The Clek Fllo/Foonf, rear-facing, is not a good fit for the i3 too.
The seat is too long.
Any suggestions as to a better fitting, rear-facing, car seat?
Re: Carseats and the back seat
- ASUN, 2016 BMW i3 BEV, Arravani Grey, Suite Interior, 20's, since Oct 25, 2015
Re: Carseats and the back seat
We have a Cybex Sirona - http://cybex-online.com/gb/carseats/sirona.html that we tried in the back of the i3 that we borrowed. It fits and still allows for a front passenger. It is a rear facing seat that rotates to allow for easier access.
My daughter is 20 months old, and has been using this since she was 12 months. Should be good until she is 4 years old.
My daughter is 20 months old, and has been using this since she was 12 months. Should be good until she is 4 years old.
Re: Carseats and the back seat
I'd think twice about using the Sirona, @killban
I emailed Cybex asking if it would fit, and got this message (sorry google translated, slightly weird text!)
I emailed Cybex asking if it would fit, and got this message (sorry google translated, slightly weird text!)
I'm just in this forum now looking for another seat that may work better!Thank you for your email and interest in our Sirona.
Unfortunately, this chair is not approved for the BMW i3 from 2016. The reason is that the L.S.P. (side impact protection) system is located directly outside the window instead of the door itself. This means that the L.S.P. system can not work optimally and therefore we can not stand the seat to provide the maximum protection of your child in this car.
I'm sorry.
Re: Carseats and the back seat
I realize this thread hasn't been updated in a while, but I want to help anyone else that ends up with an i3 without testing car seat first.
We have found the NUNA Pippa works perfectly well for an infant, though you will have to all "putting in" and "getting out" front the opposite side of the car through the backdoor/seat...and you will get really annoyed with these stupid front seats that won't remotely stay tilted forward.
The Chicco NextFit also fits pretty well, it actually does fine in rear facing (though getting the kid in and out is an exercise every time, and only gets worse as the parent is larger or the kid gets bigger). I am a fit 6'2 male and getting my daughter in and out of the rear facing seat is a chore, my wife simply refuses to do it and wouldn't drive the car if she had to take our daughter. We have now switched her to front facing in the same seat and it is easier to get her in and out, as we can now do it without crawling into the back seat with her...however the seat does not fit 100% securely and can only be installed front facing with the seat belt, not LATCH. The rear tether point does work while forward facing, however the seat geometry makes the carseat less than perfectly secure.
In general, I would suggest any parents with young kids to avoid the i3 if this is going to be the primary car to transport your kids. I am sure that forward facing boosters might work better, but thats not saying much. I will say that our Q5 is a phenomenal car when it comes to the ease of access and ability to install/remove car seats.
We have found the NUNA Pippa works perfectly well for an infant, though you will have to all "putting in" and "getting out" front the opposite side of the car through the backdoor/seat...and you will get really annoyed with these stupid front seats that won't remotely stay tilted forward.
The Chicco NextFit also fits pretty well, it actually does fine in rear facing (though getting the kid in and out is an exercise every time, and only gets worse as the parent is larger or the kid gets bigger). I am a fit 6'2 male and getting my daughter in and out of the rear facing seat is a chore, my wife simply refuses to do it and wouldn't drive the car if she had to take our daughter. We have now switched her to front facing in the same seat and it is easier to get her in and out, as we can now do it without crawling into the back seat with her...however the seat does not fit 100% securely and can only be installed front facing with the seat belt, not LATCH. The rear tether point does work while forward facing, however the seat geometry makes the carseat less than perfectly secure.
In general, I would suggest any parents with young kids to avoid the i3 if this is going to be the primary car to transport your kids. I am sure that forward facing boosters might work better, but thats not saying much. I will say that our Q5 is a phenomenal car when it comes to the ease of access and ability to install/remove car seats.
Re: Carseats and the back seat
We also have a baby daughter, and the same two cars!Xipper wrote:I realize this thread hasn't been updated in a while, but I want to help anyone else that ends up with an i3 without testing car seat first.
We have found the NUNA Pippa works perfectly well for an infant, though you will have to all "putting in" and "getting out" front the opposite side of the car through the backdoor/seat...and you will get really annoyed with these stupid front seats that won't remotely stay tilted forward.
In general, I would suggest any parents with young kids to avoid the i3 if this is going to be the primary car to transport your kids. I am sure that forward facing boosters might work better, but thats not saying much. I will say that our Q5 is a phenomenal car when it comes to the ease of access and ability to install/remove car seats.
