e34 with kids!

[loserwithajeep]

Alright guys, I've recently become obsessed with the fact that I need a BMW! The problem with that is I have three young children and I don't know if they will fit in the back with the car seats. I already own an expedition as a grocery getter with the kids, however, it would be nice to fit all five of us in the bimmer especially for fuel mileage purposes. Anybody in here had experience with this? Additionally, if someone is bored enough to measure the width of the base of the rear seat it would be a great help as there are no bimmers in my area to test drive. Thanks for helping out a newbie! I am looking to get an e36 or an e34.

[CobaltFire]

I would say no to the E36, as the backseat is pretty small. I have no experience with E34's, but my E39 could probably do it just fine.

[SS525i]

We've got 3 kids and we've squeezed them into our e36 M3 and our e34 ... definitely a tad roomier in the e34 4dr, and very hard to get an infant in and out of the middle of the back seat of an e36 2dr! Only one of ours is in a carseat... so he goes in the middle with one kid on each side of him..... I have seen a pic of an e34 with 3 toddler car seats across the back seat, if that gives you an idea of how much room there is back there :)

We just picked up the e34 as a replacement to my '96 Suburban .... gas mileage was killing us! $60/wk just picking up the kids from school! :eyecrazy

[joe maniqz]

the reason why i bought my e34 is because of my newborn son...it works well but i normally place his seat in the middle or else my wife would be forced to seat beside her and sit in the middle w/c would be uncomfortable...my wife complains the leather seat is to slippery...well i guess that's why we have seatbelts...go ahead and get an e34, it's spacious enough for kids.

[93 E34]

there is enough space in the e34, but as stated above, the center of the seat under the arm rest has the hump and the car seat tends to slide around on turns. The right and left sides are ok.


darron

[gota525i]

I bought my car from a friend whom had 3 kids and his reason for selling it was that there wasn't enough room. I guess the kids were bouncing around to much? :dunno He now has an SUV.

[NORCAL/335i]

there is enough space in the e34, but as stated above, the center of the seat under the arm rest has the hump and the car seat tends to slide around on turns. The right and left sides are ok.


darron

The fire and police department advise you to have your newborns and toddlers secured in the middle section of the back seat. To keep the carseat and or base from sliding the fire department told me to get some on that stuff you put in your kitchen cabinets to keep ypur glasses and dishes from sticking to the inside surfaces. It's like rubber and comes in a roll and you can buy it at Wal-mart or Target. Just cut a section off and lay it on the seat. Problem solved and it protects your leather from any damage the may occur from the child seat. :D Back on topic, the E34 is plenty roomy for kids. My wife and I looked at E36's and E34's but decided to go with the latter. Though I wanted the E36 IMHO it was too cramped for an infant seat.

ABE

[psychocandy]

E36 is way too small for 3 kids, forget about it. E34 or E39 would be your best bet if you don't want to go up to the 7 series.

[Mblaster]

I get the CEO and the 2 youngins no prob in the M5. And I've got the breadbasket rear seats. With a regular bench rear, 3 critters should fit across...provided they all get along. Good luck with that. ;)

[alexj]

No problems here, when my not so young kids are with me.... E34 and three kids. All three fit in the back o.k. Oldest is 15.

Agree with comments about the middle seat. Not a problem most of the time, but maybe on a longer journey with a twisty road, it might be a bit unconfortable for the middle one.

Might be a little cramped with an E36 but if fuel ecomony is an issue, the E36 could be a little better in that area. I considered a E36 2 door, but think I made the right choice in choosing the E34. E36 4-door might be an option for smaller kids.

You should really test both for size if you can.