E92 Car/Toddler Seats - rear facing?

[Kung Fu English]

Probably beating a dead horse here but I need to find a car seat for my E92. Most threads i've found are either really old or devolve into a bunch of people with minimal experience or with an e93 or at the forward facing stage.

My little boy is 7 months old, and is a hoss. He's almost 28" and 20 lb and doesn't fit in his infant seat anymore (which barely fits anyway). We put the infant seat behind the passenger and I can move the front seat back about 2" from max forward only.

We have a Recaro ProRide that we were going to use, but we did a test install and it doesn't really fit in the back seat. When rear facing, if we put a towel under the base to align the line, we can't move the front seat back at all and that's not safe for the passenger. I haven't even tried to whole putting him in and out thing yet.

So here we stand. We are going to use the Recaro in my Wife's Forester which has 4 doors and more room, but I'm starting to look for convertible seats for my car.

I've seen a lot of reviews that say subjective things like 'it fits with a good amount of room' or 'I don't have to put the seat all the way up' but no specifics. Furthermore every car is different, obviously.

If anyone has a specific, rear facing seat that they have had success with in the e92s, that would be awesome to hear about. Or any other ideas.

At this point I found a few contenders but haven't checked them out in person yet. Any other suggestions are welcome too:

Maxi-Cosi Pria 70
Chicco NextFit
Clek Foonf (most expensive)
Combri Coccoro (smallest but probably won't fit my tall kid for long so I thin it's out)
First Years True Fit
Britax Roundabout 55
Graco My Ride 65

Any others?

[e-solo]

I had to sell my E46 because of this reason exactly. I recently purchased an E90 M3 and its perfect. 2 door automobiles are just not conducive to child seats. Sorry my input is not what you asked, but that's my experience with it.

[k-lo]

As a parent of two small kids myself I don't think it will work as intended. And even if you did it would be a pain to get your infant in there and secure him. Convertible seats may have a too wide of a base to fit especially with the unusable center part of the rear seats. Front facing booster seats are probably the minimum you could use for a 2 door. Even that is back breaking work to buckle the kids in.

[skins333]

I had a g35 coupe and a e92 before my e93 and used britax roundabout in both (including rear-facing). Toted 2 kids all around town without probs. Don't get me wrong, it's harder to get kid in/out then in 4dr car, but really not that bad, and you develop a system to get done easily. For me was worth the trouble.

The only thing is, the rear-facing seat will only really fit on passenger side with seat up pretty good bit so would be kinda uncomfortable for someone to sit in front passenger seat. Thankfully, never really needed to do that since if whole family was going somewhere together, would just take wife's suv.

[03///m3]

I went through the same dilemma. I recently got an e92 m3 and my son is now 7 months old. I have a peg perego primo viaggio and it fits perfectly. I recommend it and it seems nicely made.

[scrammer]

Originally Posted by e-solo

I had to sell my E46 because of this reason exactly. I recently purchased an E90 M3 and its perfect. 2 door automobiles are just not conducive to child seats. Sorry my input is not what you asked, but that's my experience with it.

Same here! Made it work with one kid but gave up the E46 ZCP when child #2 arrived and after a little stop over with an X5 we are now in the E90 M3 with performance and room to spare

BMW E90 M3 - THE ULTIMATE Family DRIVING MACHINE

We also use Recaro kids seats and here are a few tips that may help when you only have one child:

- In E92, position the rear facing kid's seat behind the passenger as the driver needs to be in the proper position for safety reasons. In the E90 use the middle position for extra room between the front seats and greater side impact protection for baby!
- set memory #2 on the driver's seat for all the way forward so when it is time to ingress / egress, press the M#2 button and allow the seat to move all the way forward and you / or the wife can get right in the back to do the belts etc
- make a family decision to drive the Forester whenever possible!

[Lorde]

Recaro convertible will only fit rear facing in the middle of an e90. No way it'll fit behind either seat with the occupant comfortable. Rear passenger comfort is crap with the seat in the middle position as well and getting the kid in and out of the seat is a pain, and my kid is only 4 months and on the small side.

Good luck with the E92. Find the smallest seat possible or wait to go front facing.

[Kung Fu English]

Yes the recaro is no dice we have tried it. We are looking today.

Getting rid of the m3 isn't really an option obviously so we will make due with the best we can find.

[Kung Fu English]

Originally Posted by 03///m3

I went through the same dilemma. I recently got an e92 m3 and my son is now 7 months old. I have a peg perego primo viaggio and it fits perfectly. I recommend it and it seems nicely made.

Excellent good to hear I had read about that one and it seemed like one of the better options.

