Uncomfortable front seat on long trip.

[Almaretto]

Sometimes people suffer from what I call WMAS ("White Man Ass Syndrome"). Other times people adjust their seats where it cuts off calf circulation/ nerves and can cause issues.

[Walt White Coupe]

Update: After a roundtrip of ~5 hours to the Finger Lakes in New York each way I can say that the added cushion works very well. 5 hours is a lot of time to sit in any chair but I can say that I didn't have the "torture rack" experience that I initially reported. I recommend it if you are having the same experience as I had.

[Jon D]

Glad it worked for you, five hours is certainly a good test. I collected my new 640i on Thursday and I'm loving the differences introduced with the 2015 LCI.

[Brazz]

Something similar happen to me a few weeks ago in my first 6 hour trip in my 640 GC m-sport. I've had the car for 3 years but this was the first long trip and my lower back was in bad condition after the round trip. Love the car but these are the most uncomfortable seats in any luxury sedan I've ever owned. I'm trying different seat positions now to try and find a better situation. I refuse to buy a seat cover for a $90K vehicle.

[Walt White Coupe]

Don't understand a "lower back" problem with all the adjustments to the seat back. It's my butt that was hurting. The $40 solution works well for that.

[Almaretto]

The following adjustments can all lead to lower back problems:

• Side bolster too tight
• Push out the central support too far
• Sit in a reclined position
• Raising the seat too high resulting in pressure on cafs
• Setting headrest too far forward

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by Almaretto

Setting headrest too far forward[/list]

+1 on that and it seems like most premium manufacturers are adopting fixed head restraints that force your head too far forwards.
Before getting my new 640i I test drove various Audis and a Porsche Macan but I just couldn't get comfortable.

[doug_999]

The seats in the GC (F06) are by far some of the worst I've ever had.

Rumor has it that the F12/F13 (vert and coupe) have different seats with much better padding.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by doug_999

Rumor has it that the F12/F13 (vert and coupe) have different seats with much better padding.

That could explain a great deal. I have an F12 (vert) with comfort seats and they're the most comfortable I've ever sat in. Quite often do long trips of 8 hours and never had any problems.

[Dandanbmw]

My f13 has comfort seats and a recent trip back home to Kent from the Algarve with 19 hours of constant driving and I still felt comfortable.

[Jon D]

Some trip! How did you get on with a RHD car on the Continent? I'd love to take mine to Germany but a bit nervous about having the steering wheel on the 'wrong' side.

[CBS]

OP, I just picked up my Car and was surprised at how hard the seats were! I even posted about it recently (My initial impressions of an Alpina B6).

Thanks very much for your recommendation, I will pick up two seat pads! It's a shame and I hope BMW reviews these threads for Buyer feedback.

Cheers,

Chris

[Dandanbmw]

Originally Posted by Jon D

Some trip! How did you get on with a RHD car on the Continent? I'd love to take mine to Germany but a bit nervous about having the steering wheel on the 'wrong' side.

Hi Jon yes perfectly fine being on the other side bud. Lovely roads out there! I've done quite a few road trips to Europe and I've never had any issues. Next year we are driving to Croatia then to Venice, Lake Garda, Switzerland etc

[Chaos236]

Revival, my 17 F06 GCwith ventilation seats is getting very uncomfortable…..on my butt not my back! Ouch. Fortunately it shares duty with a 16 Cayenne so I get relief.

[TGrits10]

I've noticed that in addition to the relatively hard seats, the seat position is a problem for me on long-run comfort. To take pressure off my tailbone/butt I like to raise up the front of the seat so my thighs take more weight, but on this car the front doesn't go very high, so to get that tilt I'd have to drop the rear of the seat down, which drops my head too low for good visibility. I do like a fairly reclined seating position so I'm sure that doesn't help, but c'mon BMW I'm not short (5-11) and I feel like I'm a little old lady peeking over the top of the doors/dash if I don't compromise my seating position.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by TGrits10

I've noticed that in addition to the relatively hard seats, the seat position is a problem for me on long-run comfort. To take pressure off my tailbone/butt I like to raise up the front of the seat so my thighs take more weight, but on this car the front doesn't go very high, so to get that tilt I'd have to drop the rear of the seat down, which drops my head too low for good visibility. I do like a fairly reclined seating position so I'm sure that doesn't help, but c'mon BMW I'm not short (5-11) and I feel like I'm a little old lady peeking over the top of the doors/dash if I don't compromise my seating position.

