Baby Seat in Grand Coupe

[rgerwal]

I know this isn't the most exciting thing to talk about however I'm looking to buy a rear baby seat which would also be rearward facing for my 9 month old son.

I've seen one I have my eye on called the Joie 360 which has an ISO Fix base and the whole seat can turn 360 degrees to make it more convenient when getting him in or out.

I wanted to ask if anyone has any good or horror stories about child's ears in the rear of the grand coupe with leather seats.

The last thing I want to do is have the seats or leather damaged.

[rgerwal]

This is the one I have seen

[MARKPRIOR]

I wanted this seat for the wifes car, but our little one was new born & the seat sat to straight and would restrict airway (actually wanted the recaro one but when we test fitted the same issue). bought the same brand seat in the lay down version & ISO fix, its a good seat had it in my car a couple times without issue.

Seat

https://www.mothercare.com/baby-car-...re/251881.html

I have put a durable blanket in place to protect the leather, learned this lesson from my 5 series after putting a seat in once it scarred the leather

on the upside the front passenger seat is not pressed against the window lol, actually quite a bit of room back there

[ezmaass]

If you have the merino leather in the car, be careful. It's very soft, and the shape of the back seats aren't well suited for baby seats that may poke into the leather at the "corners" of the seat, if you will. I used one for a short period of time, and it definitely made some indentations - although no scars, tears, etc. But I can see them doing some damage. I'd probably look to put something down below/behind to absorb some of the pressure and keep it out of direct contact with the leather. Not a bad idea, either, in case the baby has any accidents in there.

[Havy]

What do you think about the OEM seats?

[FBMWWINS]

The fact that they are labeled "BMW" is already cool per se!

[rgerwal]

Originally Posted by Havy

What do you think about the OEM seats?

Seem super expensive as you have to buy the base separate.

[Flying Ace]

I have 2 kids so I have 2 seats in the back of my Gran Coupe. One kid is forward facing the other kid is backward facing. Both seats use the LATCH hooks.

Regarding your question on leather damage, the ONLY solution you have is to buy seat cover protectors. Depending on the type of seat you buy, the plastic edges of the seat base may dig into the leather creating an indentation. I am currently using these protectors:

https://www.princelionheart.com/2-st...verr-1026.html

For both the forward facing and backward facing seats, I am using both the seatback and base protector. It's importantly not just because the kid will get his/her feet on the leather, but it also provides the much needed padding against the plastic base of the seat.

The rear facing seat I'm using is the Chicco Keyfit 30. It too has a LATCH base. It looks very similar to the set up on the BMW Baby 0+ seat picture above. The bucket does not touch the leather seat whatsoever and the base is flat plastic, so there are minimum indentations to be concerned with, but I use the protector regardless.

The front facing seat I'm using is the Diono Radian RX120/RXT models. It looks very similar to the BMW Junior 2/3 seat picture above. I picked this because they are the few seats that are slim enough for side by side in my X5 (fits in the center seat). However, the Diono has a high seat back that goes up to the headrest of the BMW, AND you'll see that many front facing seats require the use of the overhead anchor. On these type of seats, the plastic on the seat back digs into the leather of the headrest. The seat protector I linked to doesn't go that high. I simply move it higher to where the plastic touches the head rest, and to reassure the padding, I inserted a towel between the headrest and the seat protector. Every few weeks, I check to ensure the protector and towel hasn't slipped from it's place. The downside of the Gran Coupe's rear head rest is that it's a single piece integrated into the seat. Most BMWs has an adjustable head rest where you can pull the anchor through the gap in the head rest.


The main reason I'm not using the BMW version are:
1. price
2. it may not be regulation compliant in my country (I've never seen it in USA's accessory catalogs)
3. I need interchangeable seats that don't necessarily have to fit inside a BMW. (I will be replacing my X5 with a Volvo soon).


BTW, this sounds like it's your first baby, so here's some pro tip on selecting the best infant rear facing seat:

1. Pick a bucket that snaps into all the accessories. The Chicco bucket snaps into the car seat base and a stroller base. The bucket itself can also be strapped into any car without its base or a car without LATCH. This minimizes your need to buy more equipment. You want to have common accessories that all work together. The bucket you're describing sounds like it just sits inside the car forever. The Chicco doesn't. You take the bucket out with the kid in it (in case the kid is sleeping). This is best for a family with 2 cars. So in each of my X5 and M6, I simply have a seat base. And we only need 1 bucket. Also for grandma's car, we can just buy them another seat base so it can snap in. Your seat sounds like you need to buy one for Gran Coupe and one for another car.

2. If you buy a single car seat that can convert (called a convertible) to all stages of the kid's life, keep in mind that seat will pretty much never leave the car. Those type of seats are so heavy and burdensome to use, that once you strap it into the car, you will never want to take it out again. You'll only take it out to clean it or to convert it to the next stage. That's great and all, but you'll need a 2nd seat for your 2nd car or for someone else's car. However, for an infant and for the rest of the kid's life, you'll need to unstrap the kid from the car EVERY time. Again, the detachable bucket as described in #1 above is critical for when your infant is asleep or you'll find out that it's just easier to move the bucket instead of the kid.

3. The next level seats (BMW Junior 2/3) are similar to the convertible concept that once you strap it in once, you'll never take it out of the car.

[elvisisdog]

Rgerwal, you can't go wrong with cybex serona. I've had my boy in that since he grew out of his baby carrier. Brilliant seat does rear facing and forward facing as well as soon to side to make entry easy. Sister in law has the Jolie and to be honest its noticeably cheap. Plus her kids would slip the harness of as well as unbuckle themselves. Not saying this isn't impossible in the cybex but by the point they work this out they are ready for forward facing which the serona switches over to a bolster cushion for forward facing which looks weird but works brilliantly. Took a couple of journeys for my little man to get used to it, but he's a fighter and didn't like being restrained, beauty of it is when they're having a tantrum you can get them in without having to mess about trying to match buckles and then trying to get them in a clasp. It probably saved my son from being throttled by my misses as he could be a real turd when having a tantrum 😉

I've literally just changed him up to the next seat up as he's out grown it. If you don't mind second hand then it's up for sale. PM me if interested.

When going for the next seat up, getting one to fit in the rear seats of the gc is difficult. For my daughter we had a maxi Cosi but that fitted terribly, it in-laws had a cheap brittax which fitted much better and became her seat for my car. Fortunately she's big enough to not need one any more. The head rests in the gc are the problem for most seats.

[greeneking]

Ive got the Joie I-level and it fits fine. It has lie flat capabilities so it takes up more room than a standard car seat.

I use a seat protector and that seems to work well too.

[re2gie01]

i use a Doona carseat/stroller. its small and fits perfectly into the seat. i also dont have to worry about a stroller taking up the trunk since the wheels are built in. i love it!!

[siegester]

I have a Chico Keyfit 30 infant carrier and some Graco convertible forward facing in the back of my GC. The infant carrier limits passenger seat motion some, but my wife is still able to get comfortable at 5'9". My 6 year old has plenty of legroom behind me, but it is a little difficult for him to get in/out of the car by himself due to the shape and spacing of the B pillar and wheel arch

[sobanoodle]

I'm using Recaro Monza Nova IS paired with 82122448367 BMW Backrest Cover and Child Seat Underlay over beige nappa leather - no issues or damage to the seat (pressure marks) and no scuff marks either on the back of the front seat either.

[frivas]

I once tried my son's Clek Foonf on my 640gc... and then I just bought a Toyota 4 Runner and put the seats there