It's just the rubber cover that cracks, the air bag is bolted to the plastic skeleton of the cover.

 

So my car now has a giant crack in the dash as well. I live in Central Illinois so it's not like I live in a super tropical environment. It must be affected by changing temperatures because I only had a 1 inch or so crack before it got cold this week.

Pretty disappointing as my 1994 Mitsubishi (yes it has a passenger airbag) dash is fine and it has sat out in the sun it's entire life.

 

My crack now turned into multiple cracks running in all directions. I'm hesitant to replace now for fear it will happen again.

 

I bought a roll of 3M carbon fiber vinyl off eBay for $17. Following instructions posted on another thread, it was easy to remove the airbag panel. The carbon fiber material looks great! I'm going to recover the center panel and instrument cluster to match!

 

That looks amazing. Can you post the link to the other thread?

 

^+1! novelwriter333 great job! Looks awesome!

 

Looks wrinkled on the right side. no bueno.

 

not to mention when the airbag does have to deploy someone is going to get smacked in the face by 200mph flying straps of di-noc.

personally i just said screw it, while it looks annoying i just live with the minor appearance defect. a better alternative would be to find some flexible adhesive to fill in the cracks with. one thing i know not to mess with is airbag functionality, it is a small bomb in your car after all.

 

With the force that hits you when that airbag deploys. it's not going to matter about the flying Di Noc. Either way with the dash already cracked. Your going to throw sharp HARD peices of heavy plastic. It'll be like an IED going off filled with nails. I'd rather replace the cover...

 

not really, the dash has perforations which is where these cracks are showing up. the cover is attached to flaps that fold out of the way when the airbag deploys. with a covering over the dash it will have to break through that first.

may not be an issue, but it might just be.

 

The 3M vinyl material I used for the repair is not a heavy, rigid plastic. It will in no way impair the air bag from deploying or send shards of 1 mm. thick vinyl whirling out like deadly razor blades. The repair looks great and isn't "no bueno." La unica cosa lo que es "no bueno" son las quejas de los pendejos que no saben hacer nada mas como quejar.

 

I'm with Karack on this one. that crack that develops is a weak spot for the air bag to deploy through. I would not think your cover will form schrapnal, but it could greatly delay or reduce the force of the airbag.

To each his own, " How much do you care about your passenger's life?"

Try to take a piece of that vinyl and grabbing it in the center tear it apart without puncturing it first.

 

My RX8 is a 2005. Kept in the garage at home and parked in a covered garage all day at work, too. Having had a Fiat and then 3 Hondas before this with one that was never garaged at home in FL, this is the first time this has happened to any car I have owned or ever seen. It began with a corner of the rectangle over the airbag on the passenger side cracking and now I have almost an entire box cracked into my dash. It is an embarrassment everytime someone gets into my car. I had an extended warranty on the car and took it to Mazda. Despite so many of us having this problem, they said it was not covered under warranty and that the whole dash and airbag would have to come out to fix it. If the cover is ripped off in order to allow a car upholsterer to redo the dash, then the airbag may need to be replaced which is costly. Shame on Mazda for this defect in its car and shame on them again for refusing to take any responsibility to repair. Once this airbag deploys unnecessarily because there is no cover over it and causes an accident, they will have a lawsuit on their hands. And all the complaints from all of us to the various dealers and the company will serve the Plaintiff well because Mazda was warned and did nothing.
Incidentally, thank goodness I had an extended warranty. Every so often. the car was refusing to restart after having just driven it, for no apparent reason. It would eventually restart, but was very worrisome and annoying. I took the car to Mazda and they wanted to keep it an extra day. OK. Then I get a call from the service rep who tells me my whole engine has to be replaced! I still do not know exactly what was worng, but this was supposedly a $6000 job! Thank goodness I had read on-line that this car had exhibited engine problems and I decided to buy an extended warranty. It covered this replacement. The car was only about 3 years old. Everytime I ever compalin about the rattling noise on acceleration or anything else, they tell me it is my fault. Either the gas I put in it is worng or I don't drive it right. I have the auto/manual combo transmission. If you are not supposed to drive it in high gear around town, then why does the automatic transmission push itself to 4th gear before I hit 35 MPH?