Yeah, they are not the best. To get any thigh support at all my left leg has to be stretched all the time with my foot on the dead pedal. But I have discovered that there is really no way to tell how comfortable seats are before you buy. I just rented a Kia Sportage SUV for a road trip, and when we first got in it seemed very comfortable. By 500 miles my wife and I were looking at each other like "Oh my god, I think my butt is actually bruised." No test drive is long enough to discover that.

[Qsilver7]

I have no problem with my MC seats on long or short trips. This is how I went about setting up the 20-way MC seats.

Bottom section has 8 adjustment which was determined 1st...I tilted the upper seat section back so that it would not interfere with setting the lower section:

• 2-way up/down
  
• 2-way fore/aft
  
• 2-way front tilt/rear tilt (angle adjustment)
  
• 2-way thigh extension
  

The angle adjustment of the lower seat cushion can sometimes be missed/overlooked. The angle/tilt adjustment of the lower seat cushion can help with upper leg & thigh comfort...which many overlook and just use the thigh extension feature, height, and fore/aft adjustments. But the ANGLE of the lower seat cushion can affect the comfort of your legs and thighs, too...especially if you have long or short legs.

Once the lower cushion was adjusted to personal comfort...I then moved to the upper section of the seat which has 12 adjustments:

• 2-way upward/backward backrest angle
  
• 2-way upper back articulation (fore/aft)
  
• 2-way seat back width adjustment (in/out)
  
• 4-way lumbar support (up/down/in/out)
  
• 2-way headrest adjustment (up/down)
  

[Opie55]

Not sure how tall you are Q, but the point is that if I, or the OP, raise the front of the lower seat section as much as possible it's still not really in contact with our thigh unless we stretch our leg out all the time and even then it just barely touches our thigh. I tend to leave my left leg cocked up with my knee against the door armrest by the window switches.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Opie55

Not sure how tall you are Q, but the point is that if I, or the OP, raise the front of the lower seat section as much as possible it's still not really in contact with our thigh unless we stretch our leg out all the time and even then it just barely touches our thigh. I tend to leave my left leg cocked up with my knee against the door armrest by the window switches.

I'm 5'10"...and pretty much even from hip up/hip down...so I don't have to deal with the issues that "long leggers" or "long torso" individuals have to deal with.

But I do sympathize with those that can't find a comfortable seat setting after using the bottom seat cushion tilt adjustment. I've read in other threads before that some owners didn't know, forget, or hadn't stumbled upon the angle movement of the bottom seat cushion...which is why I posted that info just in case it had been overlooked.

• 2-way front tilt/rear tilt (angle adjustment)
• 

[Chaos236]

The one you linked is not available so I tried a similar one on Amazon. I’ll report back.

[Chaos236]

It’s here and in the car. Will try out this week,also Cayenne other daily that makes kids car sick!

[Kolianovskyi]

Originally Posted by Opie55

Not sure how tall you are Q, but the point is that if I, or the OP, raise the front of the lower seat section as much as possible it's still not really in contact with our thigh unless we stretch our leg out all the time and even then it just barely touches our thigh. I tend to leave my left leg cocked up with my knee against the door armrest by the window switches.

I am 6'5'' and still can find a comfortable position to being able to drive it 7hr (El Paso - Houston) or 3hr (Hou - Dallas).

The reason why seats are so firm is ventilation and massage (if available). Similar seats in 5 or X5 have much more thicker cushion because there are no other integrated devices.