It's almost time for us to turn the car seat around. I must agree, it has been a struggle climbing into the back with our daughter to put her in the elevated car seat inside the car. It's even harder trying to do this from the outside of the car. It's been over a year now, and we have gotten used to the routine. We are however both much smaller individuals compare to you.
I may turn the car seats around this weekend, I am hoping I can continue to use the belt and anchors that came with the car seat to secure it.
We have a Clek Fllo in both cars. It barely fits rear facing in the i3.
- ASUN, 2016 BMW i3 BEV, Arravani Grey, Suite Interior, 20's, since Oct 25, 2015
-
Davidroger
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:36 am
Re: Carseats and the back seat
I had a convertible Car Seat with my first and I really missed having the portability. With #2 and #3, I used a Graco Snugride 5pt. With #4, I bought the Graco SafeSeat (higher weight and height limits). I recommend the Graco SafeSeat. He is now in a Britax Marathon RF but he can still fit in the SafeSeat and he will turn two in July.
Re: Carseats and the back seat
I'm excited to respond to this question. Yes, it will be difficult, but it is doable. Please see photo from today. There are a few things to consider:
1. Clearance between the side of the car seat and the rear C pillar. It's tight regardless of the carseat and the height of the driver and the door has to pretty much be opened completely which may not be possible or convenience where you park to unload your kid.
2. It will depend the height of the person sitting in front of the rear facing seat.
I'd venture to say that the driver should be more comfortable in his/her seating position than the front seat passenger. Given that but also considering that the i3's front passenger knee clearance is extensive, let's just say you're okay with the front passenger being a bit less than super comfortable and s/he is less than 5'-9". If you're the primary driver and your wife/husband/partner isn't taller than 5'-9", your kid go go behind the passenger which would be perfect. Easy to load on the curb side for places where you drive on the right side of the road and curb is therefore on the right.
This is my seating position as the driver. I'm 5'-8" and the seat is pushed forward maybe 1-2" forward than ideal. The rear facing Britax car seat is big and bulky. If you zoom into the picture, you'll see that it's close to being in the most vertical position (with the black marker in the green zone) to take up the least amount of depth in the rear cabin and therefore giving the driver more space.
3. You need to consider that the the coach doors block you in when you're parked parallel next to another car such as in a parking lot/structure. You won't be able to remove a convertible car seat at all. The logistics of the doors swinging against each other and having to open and close in a particular order mixed with the close proximity of the car next to you limiting your space just makes it impossible. So if you plan to unload while parked next to other cars in tight spaces, forget it. It's probably not worth the trouble of having to circle around for the "end space".
The thickness of the door makes it even more of a challenge to open the rear door enough to get your child out of a rear facing car seat, let alone the entire car seat itself. Don't underestimate the benefit of being able to take out the entire convertible car seat. You can take your kid in when s/he falls asleep, amongst other benefits.
If you haven't gone through the exercise yet of opening the rear door as the driver, you have to test it. The driver seat belt is on the B pillar which is built into the rear door which means you have to unbuckle yourself, come out of the car, before the rear door opens.
Note that you can't easily come out of the car on your own as a rear seated passenger. You'd have to reach for the front door from the back of the inside (assuming your arms are long enough), push the front door out and open enough to stay put, then reach blindly at the handle of the rear door, swing that out and then climb out. It's not something you'll want anyone doing, pretty much ever. Count on the front seat people always letting the rear people out, no matter what their age or ability/disability.
"The i3 is essentially a 2 door car with 2 bonus doors."
Don't compare it to a sedan. Compare it to a hatchback coupe. Think about the people who drive their BMW 4 series (not the 4 door grand coupe ones) with kids in the back. It's not convenient, but it's doable. Much easier with a Mazda 3 that has 4 normal doors to do the same thing of getting people in/out.
4. If you have a rear facing car seat, chances are you may have a larger sized stroller. Take that into consideration. Check fitment for yours. This is crucial b/c it could mean that you have to fold one of the seats down to fit your stroller and your wife/husband/partner who may normally want to sit next to the child, must sit in the front.
ME:
I personally don't have any of the issues mentioned above. I use the car mostly for commuter and I pick up my older forward facing child from school to home. Wife has a larger car that we would use primarily if 4 of us need to go somewhere. The i3 is not designed as a family car, but it's doable if you know the drawbacks and how you'll respond to them. For me it's worth it for a number of reasons. The car is just super cool to drive, the prices for second hand ones can't be beat, it's electric, the list goes on. But there are compromises. Not as many as you'd think. They say the car has the footprint of a 1-series BMW but the interior space of a 3-series. That may be perfect for city dwellers to park in a congested city.