 

The airbag is not going to deploy because of that cover. If your embarrassed of a little crack you should be even more embarased of pulling out a 10 year old car.

 

All i can say to that logalinipoo is it may be 10 years old... but damn is it a sexy car.

 

Im still driving my 05, but my point was its an old car things break and go bad. If he is that embarased about it he should spend the money on a new one.

 

The crack in the dash is no longer a "little" H crack, but a rectangular box cracked into the dash with a cracked line running through the middle of it. The style of this car as with all well designed sports cars will be classic some day and I intend to keep it because of that. The fact that it is a 2005 (bought new in 2006) does not detract from it at all. The exterior is beautiful still and I get complimented on the car and asked about it all the time. Anyone who thinks I should be embarrassed by driving this 9 year old car is a fool and has never been to the Gaslight Parade in Ormond Beach. Gorgeous old cars abound, just as they did at the car competition in Celebration, FL 2 weekends ago. Those "old" cars were drool worthy. The cracked dash is the only thing embarrassing about my car. It may be cosmetic, but the visual is part and parcel of the enjoyment of a vehicle that is touted by every manufacturer in their ads inducing us to purchase. I will never buy another Mazda. Three previous Hondas and a Ford truck all in FL and yet no dash cracks. Each driven for 8-11 years. If they can do it, so could Mazda. The interior molding on the back door on the driver's side is also separating at the seams despite no one ever sitting back there.

 

I'm planning on keeping my 40th Anny forever, so that will likely mean buying a couple passenger-side airbag dash replacements, since mine's already showing the thin rectangular line on top, and from several comments here, it all goes south afterwards...

 

Looks like I will be part of the "cracked dashboard club", with my 2008. I went today to Mazda and they told me that I should have put something like Armor All once every week, since I bought the car and for the life of the car, and that it is not related to the airbag. The reason that they wrote was " Dash is cracked due to heat and age of vehicle". Estimate to replace crush pad $930 plus tax.
On another note I have also another known issue, the coolant light is on due to the coolant sensor not working, and they do not replace only the sensor, it has to be with the coolant subtank. Maybe another "coolant sensor club".

 

Add me to the club. 2007 rx8, 2 paralell vertical cracks. Been cold lately, maybe that has something to do with it

 

I just joined this club, a few cracks running in different directions popped up a few days ago on my crack. I was considering doing the carbon fiber sheet like novelty. I don't mind the "H" shaped crack so why couldn't it be as simple as putting the sheet on the dash and then taking a razor and carefully cutting that shape so that the airplane can deploy?

 

How did the rest of the panel go? I'm going to do the same thing with mine as well I've got these big cracks because of the weather where I live was it hard to get the panels off?

 

Aaaaaaaand another one... '07 with 2 parallel vertical cracks on the left and right side of the dash. Not too insanely noticeable, but they're still there.

Talked to a friend of mine that's a Nissan mechanic, and he said that the CF vinyl on the dash to cover the cracks would cause absolutely zero issues, should the airbag deploy. Remember the force of the airbag coming out. In his words "it'll rip that vinyl apart."

 

Ugh, I've had a small crack for a while and never gave it much thought due to its size. Well my 08 has been parked for about a month now (alignment issues); hopped in it yesterday to let it run for a bit and noticed the crack has gotten much worse. An to top it off it's been under covered parking this whole time too, le sigh.

New airbag doors can be purchased via part number FEY1-57-K5X (left hand drive) but they're a bit pricey. I plan on giving the black silicone route a shot and seeing how that goes. If well, I'll post pics of the before and after.

For those interested, an airbag door removal how-to can be found here: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-...%24150-201523/

 

I hade same problem so i just carbon fiber wrap it forget spend 440