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Sooo....Baby Seat?

43K views 59 replies 38 participants last post by  hcaleman 
#1 · (Edited)
Coming May 2014, the M5 will be doing double duty as VIP transport, a little VIP that is.

I have been reading about various strategies on protecting the back seats, but so for I still need a baby seat. A discerning bunch like us, I figured would be a good place to start. I predict it will be mostly in my car, though would like the possibility of moving easily to my wife's 328xi coupe (e92). Who has some recommendations?


Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Mt recommendation is to get a baby seat that can detach from its base and be placed into a stroller and switch back and forth. This way it makes life easier taking the carrier in and out of the car to the carrier, and you can purchase 2 (or more) bases, so you do not have to continually lock\unlock the base from the vehicle(s).

We used a Chicco Keyfit 30 for a good part of the first year, then graduated to a permanent Recaro seat.

As for protecting the leather, I used part of a karate mat (much stronger than a yoga mat) cut to size to place under the seat base. This protected the bottom very well, but as you will find, there are many options posted on the internet about how to protect your seats. I find that any real impressions are not made during the early stages of the baby's life, but more when you get into larger, more permanent child seats. At which time, you may want to look into getting another car to preserve your M5 leather as I am :biggrin:

Congrats on your new addition, and dont forget to place the infant seat rear facing in the middle for max protection. Periodically checking the base to ensure proper tension and alignment.
 
#11 ·
Mt recommendation is to get a baby seat that can detach from its base and be placed into a stroller and switch back and forth. This way it makes life easier taking the carrier in and out of the car to the carrier, and you can purchase 2 (or more) bases, so you do not have to continually lock\unlock the base from the vehicle(s).
I second this, we did this for my daughter and my son, it will work for about a year and then you'll need to upgrade. I put my daughter forward facing after she was one in a Recaro seat, but the current recommendation is to keep them rear facing for as long as possible, 2-3 years, so my son (15 months) is still rear facing.

I have a pair of these for whatever car I put the kiddie seats in: Eddie Bauer® Car Seat Protector : Target

Seems to work well.

NHTSA has ratings for several child seats you may want to look at before buying one - Child Safety Seat Ease of Use Ratings
 
#4 ·
We use the prince lionheart set protector under our car seat. It works nicely, although I did have to fold in the outside corners so that the buckle receivers for the passenger seats were accessible. We went with the britax marathon, as it allowed for the most upright position while rear facing to allow the front seats to move back comfortably. We did have to use a rolled up towel to shore up the back of the seat to get the angle right. This is recommended by the manufacturer and is necessary because the base of the seat is so slanted.

Our son has only recently changed to forward facing, and he loves the M. It warms my heart greatly to hear him say "fast!" After a spirited acceleration from a stop light.

I do recommend taking the seat out once in a while to allow the leather to move back into position around the anchor points.
 
#6 ·
If you end up getting the recaros please post pictures with your kids in full racing gear at WOT:M5launch:
 
#7 ·
I will second the Prince Lionheart seat protector. We used it in the Odyssey and a few times in the M5. I would suggest as others that you start with a modular system that works well with your stroller of choice. We went from the rear facing to the super seat of the moment to the modular booster and finally graduating out of all of it. Good luck.
 
#8 ·
That Recaro can't be used until the baby is a little older. It's a booster seat once they graduate or get close to graduating from rear facing. I had to mount my Recaro forward a little early since my son could not stand rear facing anymore. But only early by a month or so. Now he enjoys the Recaro while watching his shows on a screen mounted on my headrest.
 
#10 ·
Congrats!

I like how your first priority is checkign to see how to prevent m5 damage. Well done sir :)

...

First, know that you really are facing 3 different baby seats over the 2 years.

- An infant baby seat suitable for the first few months
- A rear-facing baby seat suitable for ~15-30 pounds
- A front-facing baby seat suitable for 30+ pounds

You can figure out which baby seat you like the best. I have the diono radian XT and have put it in my e39 m5, e60 535xit, and 07 VW Touareg. It's fairly narrow, well built (steel frame), but in rear-facing position that front seat is moving far forward in every car but the Touareg.

To protect the leather do the following:

1. Treat with either leatherique or weekly with conditioner for 1 month before installation
2. Lay a thick soft cotton towel down (no need to buy a mat IMHO for the bottom). Fold to double thickness as desired.
3. Install car seat SECURELY
4. Un-install car seat once every two weeks, vacuum, and condition leather once a month again

Now when the tyke gets older and starts kicking, that's when you really want a seat back protector of some sort.

Lastly, the best way to protect your leather is to buy a beater :)
 
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#14 · (Edited)
Thanks for all the pointers! Looks like ill have to review the recommendation regarding forward to rear facing a bit, and get at least a short list going for the infant stage (though we still have till May :) )

I did say when considering the purchase of this car that it would be a very safe car for when we have kids one day...
 
#18 ·
Don't buy the one seat solution. As all the pro-dads stated, the key for the first year is getting a detachable unit that goes from the stroller to the car. If you want to wake up your baby to strap him into the car seat, you will regret it. Remember rule one: "Don't wake the baby".

Use a modular for the first year+ - these days the recommendation is to keep them rear facing until their legs are too long. The seats are constantly changing - there are more recalls for kid seats than just about any other consumer product. Buy new since a lot of them depend on foam for safety and the foam degrades with age.

Do not cheap out with kid safety. Buy the right seat for the right job. You will probably need 3 different setups until they graduate to no booster. Good luck and congratulations!
 
