Ergonomic Seating Positions

My understanding is that reclining too far puts the strain of supporting your torso on muscles (which have to do work) rather than bone/cartilage (which is better suited to static loads). This, of course, is problematic for folks with disc problems, but I think the closer you sit to upright, the less strain you'll feel. And that applies both to seatback angle, and sitting straight up rather than draped over the console.

FWIW, when I went to the PDC for the M5 Driving Experience (2003 or so), they spent about half an hour showing us how to properly adjust the seat. Here's the points I remember:

* Head two to four fingers from the roof. You get a better overall view, and can see more of the road close to the car.
* Left leg on the dead pedal with a slight bend in the knee. If you can straighten your leg, you risk severe leg injury in a collision. You should still be able to press the clutch pedal all the way in.
* Hands at 9 and 3, elbows bent. You have more leverage and can turn the wheel further from that position. It puts much less strain on your neck and shoulders than 10 and 2 or -- heaven forbid -- draping one wrist over the top of the wheel.

I'm glad this thread got resurrected. I've been experiencing low-back paint myself in the E30 and the E60, and kept forgetting to get on here and try it out.

I too am 6'1" on a good day, and my typical seating position has been as low and close to the wheel as I could manage, without my knees getting into the steering column. This means seat bottom tilted back (front end higher) with the seat-back reclined enough that I wanted to fall into the back of the seat. It's comfortable at first, but like many of you, not long after I was ending up with an aching lower back.

I've been experimenting with positions, and have been scooting the seat further back, with less recline on the back. Only two problems so far, and that is one, I'm having trouble seeing the tops of the guages when the steering wheel is in a comfortable position - forcing a compromise, and second, have to really reach for the shifter. (Non-sport auto. Really stinks for manual mode shifting.) All in all though, back pain is much better managed. I should be doing a 2-1/2 hour drive, (each way) this coming weekend, so that will be a good test to try out the new seating position. I'll let you know how it goes...

Originally Posted by MBrown1003

* Head two to four fingers from the roof. You get a better overall view, and can see more of the road close to the car.

Haven't really considered the added visibility before - I'll have to play with raising the seat as well. Only foreseeable problem is not being able to see the guages as well. Again, I'll have to report back.

Thinking back though, I don't remember ever having low-back pain in my F-150, after putting 60k miles on it. It makes sense I suppose, as in that truck (with adjustable seats) you sit much more chair-like and upright.

Just to poll some of you though. Are any/some of you keeping your wallets in your back pocket still? Mine's a rather modest bi-fold, but I still notice a difference when pulling it out. (I'm not sure how folks with the humongous tri-fold wallets do it!) I'm now in the market for a nicer money-clip to carry in a front pocket.

My wife figured it out for me. I’m still driving the loaner by the way. Mine has a combination HPFP/DME
problem.

Anyway, as we pulled into the garage last week we noticed that her passenger seat was up much higher than the driver’s seat. So she came and sat in the driver’s seat and moved the entire seat cushion adjustment up to the max and then lowered the front of the seat cushion. That made the seat perfect.

I on the other hand was trying to simply raise the rear portion of the seat cushion to the height I wanted and that doesn’t work. The rear of the cushion doesn’t go up all the way by doing it that way. I’d love to find an E60 at my dealer and see if the same thing would work on it. The word “dofus” keeps coming up at dinner………………

Hey it’s worth it now that it’s fixed. I can take the name calling………..now I can’t wait to get a new 535 on order.

Originally Posted by Jashley73

I'm glad this thread got resurrected. I've been experiencing low-back paint myself in the E30 and the E60, and kept forgetting to get on here and try it out.

I too am 6'1" on a good day, and my typical seating position has been as low and close to the wheel as I could manage, without my knees getting into the steering column. This means seat bottom tilted back (front end higher) with the seat-back reclined enough that I wanted to fall into the back of the seat. It's comfortable at first, but like many of you, not long after I was ending up with an aching lower back.

I've been experimenting with positions, and have been scooting the seat further back, with less recline on the back. Only two problems so far, and that is one, I'm having trouble seeing the tops of the guages when the steering wheel is in a comfortable position - forcing a compromise, and second, have to really reach for the shifter. (Non-sport auto. Really stinks for manual mode shifting.) All in all though, back pain is much better managed. I should be doing a 2-1/2 hour drive, (each way) this coming weekend, so that will be a good test to try out the new seating position. I'll let you know how it goes...


Haven't really considered the added visibility before - I'll have to play with raising the seat as well. Only foreseeable problem is not being able to see the guages as well. Again, I'll have to report back.

Thinking back though, I don't remember ever having low-back pain in my F-150, after putting 60k miles on it. It makes sense I suppose, as in that truck (with adjustable seats) you sit much more chair-like and upright.

