# Baby seat in rear middle position



## DCC (Apr 16, 2002)

Anybody here have had the need to install a rear faing baby seat in the rear middle position?
Does the non folding rear seat center 'hump' make it hard?
Do you use the ISOFIX anchors on the inboard position of each rear seat?


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

How old is your baby? What kind of a seat are you using?

I have mounted my son's - he is 21 months old - Britax Two Way Elite (forward facing) just using the seat belts. The ISOFix system is nice, but the car seats that use it are stupidly expensive.

I haven't noticed any trouble with the shape of rear bench/seats with this. I have folding seats and the center armrest.

The seat is mounted in the middle which is good and bad. It is safe in the case of a side impact, but not in the case of a head-on. On the other hand, two other passengers may also sit in the back seat, on either side of the baby seat. This was not possible in my E46 - unless the passengers were successful Slim Fast dieters.


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## DCC (Apr 16, 2002)

Patrick
I need to install a rear facing seat for a newborn
Seats with the ISOFix anchors are more but all of Britax's new 2003 models have that as standard I believe
I did not order the folding rear seat on my 5 series and so the rear seat will have a 'hump' in the middle...instead of a more bench like shape of the folding rear seat option
I also could not locate the inboard ISOFix anchor on the passenger side...I can feel the 2 anchors on the driver's side...but in the passenger's side, the middle belt seems to have taken the place of the inboard anchor

any thoughts


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

I was unaware that Britax made seats for the ISOFix system; the BMW seats, regardless of the age they are intended for, have a silly price tag, and are probably made by Britax. :tsk:

Sounds like your only choice is to mount the seat on the passenger side for now with the seat belt crossing over it. Perhaps after your child is older than 12 months, you can come up with something to have the forward facing seat in the middle and just use one of the seat belts. Or then figure out to use the ISOFix anchors with the seat in the middle. The bases of the seats for older childern is a little wider.

I have no clue about the missing anchor. Sounds strange though. I will check mine tomorrow and see what I find, but that probably won't help you!

Just out of curiosity, why did you order your E39 without rear folding seats?

That is a "_must have_ " feature of the Touring at least, IMHO! And to be honest, I did not know it was even possible to order it without.


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## DCC (Apr 16, 2002)

I did not know BMW made seats?
Where can I preview them?
Yes thew touring comes with folding rear seats as a standard feature...
I did not order the folding rear seats on my sedan since I very very seldom use the rear folding option...plus I was afraid that the folding feature would start to creak over time


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## jw (Dec 21, 2001)

Do yourself a favor. Once you've decided on a way to mount a child safety seat have it inspected. I believe the local fire department should be able to do this for you free of charge. If not, check with them or your insurance agent and they can reccommend a place.

My wife's work had a car seat safety check day. They found over a dozen things wrong with the way we had the car seat mounted and offered my wife many techniques that never dawned on her to try. Well worth the 20 minutes.


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## WAM (Jan 30, 2002)

BMW baby seats.

BMW accessories (UK)

You will probably have to call a dealership in the UK to get part numbers, I doubt they will have them in the US.


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