#19 ·
I agree with using the best stuff available btw. But it strikes me as ironic that back in the day not only where there no car seats, but many cars didn't have seatbelts either. I remember falling out of my Dad's 1963 Impala as a young lad and smacking my head open bad enough to need stitches. I'm still here! Amazing that any of us survived hiha
 
#21 ·
Yes, those of us who grew up in the '70s with rear facing station wagon seats and sliding over between the compartments as the car was moving...those were the days.
However statistics bears out that a number of kids have died from a completely preventable situation, so yes car seats are the norm today. It is for the better, no matter how nostalgic we may be. Just because you and I survived does not mean that others did not.
As an engineer, I trust the data more than anecdotes, so when it came time to provide for my kids, I bought the best stuff I could.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I second the notion that you need an infant seat that goes easily from the car to the stroller and vice versa. We used a Chicco KeyFit (pronounced "key-co" apparently) infant seat - works really well:

http://www.diapers.com/p/chicco-keyfit-30-infant-car-seat-base-midori-419623?site=CA&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc_D&utm_term=HD-224&utm_campaign=GooglePLA&CAWELAID=1380237609&utm_content=pla&ca_sku=HD-224&ca_gpa=pla&ca_kw={keyword}

My son has now graduated to this one (Harness to Booster Car Seat Performance SPORT ? RECARO) He is 27 months and 30+ pounds, uses it in the harness mode, and it suits him well and he'll only grow into it. He really enjoys it as it is comfortably upright with a slight backward lean. There were others where I felt like the bulk of his weight was on his lower back, it just didn't look comfortable. Keep in mind this is for when they get taller and heavier.

Good luck and congrats on the addition!
 
#24 ·
Dang, I would never admit that I've got a baby seat in the back... Well, OK, we use a Britax.

Biggest challenge is the amount of excess food, dirt, toys, crap (yes), vomit, water, crayons (you get the picture) that will be going into the backseat of your M5.

A towel under the seat, and on the back of the seat (while they face rearward), and front (when they turn around and face forward) helps during the clean up stage.

For me this is the first one in the M5, 4 of them abused the living crap out of the back seat of my 540i, and made the back of the mini-van a candidate super fund site...
 
#25 ·
Not going to comment on the car seat, but x2 on the "all you need is a towel" suggestion. The world is pricey enough fellas. No reason to spend needless dollars. 1-2 old (washed 100's of times) bath or, better yet, beach towels is all you need. I have one folded under the base and another one flat/one ply behind the back.

Didn't pre-treat the leather. Never remove to vacuum under it. Any time I've removed the seat there's no sign of trouble.

I guess if I wanted to waste a few bucks I'd buy brand new BLACK towels, wash them a few times, and cut to fit. That would probably look best imho.
 
#26 ·
I caution against a baby seat that fits into a stroller. The fact is that with that style, the stroller is BIG, even folded up. We got one and hardly used it just because it was such a pain to transport. We wound up using an umbrella stroller most of the time once our little one was big enough to not be carried all the time.

As for protecting the seats in the car, I went to BB&B and got a big, thick, black towel for about $10. It's been working great so far... YMMV.
 
#27 ·
I have *two* car seats in the back seat. We're on the convertible-booster seat now that both are older (3 and 5). You want to start with the base unit and the cradle seat. There will be times you'll be glad you could unclip your sleeping baby and bring them inside to continue sleeping, snug in their cradle carrier. Multiple bases make it easier for others (grandparents, etc) to transport without figuring out how to properly route belts, snap latch connectors, etc. Something under the seat/base is essential, to protect the leather and to diffuse the compression, so you don't end up with marks from the edges of seat bases. The biggest problems I've found is that my 3 year old can (and will) kick the seat back ahead of her, and that when switching to booster mode, the recessed buckles in the rear seat are tough to reach for the child seated in the booster. I'm thinking a booster only seat soon, which may sit a bit lower/closer to the buckle would make things easier. We used Graco infant, and Britax Boulevard seats.

Your bigger issue will be vacuuming out Cheerios, goldfish and pretzels and cleaning up milk spills, vomit (thankfully this only happened in my wife's car :2: ) and stickers. Seriously consider banning all stickers from vehicles - just sayin'

Congratulations - just wait for the moment they say "Can we take Daddy's car - it's more fun"
Ed
 
#28 ·
I explored many options. The best was Peg Perego modular seat with stroller and base and each car. Then, beyond infant, I switched to Britax seats, Roundabout then Frontier series. The Recaro seats are lower quality than, and not as safe as, Britax. There's also no need for a seat protector. Some research has shown the seats move much more in accidents with a protector in place. I've had seats in 4 BMW's with leather for extended periods of time and they've never caused any damage. There may be some seat deformation immediately after removal, but it will be back to normal within a few days.
 
#29 ·
When little, the Peg click-ins are nice. Then Britax, one of the adjustable seats. With this, I placed three of the "car seat protectors for upholstery" from One Step Ahead in the back. We are now at 5 years old in a Britax booster. My seats are perfect when I pull it all out and condition with Griots. One step ahead has other options now days. It would be nice if BMW made the cover for the E39 like the X5.
 
#30 ·
We used a Chicco Keyfit30 for the first 9 months or so. When he was even younger, we would snap it right into his stroller (with the adapter). He is now in a (front facing) Britax Marathon. It's a good seat, but are looking to possibly exchange it to get the Britax Advocate.

As for a seat protector, we use a thick towel.
 
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