[clank]

Looking for feedback on sport seats in the m40. I am coming from a 2016 M3 standard and the car is great but the seats just become uncomfortable for me driving long distances (over 200mis.) mostly in the rear end. I am looking into moving to a m40 or even maybe a x3m standard and I am interested in opinions on owners of this seat. I am not really crazy about the quality of the vernesca leather but my real concern here is all around seat comfort for extended trips and such. thx for the feedback on the good/bad...

[garz747]

To be honest I think they look great but arent that comfy after an hour in the saddle. Im 170lbs and find not that much padding. Vernasca leather in cognac is nice tho and good quality. My M40i does not have the ventilated option so side supports are electrically adjustable.

[Aaaaaaaaa]

That's funny because I think the seats in my M3 are far more comfortable than my M40i

[clank]

well its weird, I agree the M3 seat is very comfortable on bouncing around short drives, but when I get into extended drives my ass starts to really ache and even my wifey who is very petite says she agrees after a few hours in car. The tail end just seems very firm on m3 seats.

[TXSchnee]

I have done 10 hours straight driving, getting in the second day for 8 more hours (1200 mile trip) and never had a back ache or pain. I actually prefer the firmness of the M Sport seats, have had them in 3 of my vehicles and they are far superior to the standard comfort seats. Going to add the standard disclaimer that seat comfort is subjective and you may very well hate them.

[Alias1431]

Seat comfort is indeed very subjective. That being said, I think the general consensus is ventilated seats on the X3 are the worst thing since unsliced bread, and the non ventilated seats with better bolstering are better, but still not good. The style of seating you can get in the X3M though, is supposed to be much better for some reason. Ventilated, too.

[clank]

u can only get vent seats on x3m if you upgrade to thier sport seat. The standard x3m seat is the same seat in the x3m40 which is the seat I am interested in on comfort. Not only back but the bumm area which is my issue on long trips in m3 which as of now takes my m3 out of play allot of times when we look at long ( 5+ hrs.) trips which kinda sucks.

[GA335i]

I have an 18 M3 and I would say the non vent seats in the X3 have more cushioning in the tail bone area than the M3 does. I like you have noticed it gets a little sore on long drives in the M3.

The ventilated seats in the X3 are pretty terrible, my wife even commented on them after just a 20 minute test drive and she's usually fine with anything.

[corn18]

We love our X3 ventilated seats. We spent 20 hours in them last month (took a nap in them). Not my favorite seat but not terrible. And once you switch on the seat heat plus ventilation you will not care about anything else. It’s dreamy.

[titomi]

hey hou... yet another seat thread. It's personal like color. Someone like it, someone don't.

[Tchgrif]

my seats are Merino leather so my opinion may not be what you are looking for but I love the seats. I have driven for 6 hours straight thru and it doesn't bother me at all but I would recommend taking anything out of your back pockets, like all German cars they are firm but supportive.

[docal]

Almost embarrassed to say, but leaving on a 7 hour trip in a couple of days and leaving my beautiful 2020 X3M40 behind and taking my wife's Outback because the seats on the Subaru are the best I've ever laid my Tush on and the Bimmer's are too damn hard no matter how I adjust them after an hour. Will probably break down and put my temper-pedicure pillow behind me like I used to do with my M3 to soften but can't bring myself to do it yet.

[Torinalth]

I was actually fine on my drive back from SC to home when I picked up my car from the plant.... but after that long drive i've never really been comfortable in them. Purple just released their line of seat pads so I was tempted to measure my seat and get one. kinda pricy, but supposed to be nice.

[cadman50]

Originally Posted by garz747

To be honest I think they look great but arent that comfy after an hour in the saddle. Im 170lbs and find not that much padding. Vernasca leather in cognac is nice tho and good quality. My M40i does not have the ventilated option so side supports are electrically adjustable.

Are the ventilated seats and non-vent seats identical in shape? Do they both have the thigh extenders? Based on the message above, is the adjustable side bolsters only available on the non-vent seats?
I have the sport seats in my X3 and think they are very comfortable. And I've driven in them for 1000 miles straight.

[STooK]

I think my body prefers seating position of a sedan or a coupe over a SUV in general. The seat itself is comfortable but once I set the wheel and start driving it gets a little uncomfortable on long drives. I'm just glad BMW made the sport seats standard across the line up. That was a big plus in my decision to get the X3. I used to have a non-sport seat 335i back in the day and man that sucked. It was just a flat piece of hard cushion basically. I never really had issues with BMW sport seats though.

[jeff3820]

Originally Posted by clank

well its weird, I agree the M3 seat is very comfortable on bouncing around short drives, but when I get into extended drives my ass starts to really ache and even my wifey who is very petite says she agrees after a few hours in car. The tail end just seems very firm on m3 seats.

Exactly. I have the same issue. Drove around today and for the first 30-45 min all was OK. After that...it was literally a pain in the ass. I bought one of the Purple travel cushion but it is a bit too small for the seat. Comfortable though. I ordered the next size up so we will see when that one arrives. I love my 2020 X3...but NOT THE SEATS.

[ramparts]

Originally Posted by jeff3820

Exactly. I have the same issue. Drove around today and for the first 30-45 min all was OK. After that...it was literally a pain in the ass. I bought one of the Purple travel cushion but it is a bit too small for the seat. Comfortable though. I ordered the next size up so we will see when that one arrives. I love my 2020 X3...but NOT THE SEATS.

My car seats have become increasingly more comfortable since I've been able to go back to the gym to were on my strength training.

I sit at a desk most of the day, so my posture suffers. I had corrected it pre lockdown, but then I t started getting sloppy again.

Like a few have said, they are supportive and designed to work with a correctly aligned spine. If they are uncomfortable, it might be your posture !

I had a bad pelvic tilt AND rounded shoulders.

[3lucidus]

f series m sports seats way more comfortable that g series m sports i'd say!

[satz]

On my M40's sport seats (non ventilated) I find that I need to set every setting more precisely than I have on previous cars. Then I get a good level of comfort.
Even the thigh pad extension. I find the steering wheel reach is not quite enough so I have to have the seat a little closer to the dash than I'd like.

Set the seat base angle and extension (and seat height), so that there's even pressure under your thighs from knee to butt when your feet are on the pedals.

Then set the backrest angle to give even back support from top down. Then the lumbar support.

I find the lack of support for right foot (in right hand drive cars) a bit annoying. That also affects the seat comfort because of the angle your right foot has to be at when using cruise control..

[ga9213]

As mentioned above, took me a while to find the right settings for me. Once set, I find it to be one of the most comfortable seats of any vehicle I've ever owned (26 in total) so I'm happy.

[cadman50]

I sat in a 2021 M40i ventilated seat yesterday. People have said they thought those seats were not as comfortable as the non-vent seats. Since there wasn't a non-vent X3 M40i to compare it to, does the non-vent seat in fact have the adjustable side bolsters? I didn't think the ventilated seats gave much side support.

[Wgosma]

German seats tend to be a bit 'stiff'; I have leather sport seats in my 2012 X3....I added some bottom comfort with a thin gel cushion, made a LOT of difference in comfort for extended driving. Of course if you have ventilated seats I guess you lose some ventilation (?), ditto with heat for heated seats.

Website: https://www.onlygel.com/

(I purchased my Ultragel seat bottom cushion from Amazon as I recall)

Link to how I originally came across this product here https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...light=ultragel

Seat position also makes a lot of difference in comfort, after watching this video I moved my seat forward and more upright, that felt bit strange at first but it is useful; keeping the seat close enough so your shoulders don't pull away from the seatback when turning the steering wheel is good.