Rear Seat Space

Rochdale Pioneers · 11-15-2010, 01:25 PM

I've currently got an E91 and 2 kids age 9 and 2, with a 3rd coming next June. I'll need to renew my company car before the new baby comes along, and am starting to look at my options. Company policy is BMW, Audi or VW, so practically speaking my options are another E91, an A4 Avant, an A6 Saloon, a 520d (which I want), A VW Sharan or Touran (if readers in the US don't know what the last two are, they are large and medium size minivans)

I know that the E91 isn't big enough in the back. 2 year old is in a forward facing child seat, and its a squash to get him, my 9 year old and another person in. A major issue on the 3er is the wheel arch intrusion making the edges of the rear bench humped. From what I have seen on the F10 thats much less of an issue, with a much wider flatter bench.

So, how many people/children have you had in the back of your F10/11 and were they comfortable. I do NOT want a minivan! But if the kids don't all fit in the F10 whilst still in childseats, it might have to wait a couple of years.....

morkjt · 11-15-2010, 02:01 PM

I've done 3 child seats in a row on the backseat - fitted fine, bit of a pain to get installed but fitted ok.

joy5 · 11-15-2010, 02:35 PM

I got only 2 kids (so far) one is 5 yrs and the other 5 weeks. My mom stays with me so we are 5 when travel. The infant seat does not fit in the middle seat very well, so one adult has to sit in the rear middle, which is not great. I realised that the back seat space is not that great compared to the Laguna II I had earlier.

bike99 · 11-15-2010, 02:46 PM

I understand that you do NOT want a minivan, but... a minivan will have about the same size. It will have 3 separate seats in the second row, which will allow you to easily mount 3 baby/child seats. To do that in 520 will be a BIG pain, especially that you need 2 much bigger ones. Especially the 9 years old will have problems with the belt to fasten it easily having another seat next to him/her. In a minivan the kids will have plenty of space to move (walk) between their seats and front seats, so getting them in and out of the car is going to be much easier. Sharan has sliding doors, and is higher so putting kids into the car is much easier especially in tight parking places.
The boot in Sharan will be MUCH bigger. To get 2 trolleys into the boot + all the luggage for the vacation is a big challenge. With a minivan you will let your wife take whatever she needs (or not

).
So the bottom line is: buy both: 520 + Sharan

. BMW for fun, and Sharan for practicality.

bike99 · 11-15-2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rochdale Pioneers

(if readers in the US don't know what the last two are, they are large and medium size minivans)

for US folks you should say a "mini" and "a super mini" size minivans

. That will give them a real picture...

Rochdale Pioneers · 11-15-2010, 03:23 PM

Hmmmmmm. It was going to be a simple decision when there was only two kids to consider! (its my own fault of course......).

For clarity on child seats, would need 1x forward facing one, 1x rear facing one, plus 1x bum space for a 10 year old.

Having gone to see a Sharan at the dealers this morning, I'm starting to think that its going to be a somewhat saner option than that 520d I've been eyeing up and various colleagues are now ordering. The Sharan was what you'd expect - a bus. Have never seen a boot as big as that!

I suppose what winds me up is that my brother got 3 child seats in the back of an Astra! If that was doable, surely a big beast like a 5 could cope? Then again, I'd probably struggle with boot space too - can you get a couple of suitcases in the back? Was already thinking I'd need a roofbox.

rich1068 · 11-15-2010, 04:02 PM

<Sensible head off> Is the 520d Touring out of the question? And I'm sure you'd get three in a row on the rear bench too?

<Sensible head on> And I hate to say it but the Touran is a cracking motor

We've got one and the seating possiblities are endless plus nice toys. Very comfortable on long journeys too.

Touring · 11-15-2010, 04:16 PM

I got the car because of the rearspace. The kids love the space and comfort as you see an example of here going for a shoppingtrip to Sweden :-)

bike99 · 11-16-2010, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rochdale Pioneers

I suppose what winds me up is that my brother got 3 child seats in the back of an Astra! If that was doable, surely a big beast like a 5 could cope? Then again, I'd probably struggle with boot space too - can you get a couple of suitcases in the back? Was already thinking I'd need a roofbox.

