For those who own BMW's...

I just wondered for those of you who own BMW's.....we are going to be getting one in the next little while. I just wondered about installation in them. I had an 88 BMW 325 2 door which obviously was not going to work with 2 rear facing kids. So we gave it to a friend. I miss it, I NEED a BMW. It runs in my family I guess. So, we are looking at 2000-2002...because I would like to have LATCH if possible for now as we'll be moving seats temproarily until we get another set of them when the newer Wizards come out. I have always had a hard time installing the Wizards rear facing with lap/shoulder belts. I'm also concerned about being able to tether the seats rear facing. I'd love to hear input from those who own newer BMW's about whether or not there is places to tether rear facing...and how easy the install is with the seatbelts.

I am set on a BMW, although I would definitely like an older one as well as a newer one, my main concern is carseat installation which is why I'd like LATCH. Once they are forward facing it won't be an issue, but for now it is important unless they are easy to install with lap shoulder belt. I will try them out in the car obviously but I figured I'd get some opinions from those who own them!

Thanks in advance! (Pictures would be GREAT too!)

My sister has a '99 ~ can't remember what kind, though.... Our Wizard fit well FF, but I didn't try RF.

I found this BMW enthusiest forum that you might get some answers from???
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=724

Are you looking at another 3-series or would you be looking at 5ers, too? I can't speak for the 3s, but 5s are great to install Britax seats.

Sorry, no pics.

Oops....I didn't realize how old this thread was. I did a search for BMWs. Sorry.

Oh, my cousin has a newish (2003?) 5-series ... very easy to install our seats in

3 series

I have a 1996 2 door BMW 3 series and it works fine to have one car seat. I guess two would work fine. You get used to having the inconvenience. The motion of reaching back is easier with a 2 door car than a 4 door (with a 4 door car you almost have to throw them over the seat to get them in...in a 2 door car, you just crank the seat back).

I approve of you getting a new 3 series. Much better than living in minivan hell. My husband asked if I wanted to trade when we had the baby 2 years ago. I told him I would rather shoot myself than drive a "mama car"!

BMW is not baby friendly

I have a 2006 BMW 525xi. The car has a lot of safety features and a latch system. However, the car is not very baby friendly. If you need to put a carseat rear facing, you have to tether your car seat to something (honestly, I am not sure what it is) at the bottom of the driver's seat. It will be nice to have an anchor dedicated to rear facing car seat. Another problem I have right now is where I can put a booster without it swinging around when turning. The backseat is not flat: the center of backseat has a little hump. This has created a problem for us to find a booster that stays in its place.

While I like my car, I am glad our family car is a Volvo. Volvo has many good baby friendly and safety features. My understanding of BMW 3 series is that while it is a great car to drive, the 3 series do not have many safety features and crash test results for the 3 series have not been very impressive. For the same amount of money, you can easily get a safe car with a lot nice features.

Be aware that ONLY Britax seats and the Sunshine Kids Radian can be tethered rear facing. You can NOT do this with any other seat.

We just got rid out our 3series 2003 BWM.. I was so happy to get rid of it in regards to car seat use. The LATCH is very difficult to get to. You can not put car seats in the middle due to the contour of the seat. We have a RF Marathon behind the passanger seat which meant the passanger seat had to be pushed way up and was uncomfortable for anyone sitting up front. I highly recommend staying away from the 3 series. In general we have found that BWM are not as "car seat" friendly relative to other models.