[GTXgp]

So, hopefully you followed my exterior conversion THREAD. Now the airbag FINALLY arrived so I got to work completing the transformation. I know many of you may be scared about the airbag portion, but I have done close to a dozen airbag swaps and they are incredibly easy with very little tools/time required!

Step 1. Disconnect the negative terminal on the battery.

Honestly, I have done airbag swaps without disconnecting the battery but it never hurts.

Step 2. Spring Clip Removal

For almost any car I have worked on, there are usually small access holes in the steering wheel to access the spring clips that hold the airbag in place. For most late model GM vehicles, that is usually on the side of the steering wheel. Leave it to the Germans to make it a little more difficult to find, it took me a while to figure out where they hid the access holes and had to consult the service manual.

For the Regal, it is actually on the back of the steering wheel. Usually you can just use a straight, thin screwdriver to pop them loose, but the Regal's unusual location requires a "special" tool.

Here is what the service manual shows:

You may be asking where you buy such a tool... well, there isn't one. In the service manual it tells you to fashion your own from an old screw driver LOL. It says to make a 30* bend around 1" from the tip. I decided to make my own from an old allen wrench:

Now that you have your tool, you may be asking "how does this possibly release the airbag?" Very simple... turn your steering wheel 90* right or left from center and if you look behind the wheel you will see the access hole. You simply insert your tool till you feel the spring clip, press down (lift up on tool) and you will feel the spring clip release and that side of the airbag will be loose:

Then simply rotate the airbag 180* the other direction to access the other access hole and repeat. This picture from the service manual should help:

Step 3. Wiring

Once the airbag is loose, flip it over and there are two wires connected to it:

To remove these wires, simply lift up the plastic retainer on the top of the connector, this retainer is NOT removed, it just lifts up:

Once that is loose, the connector simply pulls straight off from the airbag:

Step 4. Airbag removal.

Viola... your airbag is now removed:

Step 5. Reinstall

Now to reinstall you simply reconnect the cables on the new airbag, they are color coded so you can't mess it up! Just push them straight on to the new airbag, and press the plastic retainer back down to lock it in place.

The new airbag is reinstalled by just lining it up in the correct location and pressing firmly until it locks in place.

Step 6. Reconnect Negative on Battery

A few small details when you disconnect the battery:
1. The clock will lose its time, but will pull the updated time within a few minutes from XM if you have a subscription
2. The windows will need to be "reset" by lowering and raising the front two windows
3. The compass will need to be recalibrated, but should happen automatically once you start driving

That's it! Now that I know where the darn holes are in the steering wheel, I could do this swap in all of 10 minutes! ...it is incredibly easy and I hope this write-up helps you tackle this swap.

I also removed the "GS" from the passenger side only to find two small holes in the piano trim for badge alignment

There doesn't appear to be an Opel counterpart for this badge so I will come up with something to cover them up... they are VERY small though.

Adam

 

[cozbyrt]

Awesome write up!

 

[@thlon]

Do you still have the airbag and logo?
And would you sell them?

 

[GTXgp]

Yes, but I am keeping it incase I need to put the car back to stock in the future.

 

[@thlon]

Yes, but I am keeping it incase I need to put the car back to stock in the future.

ok thnx, can I ask you what you did pay for it all, or what the steering logo, motor enginecover logo and tail logo costs in the US?

 

[Harshman]

Just curious, any idea if the bags in the states and europe have different required inflation times, therefore different pyrotechnics?

By the way, nice job on the mods

 

[hkevin2us]

I still dont get why you would want to go from Buick badges to Opel badges?! Every other country in the world aspires to own a Buick, seems to me you would lower the value of your car. looks nice but....jus sayin....

 

[@thlon]

I still dont get why you would want to go from Buick badges to Opel badges?! Every other country in the world aspires to own a Buick, seems to me you would lower the value of your car. looks nice but....jus sayin....

Just to have something different, why it will lower the value?
People in Europe wants Buick, Vauxhall or Holden on their car.
In the US, they want Vauxhall or Opel on their Buick.

Strange thing is nobody wants apperantly Chevrolet, haha, or am I mistaken?

 

[thestepchild]

I like the looks of the swap too. Only time it would lower value is MAYBE if you sell it. Easy fix, return to stock.

 

[hazerg8]

i have something similar

 

[Thuntzberry]

So, hopefully you followed my exterior conversion THREAD. Now the airbag FINALLY arrived so I got to work completing the transformation. I know many of you may be scared about the airbag portion, but I have done close to a dozen airbag swaps and they are incredibly easy with very little tools/time required!

Step 1. Disconnect the negative terminal on the battery.

Honestly, I have done airbag swaps without disconnecting the battery but it never hurts.

Step 2. Spring Clip Removal

For almost any car I have worked on, there are usually small access holes in the steering wheel to access the spring clips that hold the airbag in place. For most late model GM vehicles, that is usually on the side of the steering wheel. Leave it to the Germans to make it a little more difficult to find, it took me a while to figure out where they hid the access holes and had to consult the service manual.

For the Regal, it is actually on the back of the steering wheel. Usually you can just use a straight, thin screwdriver to pop them loose, but the Regal's unusual location requires a "special" tool.

Here is what the service manual shows:

You may be asking where you buy such a tool... well, there isn't one. In the service manual it tells you to fashion your own from an old screw driver LOL. It says to make a 30* bend around 1" from the tip. I decided to make my own from an old allen wrench:

Now that you have your tool, you may be asking "how does this possibly release the airbag?" Very simple... turn your steering wheel 90* right or left from center and if you look behind the wheel you will see the access hole. You simply insert your tool till you feel the spring clip, press down (lift up on tool) and you will feel the spring clip release and that side of the airbag will be loose:

Then simply rotate the airbag 180* the other direction to access the other access hole and repeat. This picture from the service manual should help:

Step 3. Wiring

Once the airbag is loose, flip it over and there are two wires connected to it:

To remove these wires, simply lift up the plastic retainer on the top of the connector, this retainer is NOT removed, it just lifts up:

Once that is loose, the connector simply pulls straight off from the airbag:

Step 4. Airbag removal.

Viola... your airbag is now removed:

Step 5. Reinstall

Now to reinstall you simply reconnect the cables on the new airbag, they are color coded so you can't mess it up! Just push them straight on to the new airbag, and press the plastic retainer back down to lock it in place.

The new airbag is reinstalled by just lining it up in the correct location and pressing firmly until it locks in place.

Step 6. Reconnect Negative on Battery

A few small details when you disconnect the battery:
1. The clock will lose its time, but will pull the updated time within a few minutes from XM if you have a subscription
2. The windows will need to be "reset" by lowering and raising the front two windows
3. The compass will need to be recalibrated, but should happen automatically once you start driving

That's it! Now that I know where the darn holes are in the steering wheel, I could do this swap in all of 10 minutes! ...it is incredibly easy and I hope this write-up helps you tackle this swap.

I also removed the "GS" from the passenger side only to find two small holes in the piano trim for badge alignment

There doesn't appear to be an Opel counterpart for this badge so I will come up with something to cover them up... they are VERY small though.

Adam

This is a helpful write up