Little Orange Light Next to Gear Selector

[hbhudia]

Dear all, i was wondering is someone could shed some light on this little light i have to the right of my gear stick.

The light is labelled as Airbag and when switching on the ignition it lights up orange and then goes off.

It has been suggested that it is to indicate that the passenger airbag is deactivated and works by placing a small child or baby seat on the passenger seat, doing the seat belt up and it then recognises to automatically switch off the airbag.

However i cant get it to work and it is always off. Does anyone has something similiar? I would be really interested to find out what this does and get it working as it means i wouldnt have to get a new car and could safely put one of the kids at the front.

Its a 1999 W202 Sport.

 

[BTB 500]

I would guess it needs an M-B child seat with a transponder in it to deactivate the airbag.

 

[Ted]

It is working as it should.
When the ignition is turned on it should light up for a few seconds to show the circuit/bulb is ok then go off.
With the correct child seat in place it will stay on to show that the airbag is deactivated. This has to have the correct transponder built in.