[NavM]

My wife and I test drove the new X3 3.5 over the weekend. We had looked at the X5 3.5 several weeks ago and liked it but wanted to check out X3 because we prefer a smaller car. We have been interested in X3 with M-sport package once available so all we wanted to do was get a feel for the car and check out the interior space. We were really impressed with the rear seat leg room and the trunk cargo area. Really for those without multiple kids, there should be plenty of space. The engine, transmission and the ride were superb. The car did not have sport package so the front seats were disappointing. The dash looked nice but the material is not on par with X5. Overall, a pleasant interior but defintely recommond getting one with at least the sport package if not the M-sport just to get the better seats and steering wheel. By the way, the start of production for M-package is april 2011.

Anyway, back on topic. We took our 4 month old son along for the ride. We strapped his rear facing car seat behind the front passenger seat with plenty of room to spare. Really no issues with the space. We also had a forward facing child seat, borrowed from a relative, and put that behind the driver's seat. Again no issues with the fit.

However, we noticed that by putting in a 2nd car seat, an adult would not be able to sit in between the two car seats. This was important to us in case we have a 3rd adult with us who needs to seat in the back. So, it was kind of a let down. I tried to squeeze in between the car seats and found the space very tight and uncomfortable. The huge hump in the floor in the middle of rear passenger area (where the drive shaft or transmission sits) was making it very uncomfortable for me to seat there in between the 2 car seats. Of note, I am 5'10" , 150 lbs so not huge by any stretch of imagination. I realize that child car seats come in different sizes but overall, I believe my observation applies to most combination of infant or convertible car seats. I am not sure about booster seats but they seem to be even wider than infant car seats.

We reapeated the experiment in the X5 which was in the showroom and found that an adult could sit back there in between 2 car seats. Obviously, it was not super comfortable but easily manageable, at leat for someone of my size. I also noticed that there was no huge hump in the back seat area which made it very comfortable. The floor was bascially flat in the rear passenger seating area with only a small hump in the middle.

So now, we are back where we started. X3 or X5?

[BIMMER UK 76]

On my test drive I put my sons car sets behind the passenger seat and when I also set in the back behind the drivers seats the space between me and the car seat was very small.

Still that said, I can count the amount of times we have two adults in the rear + my son on one hand.

[kmarei]

i did that whole "in case" thing with our last car
we got the 7 seat Volvo Xc90
and after using the car about 6 years we had someone in the rear most seats maybe 4 or 5 times. but everytime we used the car we had to suffer a smaller middle row
(5 seater has much more space in middle row than 7 seater)
so how often do you need to carry a 3rd adult in between 2 kids?
and is it someone you dislike enough to put between 2 kids?
i know if someone sits next to my 5 year old, he usually comes out with a headache

maybe you should just fill that small space with a 3rd kid, thereby fixing your problem

[BIMMER UK 76]

Originally Posted by kmarei

maybe you should just fill that small space with a 3rd kid, thereby fixing your problem

[ktjernstrom]

Hi,

Did you try with the rear facing child seat in the middle? I've run that way in my current Saab 9-3 for almost three years now. Not only is it the most safe way to have a child seat mounted (with straps tying down towards the front seats), it is also very convenient as it frees up space in the rear. Our second child sits front facing behind the passenger seat.

Karl

[Nahoa]

Perhaps driving with three adults and two car seats isn't compatible with your preference for a small vehicle. If you really need to do that, a bigger vehicle is fairly obviously the solution. The X3 isn't gonna stretch to fit. How long will your oldest be in the car seat? If you're gonna drop one car seat soon, maybe you can manage the interim with the third adult driving separately? How often do you really have the third adult? We bought cars before with visits of our parents in mind, later realizing that happened infrequently enough that we could have rented a car for their visits and bought a car more tailored to us without significant financial impact.

[bluesmachine]

I totally agree with the previous post.

I have three kids - a 6 year old and two, 3 year old twins. And I think I am getting the X3.
.
Will I take all my kids in the back seat? Probably not right now as two are in car seats and one is in a booster. For right now it's me, my bikes, maybe 1 or 2 kids but when it's the whole family - it's the minivan.

It simply depends what you are after and what you use your car for.

If it's the primary car, then it may not be the car for you. If you truly carry two kids and another adult, then it's not the car for you.

If its you and your wife and the two kids then maybe its the car for you.

If not, than its seems like the added space of the X5 is the car for you.

[NavM]

Thanks. Everyone's made excellent points. Having a 3rd adult in the back will be infrequent. I'd say for the most part it will be 2 adults and 2 kids in car seats so we should be OK.

[NavM]

Originally Posted by kmarei

i did that whole "in case" thing with our last car
we got the 7 seat Volvo Xc90
and after using the car about 6 years we had someone in the rear most seats maybe 4 or 5 times. but everytime we used the car we had to suffer a smaller middle row
(5 seater has much more space in middle row than 7 seater)
so how often do you need to carry a 3rd adult in between 2 kids?
and is it someone you dislike enough to put between 2 kids?
i know if someone sits next to my 5 year old, he usually comes out with a headache

maybe you should just fill that small space with a 3rd kid, thereby fixing your problem

I can think of a few people that I could put back there.
With 3 kids, now we are talking x5 with 3rd row seating.

[Ranger 6]

Originally Posted by NavM3

Thanks. Everyone's made excellent points. Having a 3rd adult in the back will be infrequent. I'd say for the most part it will be 2 adults and 2 kids in car seats so we should be OK.

We regularly carry three in the back of ours (old shape) and have only recently changed from the two boosters. Simply, they're always children and never for more than 5 miles so the comfort is not really an issue. In the 4 1/2 years we've had it we may have had an adult and both kids no more than 10 times.