal, but IMO less safe than the standard setup.

Per the handbook the roll bar is meant to be manually raised (via the switch on the dash) when the rear seats are in use. It fires in a fraction of a second if a rollover is imminent ... you really wouldn't want to be in the way of that!

 

[Doodle]

If I'm not mistaken, the main purpose of a booster is to get the diagonal belt sitting correctly on the collar bone and chest...and therefore totally pointless and redundant with lap belts.

 

[LTD]

If I'm not mistaken, the main purpose of a booster is to get the diagonal belt sitting correctly on the collar bone and chest...and therefore totally pointless and redundant with lap belts.

Hence the need to fit 3 point belts.

 

[edgersoldchap]

It would also depend on whether you have insured the car as having 2 seats or 4. I deliberately asked for cover on 4 seats to enable my grandchildren to be legally given an occasional treat.

 

[BTB 500]

Interesting on the insurance. Rear seats were standard on the post '96 500, but they were an option on the 280 and 320 so those could be 2 or 4 seat cars.

 

[Doodle]

Hence the need to fit 3 point belts.

Or looking at it from the other direction, means that a booster seat shouldn't be needed. Unfortunately, due to the age of the 129 there's none of the official markings that are needed for modern child seats. The game has moved on...old dog, new tricks.

If you looking at the "normal" positioning of the upper point on a 3 point belt in most cars, it would be floating about 4-6" above the rear deck on a 129.