The real difference is a shape of the back seat. When you have 3 separate seats, each seat is in the middle of it. The back seat in any other car will have a shape which does not really allow to put a child seat very close to the door. If you do it won't be really horizontally aligned. When you look at it - it's really designed for 2 persons and the third is more as an option.
I'm not sure which Astra you are talking about, but the one I had, had a very flat back seat, so it wasn't that bad, although the car wasn't really wide.

As for touring version - it has a nice boot, but it's still a joke if you compare it with MPV.
And when you have 3 kids you will end up having full MPV boot + full roofbox + bikes on the platform attached to your hook.

Touring · 11-16-2010, 03:02 AM

My 8 year old actually prefer to sit in the middle,then she can look out the windows because she sits a little higher.

gorban · 11-16-2010, 03:54 AM

I have two children in the back seat sitting in two of these isofix chairs:

http://cybex-online.com/site/us/cars...tionx-fix.html

With these chairs it's not possible to fit a third chair or a larger kid in the middle. Moreover it's hard to fasten the seat belts for the two chairs as the chair is so close to the seat belt fastener. This was not a problem in my E61.

Rochdale Pioneers · 11-17-2010, 01:07 PM

Good news! The new Sharan has higher lease costs than the old one, so is no longer on my car list.

rich1068 · 11-17-2010, 01:10 PM

Yay for residuals!

F1ack2 · 11-19-2010, 07:08 AM

Are you sure you still need a seat for the 9 year old. My son was tall enough to bin his seat when he was 8. Could solve the problem.

Rochdale Pioneers · 11-19-2010, 04:07 PM

9 year old not in any seat now - but he does need enough space between the two child seats! Am probably flapping too much, but it makes a change from my musings on what colour I want....