[Kobaiyashi]

I have the Chicco NextFit in my e90. Got it cause of the super compact footprint when rear-facing; I can have it rear-facing without any significant change in position needed to the front seats. Plus it is really easy to remove and re-install when my boy is with his grandparents, and seems very well made. And the NextFit is 40/65.

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/chicco-n...f-001b2166becc

[IzzyGray]

Eddie Bauer XRS65 seems to be the most compact one I can find around here. It gave a good amount of room for both rear and front facing setups(interchangeable so that's a plus) in my previous MINI. Haven't tried in the e92 yet but if it fits a MINI, I'm hopeful it'll fit the e92. I have to say that when my son transitioned to front facing, it felt like another 50 cubic feet opened up ;p

[Kung Fu English]

Update:

I went to buy buy baby today and compared all the convertible seats side by side. My thoughts were I wanted something that left room in front but also did not take up too much space on the side of the baby so getting him in and out wouldn't be as tough.

I ended up trying the Chicco NextFit, the Peg Perego Primo Viggio and the Dinan Rioda in the car.

Most of the space got used when putting the seat in a proper recline position.

The Dinan didn't fit at all at it's reclined position. It would fit more upright and actually give a lot of room (it's quite narrow) but in a proper, safe position it is too tall.

The Chicco and Peg Perego were very similar. At a proper recline, the seat backs were lined up with the space between the front seat and the raised headrest. Both had very similar amounts of space. I think the Peg probably had a little more side room but not significantly.

Pics (front seat moved up all the way forward):

Ciccho:


Peg Perego:


It came down to 2 things.

1) the Chicco has 9 adjustable recline positions and a leveler. So you can stick the seat in and secure the base without any extras and then adjust to the recline that gives you the correct level.

The Peg Perego has adjustable recline but only 2 positions. You put it in recline mode and then have to line up the line on the base with the ground. Since the rear seats in the e92 are more bucket like, this would require a towel or pool noodle to be placed to raise the front of the seat up and align the base. Of course raising this up does take away some space but it is the proper and safe way to install it. If your child doesn't have full head control and you sit him too upright, they can snap their neck much easier.

And of course, being an Emergency Medicine doctor, I'm gonna be all about the proper safety in the car :P

Advantage Ciccho for more options and ease of use and not having to use a pool noodle to jank up the install.

2) Cost. The Peg Perego is 330, the Chicco is 270. Also Buy Buy Baby had my preferred color of the Ciccho in stock AND gave me one of their 20% off coupons which apparently is not valid on the Peg. So it was 330 for the Peg or 220 for the Ciccho.

So for -100 and more custom positions I chose the Ciccho. Of course I haven't put the baby in it yet so I will update after I get it installed fully.

[PrimeBMW]

FYI The Recaro proride and next model size up (can't remember the model name) will both fit facing forward in the E92 M3. Is it easier to load them in a X5? Sure but the M3 is not that bad if it is your only option.
A couple recommendations to save the seats and interior. BMW sells a generic e92 back seat cover. It covers the back seat area and the back of the front seats. Buy it. Second, go to babies r us and buy the rubber seat protectors that go between the car seat and baby seat.

[anselmw]

I went E90 M3 due to the fit. A new narrow car seat called the clek foonf is out. I would give that one a try as you can apparently fit 3 side by side in most cars.

[Kung Fu English]

UPDATE: I got the Chicco installed. After the install and cinching it down and putting it in even max recline, there is a ton of room for the front seat. Like 6-8".

Getting him in is tough because you have to crawl in the back seat, but that cannot be changed. The seat is a bit heavy but once it's in it's done so that's good.

We try to avoid seat covers with car seats because while they protect the car, they increase slippage and motion and decrease safety.

[markcity]

Originally Posted by Kung Fu English

Probably beating a dead horse here but I need to find a car seat for my E92. Most threads i've found are either really old or devolve into a bunch of people with minimal experience or with an e93 or at the forward facing stage.

My little boy is 7 months old, and is a hoss. He's almost 28" and 20 lb and doesn't fit in his infant seat anymore (which barely fits anyway). We put the infant seat behind the passenger and I can move the front seat back about 2" from max forward only.

We have a Recaro ProRide that we were going to use, but we did a test install and it doesn't really fit in the back seat. When rear facing, if we put a towel under the base to align the line, we can't move the front seat back at all and that's not safe for the passenger. I haven't even tried to whole putting him in and out thing yet.

So here we stand. We are going to use the Recaro in my Wife's Forester which has 4 doors and more room, but I'm starting to look for convertible seats for my car.

I've seen a lot of reviews that say subjective things like 'it fits with a good amount of room' or 'I don't have to put the seat all the way up' but no specifics. Furthermore every car is different, obviously.

If anyone has a specific, rear facing seat that they have had success with in the e92s, that would be awesome to hear about. Or any other ideas.

