Driver/Passenger position in the car + different seats

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eXodus

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 22, 2020
Messages
155
What I wonder - the dashboard sticks out quite far in the passenger compartment.

iu


Wonder if you could have moved the passenger and driver forward - since this is not a ICE vehicle you don't need a firewall at the end of the windshield - rather remove the almost useless funk and give the passengers in the back more space.

If you would have used seats with integrated seat belts - like in the e46/e90 convertible.
iu


There is no need unbuckle for the rear doors to open.
 
I would guess that attaching the shoulder restraint to the seat as shown adds an amount of weight and bulk to the seat that the designers would have found unacceptable. Just a hunch -- but that seat back also looks super cushy!
 
eNate said:
I would guess that attaching the shoulder restraint to the seat as shown adds an amount of weight and bulk to the seat that the designers would have found unacceptable. Just a hunch -- but that seat back also looks super cushy!

With the driver/passenger further forward, there would have been more space for a thicker seat.
I miss plush seats in my i3. In new BMW in general, there are all kind of sporty these days.

You could have reduce the bulk of the B-Pillar, when there would be no seat belt to be attached.
Might have made up for the heavier seat. The e46 seats are like 60lbs each, you could probably shave a few pounds of when moving to alcantara/fabric instead of leather. I don't like leather anyhow :p
 
eXodus –

The two pictures you posted were taken with very different lenses.

The E46 picture looks to have been taken with a telephoto lens which tends to flatten the distances between objects in the image (steering wheel-to-seat).

The i01 picture looks to have been taken with a very wide-angle lens which tends to exaggerate distances between objects.
 
frictioncircle said:
eXodus –

The two pictures you posted were taken with very different lenses.
The E46 picture looks to have been taken with a telephoto lens which tends to flatten the distances between objects in the image (steering wheel-to-seat).
The i01 picture looks to have been taken with a very wide-angle lens which tends to exaggerate distances between objects.

I've own / owned both cars :mrgreen: so I that where is my inspiration is coming from

Here is another good one:
iu

By moving the whole dash, pedals etc. forward (left in this picture )That's my improvement idea.

you see - the dash is pocking in from the A-Pillar / Column about a hand length - other cars I have/had - the dashboard is is almost flush with the A- Pillar and not protruding that far into the passenger space.
But I was just looking up other car models - from recently - that must be some sort safety requirement - because it's really getting common.

No idea if you could engineer around that - but you would gain 4-8 inches (10-20cm) of length in the passenger space without adding length of the car.
There are probably 100 reasons why it was done the way it's been, just thought, would be cool.
 
BMW moved A pillars forward in the i3. So the dash is where it supposed to be, so are the seats. What have moved are the A pillars which have moved to the left in your picture, giving the impression that the dash is protruding to the right.

By moving the A pillars BMW gave i3 the airy lounge feeling of a much larger car. I feel a more open space in the i3 front seats even compared to my Honda sedan which is classified as a large car (192 inch long).
 
agzand said:
BMW moved A pillars forward in the i3. So the dash is where it supposed to be, so are the seats. What have moved are the A pillars which have moved to the left in your picture, giving the impression that the dash is protruding to the right.

By moving the A pillars BMW gave i3 the airy lounge feeling of a much larger car. I feel a more open space in the i3 front seats even compared to my Honda sedan which is classified as a large car (192 inch long).

thanks for the design explanation. I'm not sure if the i3 would have felt more closed when you would have moved closer to the windshield.
I love the open feel as well. I got more space as a driver then in my Chevy Van - which is 21 feet long :p but
 
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