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  #1  
Old 12-16-2006, 01:17 PM
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X3 and carseats

Hey guys,

My parents will be looking for a new car very soon, and might be considering a new X3. However, one big concern of theirs is space in the rear seats, especially considering rear-facing car seats. They have a one year old right now, and (hopefully soon!) another one on the way. The one year old is changing out of his rear facing seat this Christmas, but another rear facing seat will be needed for a newborn.

Does anyone have pictures or descriptions of how the seat fits in the X3? They have an Audi A4 Avant right now, and had to pull the front passenger seat pretty far forward to have it fit in the right rear seat. Does the seat need to be pulled forward in the X3? How much?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Last edited by lawandorder360; 03-28-2009 at 06:24 PM.
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  #2  
Old 12-17-2006, 10:22 AM
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I don't have a picture but there is ample space in the back. I currently have 2 car seats back there (although both are forward facing) and there is plenty of space. If you go to BMWUSA.COM and use their comparison feature you can check the back seat legroom of various vehicles. I found that very helpful.

When my most recent seat was rear facing I had 2 e46 3-series sedans (on which the X3 is based). There was still plenty of room in front for the passenger in those cars. The X3 has more rear legroom than the e46 so it should be fine.

The only gripe I have about the back seats on the X3 (relative to car seats) is that the covers for the LATCH attachment points are easy to lose. So are the covers for the rear tether attachment points in the trunk. Instead of making those covers hinged doors like other manufacturers, BMW uses plastic covers that are removable. I just put them in a plastic ziploc bag in the trunk near the tool kit but it is a minor annoyance.

The up side is that the LATCH anchors are some of the easiest to use in my experience. With the covers off the anchor points are prominent and easy to find. The seat is firm and nicely contoured which makes for a nice stable base for the seats. Folding down the center armrest with built-in cup holders and storage tray makes a nice lateral brace for the seats and is handy for holding bottles and extra supplies (like wipes, toys, etc...).

I know this is getting off the point, but please have your parents investigate the Recaro brand of car seats. I own one Britax and one Recaro. While the Britax is nice enough it can't hold a candle to the Recaro for build quality and general comfort. My kids gripe incesantly when they have to ride in the Britax! A comfortable kid= a happy kid= a quiet kid= happier parents!

I hope this helped a bit! Wish your parents good luck!
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Old 12-17-2006, 10:15 PM
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The prince inherited a Graco base while the Princess uses an Evenflow in our X-3.

The prince inherited a Graco base while the Princess uses a Britex in Mom's Subaru and a Recaro in Dad's WRX STI. Son (STI) says exactlly the same thing about the Britex and Recaro that was posted above.

Here are some pictures to help you decide.
the damage to the front seats was NOT done by the car seats

jb
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Old 12-18-2006, 06:49 PM
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Thanks for the replies! This should help their decision greatly.
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Old 12-18-2006, 07:14 PM
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Old 02-11-2007, 04:13 PM
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I can't add anything more about the X3 b/c I have an X5 but I would like to throw in a few comments.
- The X5 has decent room in the back, but a Britax (Boulevard model) is a big monster and the front passenger seat (it's mounted on that side in the rear) has to be moved a little bit more forward than the passengers usually would prefer when the seat is rear facing which generally takes up a little bit more room than when it is front facing.
- I never heard of the Recaro's being more comfortable. Which model(s) are you referring to?
- The car seats BMW sells are some of the best on the market. I don't know who makes them, but Porsche sells the same seats (so my guess it's a German company). Great design, lots of features and options, but extremely expensive and hard to get in the USA.
- Don't forget that you can only use LATCH for kids that are under 20kg (by law 18kg in Europe). Above that weight you have to use the regular seatbelts. And in case you were wondering, every manufacture I've contacted does NOT recommend use LATCH AND the seat belt together; it's one or the other.
- BMW sells a LATCH connector guide. (see attached picture) I bought it and use it but frankly I think it's really designed for the type of car seats that have LATCH connectors mounted on metal arms (or rails, whatever you want to call them) rather than LATCH connectors mounted on straps. So I think you should save your money and not bother with the guides.
- Use something to protect the leather on the seats from the car seat. Graco makes a nice pad that is well protective (about $10) and has 3 large mesh pockets hanging from the front of it for storage of toys, wipes, etc. Other companies make similar versions of such items.
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Old 02-12-2007, 01:10 AM
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Recaro currently makes 2 seats for the US market...a convertible that is good until 80lbs called the Young Sport and a booster called "Start". The Young Sport works as a 5 point harness up to 40 lbs then as a normal booster up to 80.

The Start is a real seat. It has a real cusion that is suspended. All of the other boosters, Britax included, are merely hard plastic with a vestige of padding. From a safety perspective, the Recaro is made of aluminum and EPS foam instead of plastic and foam. Likewise, compared to our Britax Marathon the Young Sport Recaro has more padding and is made of nicer material. The fabric on both seats is microfiber so it is easier to clean and keeps them cooler in summer by wicking moisture away from them.

Both of my kids claim that their Recaros are more comfy than their Britax seats. Since I have never personally tried either, I can't give me own opinion. I need to defer to my experts...

I wonder why one should not use both LATCH and 3-point belt. I believe that people recommend against it, I just wonder why...
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Old 02-12-2007, 01:22 AM
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Thanks for the great advice. I will look into the Recaro seats. I honestly wish we could get the BMW seats over here easily as those would be my 1st choice.

I too wonder why both restraint systems are not recommended to be used together. I've yet to receive a scientific explaination, but for the moment I've received 100% agreement from manufacturers that they are to be used separately.
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Old 02-13-2007, 10:07 AM
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I have been thinking hard about this issue of not using LATCH and 3-point belt at the same time. For the life of me I can see no logical reason why that would be the case. One thought occurred to me...did you inquire about front or rear facing seats?
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Old 02-13-2007, 01:27 PM
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Yes I did. I've sent A LOT of time on the phone with various reps and so forth about their car seats. In any case, the closest I got was that the seat is designed to react a certain way in a crash with either LATCH or seat belts, not both. You'll notice that each restraint system actually holds the car seat a little bit differently in place. That's as close to a technical explanation as I could get.

On a side note if you go to the Britax website and look at what they offer for the European market the selection is quite different. They have some pretty advanced looking car seats. When consumer reports recently did their test of infant seats where all failed except for 3 (yes the test was 'recalled' and they are redoing it because the speed at impact was not 35 mpf but over 70 mph evidently ... though it certainly makes you wonder why 3 seats passed at that speed.... I know what I'd buy if I needed to!) they also bought a Britax model from the UK market and it got the highest score of ANY of the models. Tells you something about what the US market gets access to! I have an old reprint from a major German car magazine that tested a bunch of car seats and the one BMW makes score near the very top.

Last point, that again for the Recaro information, I should point out in case others are interested that the 3 offerings of Recaro's are for forward facing seats and not rear facing. So basically they don't offer a seat for infants.
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