You could use a dense, compressible foam between the two hard pieces- this would allow you to tension the belts and compress the foam. Actually better than compressing and distorting the BMW seats!

Ah, first time parenting.... the second one gets told "Change your own diapers!"

:)

A

Yeah, I probably could have been more clear about exactly what it is I am trying to fit. When she is old enough for a booster or front facing seat, this may not be an issue.

I actually have a thin foam seat protector, but that didn't help too much. Maybe I could try something a bit thicker. At this point though, I think we are both fine with her being on an outboard seat seeing as the e70 is pretty safe. We just liked the fact there was more space around her in the middle position. If we have another child, this would be a moot point anyway, as the outboard seats would be the only option, so we might as well get used to it.

I have 4 kids which 2 require the car seats . One of them is front facing Britax Boulevard (2yr old) and the baby (6 months) has a Britax B-Safe Carrier which is on the middle. I bought the protective pads from Baby's R us taht covers the plastic in the middle seat and the base seats pretty secured in the middle, it just gets a bit hard when the other 2 kids (9 &10) try to climb in the back because of the infant carrier.
And of course trunk space is limited.. but it is only for pickups and drop offs ;-) I refuse to drive anything bigger than this :bmw:
ps: Wife is not that happy with Minivan since she had to trade in her X3...:rofl:

Can someone post some pictures of their setups. I have two car seats ( Britax x2) in the 2nd row. Just wondering how tight it would be with the seats side by side. Thanks.

Two marathons side by side push against each other since they're so wide. You have to make sure to really secure them with all of the LATCH points so that they're nice and tight.

I don't have any pics to show since my boys are now both in booster seats, but it's tight.

Thanks. My boys are also in booster seats, but I have the Britax booster seats with side Collison protection. Just trying to figure a way to access the 3rd row without having to remove the car seats. Britax seats are great, but very bulky.

I have the boys climb in through the back, but they're only 6 and 4. So I have one of the third row seats down, then they both get in, and then I lift the other seat. Hand them their booster seats and latch them in.

Nice idea. I have a 6/4 year old as well. Maybe the new X5 will have a better way of accommodating people with young ones.

I own that car. a)there are no hard points on the seat back of my 08 X5 3.0si. The belt clips are closer together than the outer positions which may make it difficult to press the car seat in for a tighter fit. b) yes. you can install a gate with the 3rd row model.