Is the 3rd Row Safe?

[hhhm3]

Originally Posted by X5 Meister

It's "In My Honest Opinion."

Look at the pages in the manual that I posted above. Clearly you are refusing to do so, and by that determination I think it's idiot advice.

(ie. Where do you see a recommendation of 5' 7" ? BMW advertisement? Are you kidding me. So X5 owners are expected to reference a BMW advertisement for their safety concerns and not the official manual that came with the car. Good one.) etc.

The section in the manual post #25, are really referring to child seats with tethering system, that is why the don't recommend them in the 3rd row because they don't have tethering hooks install in the 3rd rows.
This is why they don't recommend it.
Personally I don't think you have a 3rd row and a child seats, that is why the lack of understanding and misinterpretation of the manual.

The BMW manual is also resigned to protect BMW from any liabilities if people misinterpret the meaning like you did.

There are child seats (3-in-1 child seats (20-80lbs) also boaster) that have tethering hooking systems and if BMW did say we recommend boaster seats only in the 3rd row seats then some people may try installing the 3-in1 child seats in the 3rd row and if any thing happens, there would be a law suit against BMW because there are no tethering hooks in the 3rd row. They just don't address non-tethering child seat for this purpose.

Originally Posted by X5 Meister

All good points JCL. But I have to disagree with a few things (your points about "BMW don't specifically advise against booster seats in the 3rd row. They simply don't address non-tethered car seats, lumping all car seats in together.") The reason for my disagreement is that (as you btw correctly speculated in your post) BMW and other groups (manufacturers, associations, etc.) now refer to child seats (rear facing, forward facing, convertible, booster, etc.) as one big category called "child restraint devices." So based on that, then I would say YES, they do specifically advise against such seats in the 3rd row.

Again, your misinterpretation, BMW did not address non-tethering child seats period. The manual addressed specifically tethering child seats safety (all sensible stuff) and by no means did they lump up all child car seats in together, no such statement or assumption in the manual.
Based on that, you are giving misinformed advice.
Do you think your opinion trumps BMW dealers’ advice, who gone through BMW's own safety training and regular training and conferences? I am sorry by if any of the dealers saw your comments; they may say you’re an idiot? (They may?)

Also a us_matrix mentioned, BMW recommends 5'6" and under for the 3rd row.