[cruvon]

Hi, we expecting our first baby soon and have just bought a safe n sound meridian child seat which is rear facing first 6 months and then front facing 0-4 years). Any suggestions on car seats and also seat protectors?..How comfortable is the E90 sedan with child seats in and
is it easy to self install child car seats in the car or is a professional install required?
Also, would it make sense to put seat covers to protect the leather seats before installing the car seat?..The child seat comes with a seat protector mat on which to keep the child seat. Any pictures of baby car seats in your E90's and seat protectors used appreciated,

Cheers,
San

[WOPALX]

I've not had rearward facing seats in mine but they should fit easily enough.

I always put a good quality towel under the seat, firstly it protects the leather and secondly when the child eventually has a vomit (and all kids do) if it's not needed to stop the stuff getting on the leather it makes a very handy cloth for cleaning up the car / kid as needed.

If it's your first child then I'd suggest getting it professionally installed the 1st time so you know how it's done properly.

Originally Posted by cruvon

Hi, we expecting our first baby soon and have just bought a safe n sound meridian child seat which is rear facing first 6 months and then front facing 0-4 years). Any suggestions on car seats and also seat protectors?..How comfortable is the E90 sedan with child seats in and
is it easy to self install child car seats in the car or is a professional install required?
Also, would it make sense to put seat covers to protect the leather seats before installing the car seat?..The child seat comes with a seat protector mat on which to keep the child seat. Any pictures of baby car seats in your E90's and seat protectors used appreciated,

Cheers,
San

[USC2000]

Have the rearward facing seat in mine. I didn't use seat protectors in my car, but I don't have leather. My wife fits fine in the passenger seat with car seat behind her, but its a little cramped for me and I'm only 5'6". It should be better once its foward facing.

[Drew335]

I've had a bit of experience with kids + cars over the last few years, in both an E46 325ci and then a E92 335i over the last 6 months.

I didn't put our youngest in the BMW until she reached about 12 months when I could fit a forward-facing seat, in the form of a Safe n Sound seat. Definitely recommend the cover that comes with the seat to protect the leather. Take note of what WOPALX says, they will vomit given time and enough corners

Our 3.5 year old has the maxi rider seat which she loves. I've attached this and the Safe n Sound above using the ISOFIX system fitted in the back of the car. Ironically I was told by my resident child care shop this is technically illegal in Australian despite the fact it is miles ahead of what our ancient and outdated standards require...

Apologies for those who can't stand the thought of kids seats + BMWs, but trust me it is better than succumbing to a Ford Territory or the like (no offence to Territory drivers) and keeps me happy when the kids aren't in the car. Anyway good luck with it, I've had no problems re space in the coupe with forward-facing seats. Although from experience with my MY04 WRX the rear-facing seats use far more room and result in less footroom up front etc.

One final point re fitting - let a pro do it the first time. Once you understand how easy it is, you will do it better than they do 90% of the time. The difference between them doing a job and you protecting your own I guess

Originally Posted by cruvon

Hi, we expecting our first baby soon and have just bought a safe n sound meridian child seat which is rear facing first 6 months and then front facing 0-4 years). Any suggestions on car seats and also seat protectors?..How comfortable is the E90 sedan with child seats in and
is it easy to self install child car seats in the car or is a professional install required?
Also, would it make sense to put seat covers to protect the leather seats before installing the car seat?..The child seat comes with a seat protector mat on which to keep the child seat. Any pictures of baby car seats in your E90's and seat protectors used appreciated,

Cheers,
San

[Ninjaoz]

Originally Posted by cruvon

Hi, we expecting our first baby soon and have just bought a safe n sound meridian child seat which is rear facing first 6 months and then front facing 0-4 years). Any suggestions on car seats and also seat protectors?..How comfortable is the E90 sedan with child seats in and
is it easy to self install child car seats in the car or is a professional install required?
Also, would it make sense to put seat covers to protect the leather seats before installing the car seat?..The child seat comes with a seat protector mat on which to keep the child seat. Any pictures of baby car seats in your E90's and seat protectors used appreciated,

Cheers,
San

we have the same babyseat - safe n sound meridian in beige colour! it takes a lot of space when rearward facing, it is quite cramp for the front passengers even in our X3 which I think it is similar size as an E90. We didn't get professional installed, it was a piss easy 5-10 mins job..just read and follow the instructions, quite straight forward.

the seat protector definitely helps to protect the leather seat from dirt, scuff marks from kicking and scratching.

hope this helps

[andret]

Originally Posted by Drew335

I've had a bit of experience with kids + cars over the last few years, in both an E46 325ci and then a E92 335i over the last 6 months.