11-15-2010, 01:25 PM	#1
Rochdale Pioneers First Lieutenant 23 Rep 371 Posts Drives: F10 520d SE Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Stockton on Tees UK iTrader: (0)	Rear Seat Space I've currently got an E91 and 2 kids age 9 and 2, with a 3rd coming next June. I'll need to renew my company car before the new baby comes along, and am starting to look at my options. Company policy is BMW, Audi or VW, so practically speaking my options are another E91, an A4 Avant, an A6 Saloon, a 520d (which I want), A VW Sharan or Touran (if readers in the US don't know what the last two are, they are large and medium size minivans) I know that the E91 isn't big enough in the back. 2 year old is in a forward facing child seat, and its a squash to get him, my 9 year old and another person in. A major issue on the 3er is the wheel arch intrusion making the edges of the rear bench humped. From what I have seen on the F10 thats much less of an issue, with a much wider flatter bench. So, how many people/children have you had in the back of your F10/11 and were they comfortable. I do NOT want a minivan! But if the kids don't all fit in the F10 whilst still in childseats, it might have to wait a couple of years.....
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11-15-2010, 02:01 PM	#2
morkjt Enlisted Member 1 Rep 31 Posts Drives: BMW F10 520d Auto Deep Sea Blu Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Cambridge iTrader: (0)	I've done 3 child seats in a row on the backseat - fitted fine, bit of a pain to get installed but fitted ok.
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11-15-2010, 02:35 PM	#3
joy5 Private First Class 20 Rep 186 Posts Drives: xDrive30d M Sport Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Scotland iTrader: (0)	I got only 2 kids (so far) one is 5 yrs and the other 5 weeks. My mom stays with me so we are 5 when travel. The infant seat does not fit in the middle seat very well, so one adult has to sit in the rear middle, which is not great. I realised that the back seat space is not that great compared to the Laguna II I had earlier. __________________ 2013 - x30d E70 M Sport 2010 - 520d F10 SE
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11-15-2010, 02:46 PM	#4
bike99 Enlisted Member 7 Rep 46 Posts Drives: F15 25 xDrive Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: EU iTrader: (0)	I understand that you do NOT want a minivan, but... a minivan will have about the same size. It will have 3 separate seats in the second row, which will allow you to easily mount 3 baby/child seats. To do that in 520 will be a BIG pain, especially that you need 2 much bigger ones. Especially the 9 years old will have problems with the belt to fasten it easily having another seat next to him/her. In a minivan the kids will have plenty of space to move (walk) between their seats and front seats, so getting them in and out of the car is going to be much easier. Sharan has sliding doors, and is higher so putting kids into the car is much easier especially in tight parking places. The boot in Sharan will be MUCH bigger. To get 2 trolleys into the boot + all the luggage for the vacation is a big challenge. With a minivan you will let your wife take whatever she needs (or not ). So the bottom line is: buy both: 520 + Sharan . BMW for fun, and Sharan for practicality.
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11-15-2010, 03:23 PM	#6
Rochdale Pioneers First Lieutenant 23 Rep 371 Posts Drives: F10 520d SE Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Stockton on Tees UK iTrader: (0)	Hmmmmmm. It was going to be a simple decision when there was only two kids to consider! (its my own fault of course......). For clarity on child seats, would need 1x forward facing one, 1x rear facing one, plus 1x bum space for a 10 year old. Having gone to see a Sharan at the dealers this morning, I'm starting to think that its going to be a somewhat saner option than that 520d I've been eyeing up and various colleagues are now ordering. The Sharan was what you'd expect - a bus. Have never seen a boot as big as that! I suppose what winds me up is that my brother got 3 child seats in the back of an Astra! If that was doable, surely a big beast like a 5 could cope? Then again, I'd probably struggle with boot space too - can you get a couple of suitcases in the back? Was already thinking I'd need a roofbox.
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11-15-2010, 04:02 PM	#7
rich1068 has left the building 90 Rep 3,359 Posts Drives: F30 330d M Sport Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	<Sensible head off> Is the 520d Touring out of the question? And I'm sure you'd get three in a row on the rear bench too? <Sensible head on> And I hate to say it but the Touran is a cracking motor We've got one and the seating possiblities are endless plus nice toys. Very comfortable on long journeys too.
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11-15-2010, 04:16 PM	#8
Touring Major 178 Rep 1,008 Posts Drives: i3,E21,M2,E23, Skoda Kodiaq Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Oslo, Norway iTrader: (0)	I got the car because of the rearspace. The kids love the space and comfort as you see an example of here going for a shoppingtrip to Sweden :-)
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11-16-2010, 03:02 AM	#10
Touring Major 178 Rep 1,008 Posts Drives: i3,E21,M2,E23, Skoda Kodiaq Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Oslo, Norway iTrader: (0)	My 8 year old actually prefer to sit in the middle,then she can look out the windows because she sits a little higher.
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11-16-2010, 03:54 AM	#11
gorban Second Lieutenant 11 Rep 229 Posts Drives: F11 520xdAT, E87 120dM Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden iTrader: (0)	I have two children in the back seat sitting in two of these isofix chairs: http://cybex-online.com/site/us/cars...tionx-fix.html With these chairs it's not possible to fit a third chair or a larger kid in the middle. Moreover it's hard to fasten the seat belts for the two chairs as the chair is so close to the seat belt fastener. This was not a problem in my E61. Last edited by gorban; 11-17-2010 at 01:41 PM..
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11-17-2010, 01:07 PM	#12
Rochdale Pioneers First Lieutenant 23 Rep 371 Posts Drives: F10 520d SE Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Stockton on Tees UK iTrader: (0)	Good news! The new Sharan has higher lease costs than the old one, so is no longer on my car list.
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11-17-2010, 01:10 PM	#13
rich1068 has left the building 90 Rep 3,359 Posts Drives: F30 330d M Sport Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Yay for residuals!
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11-19-2010, 07:08 AM	#14
F1ack2 New Member 0 Rep 5 Posts Drives: F10 M-Sport Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Hants iTrader: (0)	Are you sure you still need a seat for the 9 year old. My son was tall enough to bin his seat when he was 8. Could solve the problem.
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11-19-2010, 04:07 PM	#15
Rochdale Pioneers First Lieutenant 23 Rep 371 Posts Drives: F10 520d SE Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Stockton on Tees UK iTrader: (0)	9 year old not in any seat now - but he does need enough space between the two child seats! Am probably flapping too much, but it makes a change from my musings on what colour I want....
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