Third Row Seating on e53 X5!?!

[svmuzik]

I been searching for a while and while the main issue is buidling custom seat belt brackets, I have found a set of third row seating that could probably work with our cars that solves that issue because it already has seat belts.

Here is the deal. these come with built in seat bealts, they are thin and small enough that would give enough clearance for kids which are the ones who would normally ride in the back and last.. building brackets that would hold on to the frame of the vehicle. These are pretty simple brackets and someone with good welding experience could easily fabricate something for these on our x5

Well here it is..

2007-2011 3rd Third Row Seats from a TAHOE Yukon or SUBURBAN. though these are cloth, they also come in leather.

So i wonder if this can contribute to someone wanting to try this out or anyone else already has..Either way here it is..something to get your thoughts running

[JCL]

Check this thread.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ating-e53.html

[svmuzik]

Originally Posted by JCL

Check this thread.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ating-e53.html

i had already found that link and only offered rear facing seat solutions mainly because of having to build seat belt brackets. My alternative has them built in and they are small enough that can be used for front facing and bracket could be bolted on into the vehicle very much like the newer x5's with that option

[JCL]

I think they offer rear facing because there is insufficient headroom for forward facing seats there. The kid's heads would be very close to the rear window, ie directly in the impact zone. Also, there is no access to a forward facing 3rd row seat, unless you have the kids climb over the seat.

I don't think having seat belts built in to the seat solves any problem, because what is critical is that the seat belts are suitably anchored. If you are going to build brackets to hold the seats, suitable for crash impact, then those brackets will also anchor the seat belts.

With the E70, it isn't just a bracket bolted on. BMW designed a new vehicle pan to mount the seats. It is impossible to add the seats to an E70 vehicle with the floor pan of a model not designed for them. This became clear when X5M owners asked about adding a third row, and BMW said it wasn't possible because they used two different designs of floor pan, and the X5M was designed on the 2 row floor pan.

If you buy a third party seat from a reputable manufacturer, they will have calculated the loads due to impact. If you take a seat and build brackets yourself, how will you determine how strong the structure is, given that your children are going to be sitting there? That sounds about as safe as home-made airbags.