[Derek_x527]

Hi all! Despite some serious reservations (ASS, comfort access, inability to code) I'm about to pull the trigger and lease an X7 after four consecutive X5s. That said, I have two final questions I'm hoping some of you might be able to assist with. First off, I've seen the pros and cons of of bench seats versus captain's chairs on here and am quite certain I would prefer the bench. Still, I have not seen any discussion of how car seats work with either option. It seems to me that putting the car seat in the middle of the bench is safest, but it looks as though the anchors are in the outboard positions. Also, can the bench come forward to allow third row access with a car seat attached? Do the chairs have any benefits over the bench for car seats?
Second, I have always coded off the interior motion sensor because my dog often stays in the trunk. It seems as though this functionality is absent post-LCI. I know pressing the fob a few times can disable the sensor but I envision using my phone and not carrying the fob most of the time. Is there a setting in the newest iDrive to disable the sensor permanently? Or any kind of workaround to disable the sensor if I don't carry my key? Thank you!

[Lakelife]

I chose the captain's chairs for ease of access to the 3rd row and also ease of getting our daughter in and out of the car seat (reaching to the middle seat every time can be a bit of a nuisance).

I think the bench seats don't fold forward with rear facing car seats, but DO with forward facing car seats but NOT if they're in the middle seat. So I think if you go middle car seat, only one side can fold forward if I understand correctly.

[Lakelife]

Start at like 40ish secs

https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1940525

[blutob2]

Also realize the bench seats will lay flat if you ever need to carry something large where the captain seats will not.

[Orient330iNYC]

in the middle you would need to use the seatbelt, there are no latch connectors in the middle, there is a top tether connection though. latch has a lower weight capacity than seat belt anyway, so you will end up using belt instead of latch eventually. personally ive always used seatbelt vs the latch connection, a properly installed seatbelt install is much stronger than latch (65lbs, child and carseat combined, vs seatbelts being rated for a full sized adult.

the bench is 60/40, if you put the car seat in the center or passenger side, you can fold forward the drivers side 40%. you can fold forward either side of the bench if the car seat is using latch. i have my carseat on the passenger side, seatbelt installed with top tether, if i need to use the 3rd row, it can be accessed by the drivers side without undoing the car seat. if you do latch and the seat isnt too big, you can access either side (if the seat is rear facing it will likely hit the front pasenger)

do note with captains chairs the top tether mount is in the floor, so even if you use latch, you would need to unhook the tether from the floor before folding it forward.

[das2050]

We had the same dilemma (two small children in car seats) and went with captain's chairs. The most annoying issue is the anchor in the floor (off centered from the seats) vs the back of the chair like it is with the bench. I find it very annoying that I can't put up and down the third row with the two car seats installed. That said, we wanted the ability for my wife to sit in the back comfortably on road trips - we put the 3 year old in the 3rd row and the 1.5 year old in front of him in the captain's chair. She can then easily tend to/entertain either child. This would not have worked with the bench. I am happy with our decision - despite some annoying BMW design choices (anchor placement).

[khai37]

I have the capts chair, I have one seat that uses the floor anchors and tether, and the other seat I use the seatbelt for ease for removing the car seat. Third row can be access via the center gap or removing the seatbelt car seat.

[chicagox7]

We have the captains chairs. As many noted- anchor is on the ground behind the chair. It impacts ability to put the third row up and down. It’s not that hard to undue the anchor as you can lean the captains chair back and forward to get and remove slack. Orient330iNYC educated me on the clips vs. seat belt (we were clips only). Luckily, never needed to test it (it was time to move to a high back booster shortly after being educated). There are a few threads where ‘car seats’ slipped that I’ve noted (many about bench vs Captains- as well as which ones work best etc) - may be worth doing a search if you haven’t already and want a bit more info.

To that end, there seems to be a bunch of pro’s and cons throughout the threads on bench/captians; not an easy decision, especially if you plan to keep it for 5+ years (a bit easier if leasing for 2 or so- live with a ‘bad decision’ shorter period). We went captians as we plan to keep it for a while (hoping 7-10… will see how that goes) and use it primarily on long road trips. Figured the kids would graduate from car seat/boosters and enjoy the freedom of their own chairs on those trips. Also, while they are younger- it is easy enough for friends to slip between the seats when we need the third row. Suspect we’ll need to grab a drink and popcorn and enjoy ‘the feature length movie’ running time of the seats moving back and forth when they’re bigger…….

[xlover]

we went for the bench with a 3yr old and now >1. We are really happy with that choice. Captains will come on the next one when the kids are both at or near booster status. we keep the third row folded 99% of the time and like having the middle barrier plus the ability to just pile stuff in the middle seat. we can get to the third row folding the seat with the pumpkin base.

Recommendation: Don't try to put car seat in the middle unless you are desperate for 3 across. There is not meaningful incremental safety value.

[shehatezme]

Don’t have an x7 yet but I have a bench in my current SUV with two kids 2 + 5 yo in convertible car seats. We are still going back and forth between getting an x7 or a Sienna. But if we choose x7, we are going to captains chair. The third role in my current SUV has become quite useless because it’s hard to get in and out without a pass through. The pass through with the captains chair in the x7 is more than enough to get my kids or my wife (5’4”) through to the third roll with our waiting for the seat to tilt when we tested at the dealer.