Airbag wiring when swapping seats between manufacturers

[Jakg]

I'm in the middle of fitting some Vauxhall Corsa VXR Recaro seats to my BMW Z4 (E85).

Both sets of seats have a seatbelt buckle / pretensioner, and a seat airbag.

I've swapped the pretensioner to the new seats, but left the airbag in the seat disconnected - so as far as the car is concerned the pretensioner is still the same.

I am happy to run without airbags, but looking online I've seen that someone has fitted these seats to a Renault Clio 197 - https://www.clio197.net/threads/corsa-vxr-recaros-... - and has connected the airbags up, too.

I'm happy to adapt the wiring - but I am surprised that different airbags from different manufacturers are "compatible"? Is this likely to work or in the event of an accident is the airbag just not going to deploy?

I'm happy to adapt the plugs, do wiring etc - it's more the actual operation I'm interested in.

I would also like to fit a set to my RenaultSport Megane which is quite similar to the Clio - again I'm happy to ignore the airbags - the Renault Recaro seats never had them and they got turned off in the ECU - but if I could get them working I probably should.

Pictures, because everyone loves them...

[Penelope Stopit]

You will need to check the specification of the replacement bombs fuse to see if it matches that of the original bombs fuse

Don't mess with explosives unless you are 100% sure that all is good, even then you could face problems in the future should something bad go wrong

[GreenV8S]

Jakg said:

Both sets of seats have a seatbelt buckle / pretensioner, and a seat airbag.

I guess I haven't seen enough accidents recently - where does the seat airbag deploy?

[Jakg]

Penelope Stopit said:

You will need to check the specification of the replacement bombs fuse to see if it matches that of the original bombs fuse

Unsurprisingly, and for good reason, there's no information on the airbag fitted to the seat written anywhere on the seat.

Penelope Stopit said:

Don't mess with explosives unless you are 100% sure that all is good, even then you could face problems in the future should something bad go wrong

This is why I'm being cautious!

GreenV8S said:

I guess I haven't seen enough accidents recently - where does the seat airbag deploy?

The airbags come out of the side of the seats. The stitching is of a special kind to ensure it perforates to allow the airbag to inflate.

[Penelope Stopit]

Jakg said:

Penelope Stopit said:

You will need to check the specification of the replacement bombs fuse to see if it matches that of the original bombs fuse

Unsurprisingly, and for good reason, there's no information on the airbag fitted to the seat written anywhere on the seat.

Penelope Stopit said:

Don't mess with explosives unless you are 100% sure that all is good, even then you could face problems in the future should something bad go wrong

This is why I'm being cautious!

GreenV8S said:

I guess I haven't seen enough accidents recently - where does the seat airbag deploy?

The airbags come out of the side of the seats. The stitching is of a special kind to ensure it perforates to allow the airbag to inflate.

If they are using the same fuse with the same explosive you shouldn't have a problem