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      11-20-2013, 12:16 PM   #1
MikeyV
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Back Seat Space with Child Seats Installed

Hi guys, I'm looking at trying to convince my wife that one of these would make an improvement in our lives, but what I'm wondering is how big the rear seat is, will it easily fit a booster seat, a child seat, with room for the third child to fit in the middle?

If anyone has any photos of a similar set-up could you post them.

BTW had a drive in a 3GT Xdrive 35 today, what a beast, very impressed, but well out of my price range, I'll be limited to an Xdrive 20D Msport.
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      11-20-2013, 01:15 PM   #2
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Center seat is raised so there is room for two adults and a rear facing in back, just did this over the weekend. Depends on the kid in the middle
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      11-20-2013, 01:29 PM   #3
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It would be really tight to fit 2 baby seats and a middle passenger. I have a rear facing seat in the middle spot now and you could sit an adult on either side in a pinch but wouldn't be extremely comfy for long term travel. The booster seats tend to take up less space so in theory you'd probably be ok with booster, child seat and another kid in the back.
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      11-20-2013, 01:58 PM   #4
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also if you're getting xDrive Msport doesn't do you any good on performance, the suspension is identical. Msport on the xdrives is a bunch of cosmetic changes and some different finish choices might as well skip Msport and spec the engine up one level
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      11-21-2013, 03:52 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richbot View Post
Center seat is raised so there is room for two adults and a rear facing in back, just did this over the weekend. Depends on the kid in the middle
The kid in the middle is 9 and built like a greyhound, so he should fit ok.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richbot View Post
also if you're getting xDrive Msport doesn't do you any good on performance, the suspension is identical. Msport on the xdrives is a bunch of cosmetic changes and some different finish choices might as well skip Msport and spec the engine up one level
I like the look of the Msport, and I like the interior, it's the nicest fabric interior you can get for the 3 series, my kids and leather seats don't play well together. In Norway jumping up to the 25D engine is whole heap more expensive than adding Msport to the spec. It would make a 620,000 NOK car into a 700,000 NOK car, my wife won't go for that.

I had an E91 Msport a while back, I'm going Xdrive because we had a few occasions even with spiked winter tyres we were stuck and couldn't get up our access road to the main street.
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      11-22-2013, 08:59 AM   #6
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I have 2 full size baby seats in the back, one forward facing and the other rear facing. There is enough room for either mom or dad to sit between the seats. It's not ideal for a long haul but can be done. And the legroom is such that your knees won't hit the center console. We tried this in a ton of other cars before we bought and there is one other CAR on the market here in the US that can do this, and most SUVs can't either. You have to step up to either a truly large SUV (Suburban, Q7, etc) or step up in price to a Mercedes station wagon to get an equal or greater amount of space.

I will post pictures as soon as I can. Life just moves so darn fast and there are so few hours of sunlight!

Cheers.
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      11-22-2013, 09:17 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Newts View Post
I have 2 full size baby seats in the back, one forward facing and the other rear facing. There is enough room for either mom or dad to sit between the seats. It's not ideal for a long haul but can be done. And the legroom is such that your knees won't hit the center console. We tried this in a ton of other cars before we bought and there is one other CAR on the market here in the US that can do this, and most SUVs can't either. You have to step up to either a truly large SUV (Suburban, Q7, etc) or step up in price to a Mercedes station wagon to get an equal or greater amount of space.

I will post pictures as soon as I can. Life just moves so darn fast and there are so few hours of sunlight!

Cheers.
came down to same two cars or the X5 for us. Merc wagon or 335GT. And the GT is faster more fun with less cargo room and $10k-15k less. But the back seat was equivalent and we don't need the jump seats etc though nothing beats that E350 estate for practicality IMO
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      11-23-2013, 06:07 AM   #8
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Agree that the middle seat position is tight in most comparable cars. Doable, but not spacious in the 3GT either.

But maybe these pics help convincing:

Comparison to F30 3 series sedan (1st pic F30, 2nd and 3rd F34, seat adjusted to fit me as a driver in both).
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      11-23-2013, 08:10 AM   #9
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I have 2 car seats in the back using the latch points and there isn't enough room for a 3rd person. I think you could get a bit more room using the seat belts to attach them though which would probably create enough room for a 3rd child.
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      11-23-2013, 08:52 AM   #10
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Thanks for the photos. Not a huge amount of room, actually looks less than the Volvo V60, the advantage the V60 has is pop-up booster seats which leaves enough room for a child seat using the ISOFIX and the third kid to sit in the middle.



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      12-10-2013, 03:26 AM   #11
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A 3GT has a lot more space than a V60, everywhere.
The only car that has as much leg space in the back seat is a Skoda Octavia or Superb.
VW passat also got built in Child seats as a feature. A front facing child seats doesn't take up as much room as a rear facing one. In Sweden they recommend mounting the seat backwards until they are 4yo.
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      12-15-2013, 02:47 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RIOBLAST View Post
A 3GT has a lot more space than a V60, everywhere.
The only car that has as much leg space in the back seat is a Skoda Octavia or Superb.
VW passat also got built in Child seats as a feature. A front facing child seats doesn't take up as much room as a rear facing one. In Sweden they recommend mounting the seat backwards until they are 4yo.
Problem, my wife is completely sold on the V60, she prefers the ride, likes the interior better, plus it's 100,000 NOK cheaper.
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      12-16-2013, 12:17 AM   #13
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The V60 is almost as popular as the V70 in Sweden and there are 70% Volvo here as you know (being from Norway and all). Never said V60 wasn't a great car.
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      12-16-2013, 05:35 AM   #14
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It was interesting, we went looking on Saturday, tried out the back seats, put the child seats in both cars. Whilst the V60 seat width is narrower than the 3GT the actual usable area appears wider, with two ISOFIX childseats in place the V60 had a much wider space in the middle, no 1 child (9 years old) thoughts he had far more space, my wife could also fit in the middle seat comfortably between the two ISOFIX childseats. The legroom is much greater in the 3GT, but with kids it doesn't matter, the luggage area is larger on the 3GT, but it's not as well shaped, both V60 and 3 Touring beat it for practicality, both fit the Mountain Buggy stroller we have better than the 3GT.

The 3GT is more fun to drive, although not as much fun as the 3 Touring, the V60 is fine, after all I do live in heavily policed Norway where fines are huge so I don't speed anymore. One feature the V60 absolutely kills any BMW product this side of a 7 is the seats, Volvo make the most comfortable front seats I've sat in. That was something my wife and I both missed when we sold our V70 2 years ago, the V70 was a great long distance mile muncher, better than anything else I've owned or driven.

So it's a problem, my head says buy the V60, my wife says buy the V60, my wallet says buy the V60, the enthusiast in me says buy the 3GT! I really do want another BMW.
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      12-16-2013, 07:04 AM   #15
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Now I don´t know how old they are but you know you should have the kids facing backwards up to 5 years of age, thats the recommendation for their safety.
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      12-16-2013, 07:40 AM   #16
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2, 5 & 8. The two year old is in a rear facing seat, the 5 year old is using a booster, the 8 year old has outgrown his so sits in a regular seat, although he's not allowed in the front seat.

I think the rear facing rule is rather impractical, my 8 year old was a tall for his age, we had to go front facing for him at 3, he just couldn't get comfortable in a rear facing seat, his legs would cramp and he'd get car sick.
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      12-17-2013, 02:08 AM   #17
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Volvos seats are great. The 5 series have comfort seats which are not available in the 3 series.
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