Cn90 I think my dog agrees. He sprawls out across the back seat. Now when we put him in the GTi he pushes on both rest door cards so much you can hear them creek. It is like his not-so-silent protest for us not taking the X5.

I have power rear seat's on my 02.
If I wanted a car for rear seat room, I would have never bought my X5.
But then I am 6' 3''.

The seats in the x5 are terrible both the front and back. my 2002 a4 seats were wayyyy better. I had my x5 for 40k miles and still don't feel comfortable and I have sport seats

The seats in my 03 A4 were meh. The rear is comfortable if 1) no one is in the front seat, and 2) no one is riding bitch. Fitting 4 people in the B6 chassis is a pain, let alone 5. The Recaros are better but that doesn't solve the room issue. I enjoy the sport seats in my X5

Wow,then you should really get yourself some comfort seats...I mean I took a 600 mile trip to Eastern WA this summer and My back didn't give me any problems I actually felt rested when I got home whereas in my E39 sport seats even a 200mile drive to Portland OR would have left my back stiff and sore..
Aesthetically , you can't beat the look of a sport seat, although my personal preference goes to the E38 sport seats, kind of like the bottom part of the sport seat combined with the top part from the comfort seat on the x5...only if it would be doable :cool:

I have reclining rear seats on my 2002.

I wouldn't drive 500 miles in terrible seats. I don't know why anyone would do that to themselves. I'd sell it rather than be uncomfortable all the time.

I have done long trips on my E39 (1998 528i) and the 2006 X5.
Both are very comfortable but the X5 is more comfortable.

BMW makes good seat, so if people have back problems in their BMW, perhaps they should see a doctor...lol...

The best BMW seats in my opinion are the ones that have the 4-way lumbar adjustment and the 2-way upper articulating back. Which means the 16-way comfort seats or the 18-way sport comfort seats found in the e38.

If I can't have either of the comfort seats, then give me the basic e53 8-way seat & add the 4-way lumbar option for a nice 12-way seat. Or the e39/e39 basic 10-way seat with the optional 4-way lumbar option for a nice 14-way seat (the e38/e39 electric seats all have power headrests).

The 10-way & 12-way sport seats in the e53 & e39 may look aesthetically better and the 2-way thigh extension may be nice for those with long legs...but they just don't get all the individual body build adjustments that the seats with lumbar and articulating upper back give.

But sometimes too many options can screw people up if they just start pressing the seat buttons without a plan of attack. My BMWs with comfort seats & lumbar option...I always start out with flat affect...then adjust the seat buttom first...adjusting the height, tilt, and how far back fro the steering wheel (slight bend in elbows but arms not fully extended which can cause fatigue). I then move to the seat back & adjust the seat back angle. From there I adjust the lumbar....moving it up until it fits the curvature of my spine....then adjust the lumbar inward or outward...again based on the curveture of my spine.

If you have the comfort or sport comfort seats with the upper articulating back...then you can fine tune the seat even more to adjust to your upper back shoulder area and tilt it fore or aft depending on your posture and curve of your upper spine. The only way to not be comfortsble in these seats is to get confused by all the adjustability and not set the seat correctly to your body/posture/spine/height/girth.

Again, the 10-way or 12-way sport seats look nice...but if they don't have the lumbar support...it doesn't put them in the column for "most comfortable" seats. I always wished the 12 way sport seats in my e39 540iT at least had the lumbar option...I didn't find them uncomfortable...but could have been more comfortable with lumbar. Im glad my e53's basic seats have the lumbar option...at least my lower back gets some support...and the heated seat pad for the "lower back" area is nice, too. :)

I've got sport seats in the front, and they are quite comfortable. I took a long time in finding the right position for the driver's seat, and thank Heaven for seat memory! Now it's dialed in nicely, and my butt stays comfortable much longer than my bladder on long trips. Way longer than my wife's bladder. ;)

Yes, but not much. My youngest son and my daughter were along for that trip, so we had to have two in the back. The boy is taller and heavier than me, and really complains about extended back seat time, so Mom gave him her seat for the trip. She's smaller, so it doesn't bother as much I guess.

Ah; confirmation. Thanks. I was thinking of car shopping (a nice 750iL perhaps?) but maybe I'll just look into retrofitting the reclining seats into my car. The hunt begins...