Looking for folks to share their 3 and 5 series wagon experiences. I'm
currently driving a 330ci convertible, but with one child and another
on the way, it's just not cutting it any more. Time to grow up, I
guess..

Although most likely I'll be hauling kids around, I'm also interested
in how well full-size adults fare in the rear seats. Thanks!

"Guppy Pilot" <slipstream (AT) nospam (DOT) qwest.net> wrote

I'm gonna guess that you're going for a car that is essentially the same
year, or newer, than the 330 that you have.

I had '94 4-door 3 Series that I drove from San Diego in a long day (10-ish
hours), with 4 adults in the car and luggage in the trunk. We stopped in the
dessert to take some pictures (two of the adults are from Germany, and the
desert was a new experience for them), had lunch and bought gas in Lake
Havasu. The seats were pretty good for such a long trip. We then drove to
Las Vegas, then back home. The ride to Vegas was a a short day, probably
about 5 or 6 hours, and the trip from Vegas to home was 5 or 6 hours. We put
two days in between stuffing our guests into the back seat again.

The babies are going to be a bigger issue for you than more adults. As much
as the 3 Series touring will get you around, I think the 5 Series touring
will work better with pair of car-seats for your kids strapped in the back.

Thanks! Definitely good info for the considerations. It's been long
enough with our current kid that I'd forgotten how huge those rearward
facing baby seats are!

slip


On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:54:49 -0700, "Jeff Strickland"
<crwlrjeff (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

On Oct 13, 2:40*am, Guppy Pilot <slipstr... (AT) nospam (DOT) qwest.net> wrote:
Hi!
I'm the owner of a 2000 model 325xi station, and I'm quite happy with
it.
It has now 220'000 km (136000 miles) and the engine and the body are
perfect.
I would say it's a bit small for adults in the rear seats, except if
the passengers are much smaller than 6 ft.
However, I would say that the biggest issue is the lack of storage in
the boot (trunk), due to the sloped rear window.
Just my $.02
Regards
Giovanni (Switzerland).

I have an E36 328i touring ('96) and have had an E30 318i touring (89),
my mate has a '94 525iX touring.

E36 touring is a great car, but I don't think it was sold in the US. OK
for two adults in the back but the centre bit really is for emergency
transport or small children only. Amazing how much stuff you can cram
into one :-)

The load bed is fairly high though, the seats fold forwards but sit on
top of the seat cushions. On the E30 the seat base folded forwards and
up with the seats backs going into the space that provided. It was a
fair bit lower. So it's not ideal for tall objects. Nice wide tailgate
entrance, unlike the E30.

E34 touring is a good deal larger in every dimension and many had
hydraulic self levelling suspension for dealing with heavy loads.

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"GT" <giovanni.tarantino (AT) a3 (DOT) epfl.ch> wrote
I would agree, with two caveats:
1) for shorter trips, our E46 has room for my wife and two grown
sons; one 6'4", one 5'10". I'm 6' and my wife is 5'4".
2) there is hardly more room in the touring than in the sedan trunk.
However, it takes larger items, as the hatch on the touring is much
larger than the sedan's.

FloydR

The rear-facing seat is a temporary condition that lasts, what, 9 months.
The forward facing seats will be with you for 5 or 6 years. That's the
situation you really need to plan around.

I told you the story of driving to the Grand Canyon (my bad, I forgot to
mention the destination of the 10-hour road trip), with two adults in the
back seat. My assumption is that the seats in the 4-door and those in the
wagon are equivelent, and better suited for adults than the rear seats in
the convertible. Having said that, I have a '94 convertible now that has
never carried anybody in the back seat for more than a few minutes at a
time.





"Guppy Pilot" <slipstream (AT) nospam (DOT) qwest.net> wrote

"Guppy Pilot" <slipstream (AT) nospam (DOT) qwest.net> wrote

We were in teh same boat and looked at the 3 series wagons. We ended up with
a X3 since it is about the same dimensions as the wagon but taller. I sit in
the back seat while my wife drives. It is quite comfortable for me (6'2").
btw - Since the right front seat is usually empty, I take the headrest out
so I have a better view of the road.
Hope you find one you like.

In article <sui7d59tg0snps3dohmr5o8cssf8iff0c5 (AT) 4ax (DOT) com>,
Guppy Pilot <slipstream (AT) nospam (DOT) qwest.net> wrote:
My brother has a 330T - kids all grown up so just the two of them plus dog.
He tows a caravan a lot. And finds it far too small. Reckons his previous
E28 520 could hold more when going off with the caravan. He wanted a 5
series tourer, but simply couldn't find a manual one secondhand in his
neck of the woods.
I'm 6 ft tall and slim(ish) build, and fine the back a bit tight for
space. My E39 is fine in the back - for two.

--
*Never kick a cow pat on a hot day *

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

From what I can remember we had three seats for our boy, a basket for the
baby stage, then two different seats, both facing forward, positioned on the
back seat, never on the front seat.

The last can be one with removable back.

DAS

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"Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote