Child seats and small cars

My wife is due in less than a month, and I'm trying to figure out if there's a safe way to put a rear-facing child seat in the back of my E36 convertible that doesn't make it impossible to use the front passenger seat as well. This car doesn't have a center strap, so the seat has to go behind the front passenger's seat, and rear facing child seats are pretty big. How do other GRMers cope with the huge modern child seats when they have a small car?

My wife's Oldsmobile can fit it on a center seat belt, and we've also got a Suburban that obviously has no problems at all. But I can't figure out a good way to fit a rear facing child seat in a BMW 3 series.

I'm sure somebody will be shocked and offended when I say this, but I just unplugged the airbag and put our son in the front seat of my wife's Z3......

Unless you're trying to figure out how to keep them in the back so mom can ride up front. I have no answer for that, sorry.

-Rob

rob_lewis wrote: Unless you're trying to figure out how to keep them in the back so mom can ride up front. I have no answer for that, sorry. -Rob

Yeah, that's what I was hoping to accomplish. If I were just carrying the baby with me but no other passengers, I could simply flip the front seat forward, but if my wife wanted to ride along, she'd have to wedge in behind the driver's seat. I was trying to find a better way to set things up...

Harness mounts to tie it down in the center rear. If they can hold all those 250lb plus racers out there, they should hold a baby seat.

Ditto that - see if you can install the seat in the middle.

The solution would typically be to start shopping for another vehicle, but it sounds like you have other vehicles available. My guess is that you'll drive the E36 less once Jr. comes along.

I'm guessing your car doesn't have the LATCH system in it. Those are the little D hooks mounted between the seat back and bottom that you strap the child seat into. Usually cars with this have center hooks. If not, sorry, there's no easy way to do this. Yes, the rear facing seats are big, but you should still be able to put it behind the passenger seat and leave enough room so the front passenger isn't eating their knees.

And Rob, you're not alone doing that. I have given my 6 year old, who is still in a booster, many rides in my Miata. When he was just a baby, I had a Shelby Cobra replica. I strapped him in that more than once for a ride around the block.

My advice is to not use that car until you can turn the carseat around. You can shop smaller seats that may not allow your kid to use it for as long, but will fit better (cheaper than another car). We use the Graco snugride infant seat (baby bucket) until 6 months or so. Then we use a large Britax Marathon convertible rear facing until big enough to turn forward (1 year or so). That leaves 6 months of not using the E36 with all 3 of you in the car.

Also just FYI, our Britax Marathon is huge, especially when rear facing. The Marathon came with a small strap that is useful for holding down the head end when facing backwards in a car without LATCH (like your E36). I just looped it around the front seat anchor and ran the top LATCH connection down to it. Used the seatbelt to secure the base. You couldn't budge that seat an inch!

On my 911 I replaced two or the rear seatbelt bolts with a pair of harness eyebolts. In your car, you may be able to do the same thing, but just use the the two bolts toward the center of the car. Then use the latch belt. Be sure to find a way to secure the top tether if you go forward facing.

Of course, I am not an expert, so do not do this.

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

Is this a nice E36? Manual?

It was about the cleanest E36 convertible I could find, and a stick shift was mandatory. And it does not have LATCH points, or a center seat belt in the back.

I think I'll see if one of the smaller "infant-only" seats can fit.

Since you have an Olds and a Suburban I am assuming that all 3 of you in the E36 will not be a daily occurence.

If that is true just use the solution my neighbors do.

1. Front passenger seat as far forward as possible.
2. Rear facing baby seat in the rear on passenger side.
3. Mommy sits in rear seat behind Daddy.

Did the latch clips actually work on this eyebolt? My latch clips are thin so they only really like to go over the smaller stamped steel LATCH anchors.

Woody wrote: On my 911 I replaced two or the rear seatbelt bolts with a pair of harness eyebolts. In your car, you may be able to do the same thing, but just use the the two bolts toward the center of the car. Then use the latch belt. Be sure to find a way to secure the top tether if you go forward facing. Of course, I am not an expert, so *do not* do this.

Infant seats w/o the base should fit. I've had mine in the back of smaller cars than an E36....

As far as convertible infant-thru-toddler seats go, you might try to find a slightly older one. They've gotten HUGE in the last few years. My 5 year old evenflo fits just fine and dandy in almost any car, but the new ones are horrible in anything smaller than my 5-series.

As for anchoring the thing, none of my cars have LATCH anchors so I use a CG Lock on 'em to get the seat belt tight, lock the inertia reel, and use a rolled up towel jammed between the belt and the seat to keep tension on it. It ain't going anywhere. Good excuse to have a couple of CG Locks floating around for track days, too. :)

To make a bit more rearward room you could look into modifying the back seat's back to get rid of some foam. Maybe buy a spare rear seat back to modify? See if there's a way to safely remove the rear seat altogether? I know that's starting to venture into wacko territory. Who knows....it might actually mount more securely that way.

(you shouldn't be taking advice from me and my miata-riding toddler, though)