Just to poll some of you though. Are any/some of you keeping your wallets in your back pocket still? Mine's a rather modest bi-fold, but I still notice a difference when pulling it out. (I'm not sure how folks with the humongous tri-fold wallets do it!) I'm now in the market for a nicer money-clip to carry in a front pocket.

Sounds like you need to adjust the seat higher to give more bend to your knees. This will allow you to move closer.

Originally Posted by Jashley73

I'm glad this thread got resurrected. I've been experiencing low-back paint myself in the E30 and the E60, and kept forgetting to get on here and try it out.

I too am 6'1" on a good day, and my typical seating position has been as low and close to the wheel as I could manage, without my knees getting into the steering column. This means seat bottom tilted back (front end higher) with the seat-back reclined enough that I wanted to fall into the back of the seat. It's comfortable at first, but like many of you, not long after I was ending up with an aching lower back.

I've been experimenting with positions, and have been scooting the seat further back, with less recline on the back. Only two problems so far, and that is one, I'm having trouble seeing the tops of the guages when the steering wheel is in a comfortable position - forcing a compromise, and second, have to really reach for the shifter. (Non-sport auto. Really stinks for manual mode shifting.) All in all though, back pain is much better managed. I should be doing a 2-1/2 hour drive, (each way) this coming weekend, so that will be a good test to try out the new seating position. I'll let you know how it goes...


Haven't really considered the added visibility before - I'll have to play with raising the seat as well. Only foreseeable problem is not being able to see the guages as well. Again, I'll have to report back.

Thinking back though, I don't remember ever having low-back pain in my F-150, after putting 60k miles on it. It makes sense I suppose, as in that truck (with adjustable seats) you sit much more chair-like and upright.

Just to poll some of you though. Are any/some of you keeping your wallets in your back pocket still? Mine's a rather modest bi-fold, but I still notice a difference when pulling it out. (I'm not sure how folks with the humongous tri-fold wallets do it!) I'm now in the market for a nicer money-clip to carry in a front pocket.

Here's a nice front pocket money clip, I'm on my second one (different color) in 5 years:

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/produ...ortby=ourPicks

Originally Posted by Jashley73

I've been experimenting with positions, and have been scooting the seat further back, with less recline on the back. Only two problems so far, and that is one, I'm having trouble seeing the tops of the guages when the steering wheel is in a comfortable position - forcing a compromise, and second, have to really reach for the shifter. (Non-sport auto. Really stinks for manual mode shifting.) All in all though, back pain is much better managed. I should be doing a 2-1/2 hour drive, (each way) this coming weekend, so that will be a good test to try out the new seating position. I'll let you know how it goes....

First of all, your mind plays a role in whether or not you will feel back pain. If you expect it, focus on it and think about it, you will feel it. Trust me.

That said, if you have to reach for the shifter it would seem you are too far back. If you can't see the gauges it would seem you are too low.

I'm only 5'9" so I don't know how difficult it is for you to be able to reach a comfortable position for your knees. In my case, when I started driving the "right" way it felt cramped. My chest felt too close to the steering wheel, my knees were bent too much and too close to the steering column. It took some time to get used to it, but I came to appreciate the improved steering control.

I would suggest to set the seat high so that there is only a few inches between the top of your head and the ceiling. If this causes discomfort for your legs, you can experiment with the angle (not the recline) of the seat. My seat is probably on a 20-degree angle which allows my legs to be extended further.

Also I set the lumbar support as far back as possible. The seat already cradles your back, you don't need extra support. I believe these supports can be counterproductive and increase the pressure on your lower back if they are set too aggressively.

Good luck . . .

I'm suffering from chronic low back pain for 2 years now and I want to buy a new 5 series precisely to help with my low back pain.

I've seen the standard 5 series seat at the dealer, but there was no car available with the optional electric 4-way lumbar for the driver. The following question is crucial for me regarding how I will customize my new car.

Please, IF YOU ARE NOT SURE about the answer to this question, just say so. The question is:

Suppose that I choose the standard seat with the optional electric 4-way lumbar, but for some reason I don't like it. If i keep the lumbar support feature fully turned off (uninflated), will the seat feel exactly the same as if i had a standard seat WITHOUT the optional electric 4-way lumbar?

Thank you.

+1 on the lower back pain, I'm 6'2" and I too lower the seat all the way in every car i drive. I hate looking out through the tint strip. I do notice with the seat all the way down and the back reclined my lower back hurts within 30 mins. Thanks for the great discussion and for now knowing its not just me :-)

The most important option for the back is the lumber support. Supporting your lower thigh is very important as well. I adjust my seat's front up to the point where the lower thigh is barely supported. having a thigh extention on the multi-contour seats also helps a lot.