When searching for a car, the things I looked for as my criteria were good crash test results, being short in length for easy city parallel parking, good on gas mileage for my lone commutes, workable with kids (I did want a BMW Z4 or SLK 350 but that's not happening with kids I need to haul around on occassion), under $25k, under 20k miles. I ended up with this after comparing to the Prius Prime and Tesla Model 3 but of which were over budget, the latter being more of a dream than a realistic financial acquisition.
I don't drive this setup normally. I literally just installed this second car seat behind me as the driver earlier this afternoon. If I planned to do this often with two kids, I'd swap it so that the front facing seat is behind me and the rear facing one is behind the passenger. But b/c I normally only have one child in the car (the front facing one), I'd prefer her on the passenger side to balance the car better and have better access to take her in and out from the curb side.
CONCLUSION:
Don't get stuck. No what you're getting and more importantly, what you're NOT getting. Know where you're compromising and be okay with that. There needs to be a pretty compelling reason to go with a car with coach doors and the need to take the entire car seat in and out. But do realize that the car should last longer than the time you'll be going through all of that. In less than 15 months, your kid will be front facing and the whole coach door problem is lessoned to a big extreme.
If you're like me and your diaper bag isn't a monsterous thing and instead, it's a Chrome Kadet sling bag, you'd rather get a little wet than carry a golf umbrella "just in case", your water bottles for your kids aren't full size b/c you can and are willing to refill on the go b/c you like stuff as compact as possible, then you'll most likely do just fine. If you're like my wife who literally pulled a hammer out of her purse on our first date, then you're going to struggle with the car.
FOLLOWUP:
If you can't already tell by my long winded response, I really do want to help. Reach out. I have this thread subscribed. Bring on the questions.
1. Clearance between the side of the car seat and the rear C pillar. It's tight regardless of the carseat and the height of the driver and the door has to pretty much be opened completely which may not be possible or convenience where you park to unload your kid.
2. It will depend the height of the person sitting in front of the rear facing seat.
I'd venture to say that the driver should be more comfortable in his/her seating position than the front seat passenger. Given that but also considering that the i3's front passenger knee clearance is extensive, let's just say you're okay with the front passenger being a bit less than super comfortable and s/he is less than 5'-9". If you're the primary driver and your wife/husband/partner isn't taller than 5'-9", your kid go go behind the passenger which would be perfect. Easy to load on the curb side for places where you drive on the right side of the road and curb is therefore on the right.
This is my seating position as the driver. I'm 5'-8" and the seat is pushed forward maybe 1-2" forward than ideal. The rear facing Britax car seat is big and bulky. If you zoom into the picture, you'll see that it's close to being in the most vertical position (with the black marker in the green zone) to take up the least amount of depth in the rear cabin and therefore giving the driver more space.
3. You need to consider that the the coach doors block you in when you're parked parallel next to another car such as in a parking lot/structure. You won't be able to remove a convertible car seat at all. The logistics of the doors swinging against each other and having to open and close in a particular order mixed with the close proximity of the car next to you limiting your space just makes it impossible. So if you plan to unload while parked next to other cars in tight spaces, forget it. It's probably not worth the trouble of having to circle around for the "end space".
The thickness of the door makes it even more of a challenge to open the rear door enough to get your child out of a rear facing car seat, let alone the entire car seat itself. Don't underestimate the benefit of being able to take out the entire convertible car seat. You can take your kid in when s/he falls asleep, amongst other benefits.
If you haven't gone through the exercise yet of opening the rear door as the driver, you have to test it. The driver seat belt is on the B pillar which is built into the rear door which means you have to unbuckle yourself, come out of the car, before the rear door opens.
Note that you can't easily come out of the car on your own as a rear seated passenger. You'd have to reach for the front door from the back of the inside (assuming your arms are long enough), push the front door out and open enough to stay put, then reach blindly at the handle of the rear door, swing that out and then climb out. It's not something you'll want anyone doing, pretty much ever. Count on the front seat people always letting the rear people out, no matter what their age or ability/disability.
"The i3 is essentially a 2 door car with 2 bonus doors."
Don't compare it to a sedan. Compare it to a hatchback coupe. Think about the people who drive their BMW 4 series (not the 4 door grand coupe ones) with kids in the back. It's not convenient, but it's doable. Much easier with a Mazda 3 that has 4 normal doors to do the same thing of getting people in/out.
