Rear seat and 7-9 year old kids

Hi,

This is my very first post on Bimmerfest after having followed this most informative forum for about 12 months. I live in the Netherlands and my current drive is a Honda Accord Tourer 2.0.

With the MY13 update I decided the time was right to move to a F11 535d xdrive with toys, so I test drove one this morning. Compared to the Accord, it's definitely different/better and waaaaaay faster. At the end of the test drive I drove home to show the car to my 9 year old (today) son and have him try the rear seat. This F11 has the (thick) european "comfort seats" (US multicontour?) and to my surprise he was not sitting very comfortable. The problem is that he can't bend his knees (enough) when sitting properly against the backrest. He even has to flex his ankle downwards which is very awkward.
Moving forward 2.5-4 inches would solve the knee-bending problem, but I really don't want to manufacture such a thick cushion.
Dropping the comfort seats gives an extra 2(?) inches, which may be just enough. But me and my wife have both had problems with our back, so we really want those seats.

My question, assuming many people must have the same problem: How did you solve it?

P.S. I really had made my mind up about the car, so I would hate to start searching for another candidate.

Patrick

You and your family must be pretty tall. I am 5'11" and my son is about the same height. I have the multi-contour seats and my son have plenty of room in the back. Maybe you guys are reclining the front seats too much.

My 535i has less leg room for backseat passengers then my wife's work car, ford fusion, which is a smaller sedan. I'm 6'2" and my 6 year old that sits behind me has no leg room with my seat adjusted comfortably for me. I was pretty surprised when I first brought the car home and loaded up the family in it. When I drive my wife's car with the family in it everyone has plenty of room. Kind of sad. I guess being taller sucks in a BMW. Still love the car though !!!!

I think you chaps have misread what the OP meant. I read that as he is saying that his son's legs are too short for him to sit comfortably with his back to the seat...?

get a back rest that will push him forward. Once the kid hits puberty he's gonna grow like a weed and this will be a non issue, which will come faster than you think.

booster seat (zittingverhoger) will solve this. Our 8 year old happily sits on a booster seat.

The law is more strict here, http://depts.washington.edu/booster/...keen_bill.html but it might be still a good idea to use a booster.

Originally Posted by pww71

booster seat (zittingverhoger) will solve this. Our 8 year old happily sits on a booster seat.

The law is more strict here, http://depts.washington.edu/booster/...keen_bill.html but it might be still a good idea to use a booster.

This. It is safer anyway and as TJ says in a year it won't be an issue.

I do notice that the Multicontour seats do take up quite a bit of legroom, but they are worth it.

Originally Posted by Jimmeh1988

I think you chaps have misread what the OP meant. I read that as he is saying that his son's legs are too short for him to sit comfortably with his back to the seat...?

If thats the case, the multi-contour seats has nothing to do with his problem.

Originally Posted by The X Men

If thats the case, the multi-contour seats has nothing to do with his problem.

He indicates that they are deeper seats Which is quite relevant.

Originally Posted by Jimmeh1988

He indicates that they are deeper seats Which is quite relevant.

The rear seats are the same though, multi contour or not.

Let me clarify: the multi contour seats leave less space for my son & daughter in the rear seat. There is so little space that their feet are pressed firmly against the front seats. The booster seats improved it a little, but I hoped for a near perfect car when paying 100k+ euros...

Patrick

I have the 2013 550 with multi-contour seating and at 6'2" with the seat properly adjusted for me, I can get out of the car and get into the back directly behind where I was sitting and still have plenty of room. There IS plenty of room back there.

I suspect that what is occurring is that the deep back seats are not allowing the kids to bend their knees. A proper booster or backpad would greatly improve the situation and it will allow them to bend their knees instead of having their legs stick straight out.

As for "perfect" cars...they don't exist. Every car is a compromise when it comes down to it.

That said, taking a proper test drive would have alerted the OP to this situation before he purchased the car. Now, I don't have kids myself (otherwise I would not have the 550, but probably a minivan or hatchback of some sort), but my brother, wife's sister, and my own parents always brought/bring the kids to at least one test drive and saw if we were able to sit properly, had the legroom needed, etc.

Plenty of room in the backseat for our 9 year old daughter in the back of our 535. Actually enough room for adults too.

Adults are no problem, they can bend there knees 90 degrees. Children within a certain length category are problematic.
Will need to try different solutions before ordering the car..,

Patrick

Something like this should help quite a bit:

http://us.diono.com/en/car-seats/radian-r100

That is one thing I like about most luxury sedans, the seat bottoms are longer, better thigh suppose, but in this case, its a disadvantage.

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

Something like this should help quite a bit:

http://us.diono.com/en/car-seats/radian-r100

Sounds like a good idea, but you have to test fit it; there is a thread here somewhere that talks about car seats in the back of these cars dont fit well, and some boosters have a hard time fitting in as the latch for the seatbelt lock gets covered by the booster and makes it hard to secure and unsecure...

As pointed out, its a temp issue until the child grows a bit taller - that likly the impact of this specific height can be reduced with a properly fitting booster of some sort (but not a perfect solution for the leg room issue). The question is, is the OP okay with this transitional period; The realaity is, there is 1000's of people that puchased the car with yonger kids, and they grew through this period.

At the end of the Day, the new owner has to be comfortable, and there kids too... I had the same issue and when possible, I would slid the passenger seat forward to provide the room, in the times where that wasnt possible the child didnt seem to complain. I was using a booster btw (its law here for height and weight based)

Not sure if that helps, but hopefully offers some hope that its either short term, or managagble.

Update: I went ahead and leased an F11 535i xdrive. The kids seem to be happy and so are their parents

Patrick

I'm 6'2'' and take up a lot of the leg room behind my driver's seat. I've learned that if I jack the seat UPWARD, I can also move my seat forward to enable proper gas/brake pedal operation. If I just moved my seat forward, my feet would be sideways to operate the gas/brake pedals. When I don't have a passenger, I move it back to the normal setting.