At this point I found a few contenders but haven't checked them out in person yet. Any other suggestions are welcome too:

Maxi-Cosi Pria 70
Chicco NextFit
Clek Foonf (most expensive)
Combri Coccoro (smallest but probably won't fit my tall kid for long so I thin it's out)
First Years True Fit
Britax Roundabout 55
Graco My Ride 65

Any others?

i had a car seat for years in the back locked in with isofix, right side.. no problems whatsoever, kid was happy in the back while was driving quick on the autobahn or elsewhere.. M3 E92 rocks, unfortunately mine was stolen a few days ago here in central London very annoying..

[davesaddiction]

Originally Posted by scrammer

Same here! Made it work with one kid but gave up the E46 ZCP when child #2 arrived and after a little stop over with an X5 we are now in the E90 M3 with performance and room to spare

BMW E90 M3 - THE ULTIMATE Family DRIVING MACHINE

[silverc2s]

Try the Cybex Aton. I found it to be the smallest out there. Fits nicely in my M3 and even works in my wife's 991. Combined with the Quinny Zapp it is the most compact travel system out there. I also have the Recaro seat in my truck but my 11 month old prefers the Cybex even though it's smaller.

[70X200]

Wow, I cannot believe that some of you are selling your E92's because you cannot find a car seat which faces toward the back. What is so wrong with a front facing car seat? I know, I know, safety first! You want your kids to be safe no matter what the cost however saying that, is there any true hard data that supports the "must be rear facing" philosophy? I cannot seem to find it. Not that I am looking that hard. If you are so worried about it, why not just keep the kiddos out of the car all together.

Geez, I remember when we didn't even use car seats. I just cannot seem to understand that the benefits outweigh the costs you all are willing to incur for this aspect of childcare.

I will probably get blasted for this but, it seems to me that you all have drank the government sponsored Kool-Aid when it comes to this aspect of taking all of the risk out of living. Wow, enough is enough. Next it will be home schooling your kids to prevent them from being exposed to germs at school. Speaking of that, if you are taking your kids to day care, can you even imagine everything that the kids are being exposed to while at a day care facility? Now that would be something to worry about.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by 70X200

Wow, I cannot believe that some of you are selling your E92's because you cannot find a car seat which faces toward the back. What is so wrong with a front facing car seat? I know, I know, safety first! You want your kids to be safe no matter what the cost however saying that, is there any true hard data that supports the "must be rear facing" philosophy? I cannot seem to find it. Not that I am looking that hard. If you are so worried about it, why not just keep the kiddos out of the car all together.

Geez, I remember when we didn't even use car seats. I just cannot seem to understand that the benefits outweigh the costs you all are willing to incur for this aspect of childcare.

I will probably get blasted for this but, it seems to me that you all have drank the government sponsored Kool-Aid when it comes to this aspect of taking all of the risk out of living. Wow, enough is enough. Next it will be home schooling your kids to prevent them from being exposed to germs at school. Speaking of that, if you are taking your kids to day care, can you even imagine everything that the kids are being exposed to while at a day care facility? Now that would be something to worry about.

Clearly you do not have kids. Otherwise you would understand that no cost is worth sacrificing your child's safety.

If you get into an accident and your car suddenly goes from the speed limit to a dead stop, will your body move towards the front of the car or the rear? The front of course, which is why a rear-facing seat is much much safer as the infant/child will simply move back into the seat instead of flying forward and possibly being gravely injured.

[M3 Esq]

Originally Posted by 70X200

Wow, I cannot believe that some of you are selling your E92's because you cannot find a car seat which faces toward the back. What is so wrong with a front facing car seat? I know, I know, safety first! You want your kids to be safe no matter what the cost however saying that, is there any true hard data that supports the "must be rear facing" philosophy? I cannot seem to find it. Not that I am looking that hard. If you are so worried about it, why not just keep the kiddos out of the car all together.

Geez, I remember when we didn't even use car seats. I just cannot seem to understand that the benefits outweigh the costs you all are willing to incur for this aspect of childcare.

I will probably get blasted for this but, it seems to me that you all have drank the government sponsored Kool-Aid when it comes to this aspect of taking all of the risk out of living. Wow, enough is enough. Next it will be home schooling your kids to prevent them from being exposed to germs at school. Speaking of that, if you are taking your kids to day care, can you even imagine everything that the kids are being exposed to while at a day care facility? Now that would be something to worry about.

Nice rant. You will fit right in here.

[IzzyGray]

Originally Posted by I am Earl

I'm sorry, but you don't need "hard data" to support this claim. It's a physical hard fact that getting anything out of a rear seat of a 2 door car in the event of an accident is far more difficult (and sometimes impossible without cutting stuff) than that of a 4 door car.

Bzzzt. Incorrect information.