4. If you have a rear facing car seat, chances are you may have a larger sized stroller. Take that into consideration. Check fitment for yours. This is crucial b/c it could mean that you have to fold one of the seats down to fit your stroller and your wife/husband/partner who may normally want to sit next to the child, must sit in the front.
ME:
I personally don't have any of the issues mentioned above. I use the car mostly for commuter and I pick up my older forward facing child from school to home. Wife has a larger car that we would use primarily if 4 of us need to go somewhere. The i3 is not designed as a family car, but it's doable if you know the drawbacks and how you'll respond to them. For me it's worth it for a number of reasons. The car is just super cool to drive, the prices for second hand ones can't be beat, it's electric, the list goes on. But there are compromises. Not as many as you'd think. They say the car has the footprint of a 1-series BMW but the interior space of a 3-series. That may be perfect for city dwellers to park in a congested city.
When searching for a car, the things I looked for as my criteria were good crash test results, being short in length for easy city parallel parking, good on gas mileage for my lone commutes, workable with kids (I did want a BMW Z4 or SLK 350 but that's not happening with kids I need to haul around on occassion), under $25k, under 20k miles. I ended up with this after comparing to the Prius Prime and Tesla Model 3 but of which were over budget, the latter being more of a dream than a realistic financial acquisition.
I don't drive this setup normally. I literally just installed this second car seat behind me as the driver earlier this afternoon. If I planned to do this often with two kids, I'd swap it so that the front facing seat is behind me and the rear facing one is behind the passenger. But b/c I normally only have one child in the car (the front facing one), I'd prefer her on the passenger side to balance the car better and have better access to take her in and out from the curb side.
CONCLUSION:
Don't get stuck. No what you're getting and more importantly, what you're NOT getting. Know where you're compromising and be okay with that. There needs to be a pretty compelling reason to go with a car with coach doors and the need to take the entire car seat in and out. But do realize that the car should last longer than the time you'll be going through all of that. In less than 15 months, your kid will be front facing and the whole coach door problem is lessoned to a big extreme.
If you're like me and your diaper bag isn't a monsterous thing and instead, it's a Chrome Kadet sling bag, you'd rather get a little wet than carry a golf umbrella "just in case", your water bottles for your kids aren't full size b/c you can and are willing to refill on the go b/c you like stuff as compact as possible, then you'll most likely do just fine. If you're like my wife who literally pulled a hammer out of her purse on our first date, then you're going to struggle with the car.
FOLLOWUP:
If you can't already tell by my long winded response, I really do want to help. Reach out. I have this thread subscribed. Bring on the questions.
A fanatic of all things electric. Ridables like electric ice chests and stand up scooters I adore. Drones like DJI, I root for. I'm a fan of both, but nothing beats my love for my 2016 i3 Rex with Deka World. Shhh, don't tell my wife.
Re: Carseats and the back seat
Tip for sipabit: Photobucket is blocking your picture. Try a more modern site like imgur instead that doesn't have those silly rules. 
My experience with car seats is:
1. Infant seats are relatively easy other than the door dance if you are closely parked next to another car on that side.
2. Rear facing, fixed position convertible seats are really painful! (Cybex or similar rotating seats are not sold in the US). To be honest, they are a pain in any car, but the i3 is probably one of the worst. It would be nearly impossible to get my 16 month old in and out from the passenger side where the rear facing is installed because there's a tiny gap between the C pillar and the seat the size of a mail slot. I have to go in the driver's side and put him in the seat from inside the car.
It's not ideal by any means and I greatly look forward to front facing, if I still have the car by that point. That said I'm willing to put up with it in order to drive my electric car vs taking our slow, annoying, and expensive to fuel gas car!
My experience with car seats is:
1. Infant seats are relatively easy other than the door dance if you are closely parked next to another car on that side.
2. Rear facing, fixed position convertible seats are really painful! (Cybex or similar rotating seats are not sold in the US). To be honest, they are a pain in any car, but the i3 is probably one of the worst. It would be nearly impossible to get my 16 month old in and out from the passenger side where the rear facing is installed because there's a tiny gap between the C pillar and the seat the size of a mail slot. I have to go in the driver's side and put him in the seat from inside the car.
It's not ideal by any means and I greatly look forward to front facing, if I still have the car by that point. That said I'm willing to put up with it in order to drive my electric car vs taking our slow, annoying, and expensive to fuel gas car!
2017 REx - Platinum Silver - Deka