My 2008 535xi has been wrecking my back despite my untold fiddling with adjustments.

I can't wait to try some of these suggestions.
1. Closer and higher position
2. I already have the front of seat bottom flat
3. Closer to 90-110 degree angle
4. Zero full deflated lumbar


Guy
Gschlact

Originally Posted by Blue-Wire

One thing that helped me was deflating the lumbar support.

+1

This solved it for me last year :-)

-Corey

Great thread. Will experiment with these recommendations and see how I fare! Just thinking that given all the electronic nannies that there could actually be a seat setup menu guided by optimal recommendations and driver size, followed by manual tweaking.

Originally Posted by Griffin 27

+1 on the lower back pain, I'm 6'2" and I too lower the seat all the way in every car i drive. I hate looking out through the tint strip. I do notice with the seat all the way down and the back reclined my lower back hurts within 30 mins. Thanks for the great discussion and for now knowing its not just me :-)

Hi on the opposite I'm 5'6" recently collected my 520 touring, great comfort on the test drive, but after an hour my lower back is agony, I feel like I've done a ten hour flight with a budget airline, at first I put it down to being anxious new car, larger vehicle etc, but over the past ten days have had four journeys of between four and seven hours, after a couple of hours even a U.K. motorway service station looks welcoming.
Does anyone have any advice.

Unfortunately, I have tried everything in this thread 3 times without very much success relieving the back pain.

The only thing coming close to helping is putting a thin pillow on the bottom half of the seat and sitting on it.

Good luck.

Gy
Gschlact

Gy thank you so much for the reply.
It's rather disappointing buying a car worth £38 grand and having to sit on a cushion, maybe I should have hired a car for a week. I'm going to take the knife to a Tempur pillow and keep my fingers crossed.

for short drives, i use memory seat 1, which is very sporty : seat is a bit low and back rest is reclined backwards.

for long drives, i use memory seat 2, which is "chair like" and pretty much the opposite of the above setting: seat (and steering) is high, seat is parallel to the ground, and back rest is less reclined.

while on long drives in seat1 position, i started having back pain and a bit of foot pain. and then i remembered this thread. made the changes to the seat and back rest accordingly (thanks needs!) and in 10 minutes of driving after that, i could actually feel the pain subsiding.

so i adjusted the steering wheel as well and saved it as seat2 right away!

Originally Posted by Ralph1201

for short drives, i use memory seat 1, which is very sporty : seat is a bit low and back rest is reclined backwards.

for long drives, i use memory seat 2, which is "chair like" and pretty much the opposite of the above setting: seat (and steering) is high, seat is parallel to the ground, and back rest is less reclined.

To use one memory position for short drives and sportiness and one for long drives and ergonomics is the best idea I've heard since I bought my car! And it seems so obvious now that you've said it that I feel like a moron for not thinking of it and doing it earlier.

Thanks for the tip!

-Corey

Originally Posted by cordoor

To use one memory position for short drives and sportiness and one for long drives and ergonomics is the best idea I've heard since I bought my car! And it seems so obvious now that you've said it that I feel like a moron for not thinking of it and doing it earlier.

Thanks for the tip!

-Corey

you are welcome! this forum and its helpful members have informed me more stuff abt cars than what i had learnt all my life before joining it.

Thank you for the advice, I'll try anything, now over to a section about the ycable I have issues..

As the 550 comes with sport/comfort seats, I think they are pretty good. On my E60 I had comfort seats (sport) and they were decent. I need to take cholesterol medications which have caused damage my muscles...double edged sword. If I stop taking it, I feel better but I'll have a heart attack much sooner. If I take it, I can only take it at a low dose. The comfort vs. standard makes a huge difference. I set relatively close to the wheel, but wheel is kept in position more closely to the dash. I don't inflate the lumbar as I've found that to irritate my back more. I do not have much recline. The thigh support is great.

If you have a bad back or neck, the comfort seats really do help. It does take some time playing with it just to get the right spot. Once you do you'll really enjoy the seats. Some of the best in all of the car biz.

I would argue an old school 88 Volvo 740 had the best seats, but that is past history. I find on all cars for me the thigh support is lacking inless you get a seat that has adjustable bolsters. IMO the standard 5 seats aren't that comfortable.

A post above mentioned an MB GL. The GL shares the same seats as the last gen ML W164. I had one for just over a year. The seat length was long enough supporth my quads and knees, but the seats were hard and the car + seats transmitted road problems right through the seat into your body. If you have back/neck problems you'll understand.

I like the adaptive suspension on my 550 and the sport (comfort) seats. Extremely comfortable car.

But, I'm a little biased. Good luck guys.