Door Air Bags - General Question.

[Ichabod]

I need to access the interior of my drivers door.....the door has an Air Bag, my vehicle is a 1999 ML 320. I have posted other questions asking for advice on how to remove the door card but so far I have had no response?
My question now is more general - Could some kind person shed light on how to work around a door with an Air Bag eg. What precautions do I have to observe, could the Air Bag be accidentally triggered etc.
Having owned a few Mercedes cars in the past I have learned that Mercedes often standardise on designs and operation, I therefore presume that to work on a door with an Air Bag one would follow a standard operating procedure, which is common across the whole range?
Any help/opinions would be gratefully received.

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
Whenever I have removed the door cards on my 43 I just make sure I don,t turn the ignition on with any part of the SRS system disconnected.
To be doubly sure you could disconnect the vehicle battery as well.
I have used my car with the door cards removed on both doors for a day or two but all the wiring was connected and intact.

 

[markjay]

I think that the standard advise from Haynes is to disconnect the car's battery and wait a period of time (15 to 30 minutes has been quoted) to allow all the capacitors to fully discharge before working on any part of the SRS.

Also, I read elsewhere some years ago that the SRS is triggered by pressure switch and that it is therefore very important to replace the plastic sheet behind the door card properly and intact - but I am not sure if this is still applicable to modern vehicles.

 

[nick mercedes]

I think that the standard advise from Haynes is to disconnect the car's battery and wait a period of time (15 to 30 minutes has been quoted) to allow all the capacitors to fully discharge before working on any part of the SRS.

Urban myths.

No need to disconnect the battery if you want to take the door panel off, or wait half an hour to play with the airbags.

Worst end the srs light will end up being on.