I didn't put our youngest in the BMW until she reached about 12 months when I could fit a forward-facing seat, in the form of a Safe n Sound seat. Definitely recommend the cover that comes with the seat to protect the leather. Take note of what WOPALX says, they will vomit given time and enough corners

Our 3.5 year old has the maxi rider seat which she loves. I've attached this and the Safe n Sound above using the ISOFIX system fitted in the back of the car. Ironically I was told by my resident child care shop this is technically illegal in Australian despite the fact it is miles ahead of what our ancient and outdated standards require...

Apologies for those who can't stand the thought of kids seats + BMWs, but trust me it is better than succumbing to a Ford Territory or the like (no offence to Territory drivers) and keeps me happy when the kids aren't in the car. Anyway good luck with it, I've had no problems re space in the coupe with forward-facing seats. Although from experience with my MY04 WRX the rear-facing seats use far more room and result in less footroom up front etc.

One final point re fitting - let a pro do it the first time. Once you understand how easy it is, you will do it better than they do 90% of the time. The difference between them doing a job and you protecting your own I guess

I have decided to import from Europe as I don't feel Aust standards are safe enough. The European ISOFIX system is far superior yet illegal here. I don't care, the child's safety is worth any fine they can dish out. If u can afford BMW, u can afford to use the safety features.

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by andret

I have decided to import from Europe as I don't feel Aust standards are safe enough. The European ISOFIX system is far superior yet illegal here. I don't care, the child's safety is worth any fine they can dish out. If u can afford BMW, u can afford to use the safety features.

I did look into ISOFIX seats and was thinking getting my brother in the US to check and ship out a good one for me. But then going through some forums online, most reckoned that all insurances could be invalid if a non Australian standards seat would be used. I would think since ISOFIX is better, our rules would be upward compatible towards a better standard. I also contacted a company called fairbimbo who said they had a conultant in Australia on ISOFIX child seats, spoke to FAIR Srl - M.Elena Gazza on elena.gazza@fairbimbo.it, didn't do much research on their seats though and finally ended up with the safe n sound meridian.

[Drew335]

I think it's laughable that ISOFIX (or the US standard LATCH) isn't used here, given ISOFX is an ISO standard and clearly a step ahead of the clip and belt system still preferred here.

But at the end of the day I am only referring to the ISOFIX anchoring system in the 335, as you can't purchase ISOFIX compliant seats here unless you import them yourself, in which case they aren't ADR compliant etc.

So what I did was attached our existing seats to the ISOFIX anchors using a standard clip belt (from the childcare store), which meant the seat was far easier to install and about twice as firm when compared to the normal arrangement. I know it isn't really approved, but to my eyes the better anchoring was going to hold the kid in good stead if an accident occured.

Since then I've removed the kids seats from the coupe, as I need the rear seats to carry colleagues around on occasion and it's too hard removing the seats in the office carpark when I'm in a rush...

[KingClifton]

Recaro were lobbying to get ISOFIX adopted in parallel with the Australian standard. There was actually a review of the standard a few years back and over at OzAudi a lot of us made a submission.

Child seat laws took a step back with the latest national ones, clearly written by someone who'd never had kids. Seat classification is now purely on age, whereas before it was on weight, which is a much truer indication of how a child will fit into a type of seat. And the ridiculous legislation that all children under 11 cannot occupy a front seat is just farcical.

In the end I thought 'stuff the laws' and replaced my Safe'N'Sound Meridian with a Hi Rider SG which was a booster seat. The Meridian just didn't fit well, and even though the Hi Rider, not having an inbuilt harness, was technically illegal, our coppers are too busy handing out speeding tickets to be that fussed about this yet. And I trained my 3yo to tell the policeman he's 4.

[tandtran]

I have a safe n sound Max Rider II in my E90 which sits on on top of the seat protector mat that came with the baby/toddler seat.

I had to move the passenger seat foward abit to accomodate and allow the leg room for my 3year old.

[samchuang33]

I had actually use the capsules for my new born then upgraded to the Maxi rider AHR after 8kg.

The capsule was fantastic as it is 2 in 1. It can attached to pram and be also used as a car seat attaching to the base in car. Baby will not get waken up when you move in and out of car.
http://global.pegperego.com/babyprod...iaggio+Tri-Fix

I'm also very disappointed that we can use ISOFIX system in Oz especially when they are superior. There are so much other design available in ISOFIX overseas. I guess the governement is kinda protecting Australian business so who can blame them.

BTW, those of u with safe and sound, do u find that seat starts moving around after awhile? I have actually got myself a locking clip to hold the seatbelt together. It never moved again afterwards.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Evenflo-Universa...item1c16f6de1c