Who's using a Child Seat in their e30?

[2mAn]

Babies don't belong in e30's
That's what minivans and SUV's are for

I disagree. Eventually when we have some babies they will love to ride in daddies car because it will be a rollercoaster everywhere we go. Mommies SUV will be like the school bus.

[Stanley Rockafella]

I just think we owners need a quiet place to relax and focus on the interaction between man, machine and road.

Children have their place, but until they can fully understand what's going on in the car and how a classic car varies from other vehicles, they should just stay home with the wife.

just my .02 cents

[mike.bmw]

I just think we owners need a quiet place to relax and focus on the interaction between man, machine and road.

Children have their place, but until they can fully understand what's going on in the car and how a classic car varies from other vehicles, they should just stay home with the wife.

just my .02 cents

That's certainly one opinion. As a father of two, I enjoy spending time in my E30 AND spending time with my kids. When I have the opportunity to combine the two, it's a win-win situation for me. Certainly not for everyone, but it works for me.

My kids love going to cars and coffee events and I love taking them. And, no, I'm not one of those parents that lets my kids run around and touch all the cars. They know they need to stand next to me, behave, and not touch ANYTHING while they're there or they won't be coming back.

I also love autocross and HPDE events. That's not something I'd even think about taking my kids to, unless they were licensed drivers, which they won't be for a long time.

At any rate, this thread isn't about "SHOULD I transport children in my E30?". It's about car seats and how to properly install them. Hence my post about E30 seat belt types and what is needed to install a car seat properly.

You're welcome. ;D

[nando]

I just think we owners need a quiet place to relax and focus on the interaction between man, machine and road.

Children have their place, but until they can fully understand what's going on in the car and how a classic car varies from other vehicles, they should just stay home with the wife.

just my .02 cents

Clearly, you dont have kids.

[e30davie]

I just think we owners need a quiet place to relax and focus on the interaction between man, machine and road.

Children have their place, but until they can fully understand what's going on in the car and how a classic car varies from other vehicles, they should just stay home with the wife.

just my .02 cents

This is such a weird thing to say.

We've got a 4month old, first child. We haven't put the carseat in my e30 yet as the wifes subaru forester gets used for baby and family travel duties (and we only have 1 car seat). Also there's alot of crap that goes along with a 4 month old, baby bags, prams all that jazz which i don't think would fit too easily in the e30 coupe. It probably would fit but the wife likes the forester as a passenger anyway.

Once he gets a bit older and i start helping with the school runs etc im sure our little fella will enjoy going in "dads old car". Or you know drop over to the grand parents house and take the e30 for a run.

Was the same with my dad's work car back in the day, it was almost a bit of a fun adventure to be taken to school in dads work car.

[lukeADE335i]

Lol... indeed.

My kids love it in the e30 & and point out any others they see while we're driving around. They call it Dad's race car (as admittedly the exhaust is pretty loud in the back).

I used to have them in booster seats when they were small & they worked fine, but thankfully both are now big enough to not require them. The good thing about the e30 is the seat is much smaller / less deep than most modern cars, so they can get out of their booster seats earlier - we still use a booster for one of them in my wife's Hyundai because the seat is much deeper & more sculpted so the seatbelt still doesn't fit them properly. No such problems in the e30.

The idea that as soon as you have kids you must immediately purchase 2 tonnes of mini van or SUV is a bit warped. The school run is pretty funny in the e30 surrounded by the hordes of SUVs - the top of my roof is lower than the glasshouse on many of them these days so I have to have my wits about me so that I don't get hit by anyone.

[e30davie]

The idea that as soon as you have kids you must immediately purchase 2 tonnes of mini van or SUV is a bit warped.

You've gotta keep up with the Jone's though. Look how big their car is!

[Mwishlist]

When you take your kids riding in your e30 you raise gear heads. . .

[nando]

My kids love it in the e30 & and point out any others they see while we're driving around. They call it Dad's race car (as admittedly the exhaust is pretty loud in the back).

LOL. My kids say the same thing! I have a few HPDE/AutoX pictures on the wall of my garage, the kids think I was a real race car driver. :)

I haven't driven the E30 in a few months (really really need to rebuild one of the CV shafts), the kids keep asking me when I'll drop them off at school in it again.

As far as when they were little - I ended up figuring out a way to get the belt to lock safely without any issues. Basically you would pull it out to just the right length, pull it quickly (to get it to lock), then it would *just* buckle and hold the seat safely. TBH, on certain newer cars we put them in I thought they weren't nearly as secure as I could get them in the E30.

Now they're much older (fk me time flies!), I doubt they even need a booster seat in the E30 now as you say, the rear bench is quite high. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to let them ride in the E30. There are so many worse things they could be doing with their time...

[lukeADE335i]

You've gotta keep up with the Jone's though. Look how big their car is!

Ah... but Dad's is louder, so for them that counts! :p

Now they're much older (fk me time flies!), I doubt they even need a booster seat in the E30 now as you say, the rear bench is quite high. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to let them ride in the E30. There are so many worse things they could be doing with their time...

It's amazing how quickly they grow up - I bought my e30 just after my daughter was born, and she'll be 10 this year, I also will have owned the car 10 years in September! When she was first born I had an e21.

[1990m3]

My daughter fell asleep in the backseat of my (loud) e30 m3 in the middle of the summer with the windows down and the sunroof open -- she was probably 2 or 3 at the time. It was awesome. Loudest car around and she slept for about 2 hours no problem.

Both my daughters like the car but I only keep one car seat in the back in the summer, it's a little tight behind the drivers seat and neither of my girls are big enough for a booster yet. This summer my 7 year old is finally big enough for a booster, they make some pretty low profile high back boosters with 5 pt harnesses -- SAFETY FIRST!

This summer I plan to buy an e46 m3 and put two car seats in the back, my girls are 4 and 7 and I expect it to work out just fine. Note that in the interest of safety most of my drives with the kids in back are local trips, when I go far or drive through the city I usually take my CRV or my wife's Pilot. Out in the suburbs where we live it's pretty low key.

[superj]

my kids grew up in e30s and love them. they both have one now.

car seats fit in perfectly because the four door is set up to have a useable back seat, no problems. my wife had a two door so it was a bummer to tilt the seat and put the kids in the back but it was part of life because she had an 87 325is. my 325i four door worked a lot better but since the wife's car was more used as a family car, we did everyday.

anyways, car seats fit fine and the belts all work. there is way more than enough room for the diaper bags and all the junk and since the e30 is smaller than most cars, the kids like being able to look out the windows. and, as mentioned above, you raise your kids in an e30 and they will be car guys/girls when they grow up and want e30s themselves.

one of my boys has a four door 87 325 and the other has a two door 325 and we spent the whole weekend working on them so not only do they get good cars, you also get time to hang out with your kids teaching them about how to fix cars and answer questions about life.

my youngest (14 year old who gets his permit in a few months) got to do his first head install and the oldest (18, at texas a&m) got to tear apart his first valve body and learn what not to do which lead to him learning to take pics or make notes on what goes where because he had to take the valve body from the spare (now a parts) transmission so he had a car to use for school.

its totally worth it to raise your kids in an e30, or any older vehicle, because they will remember that and want to have the same thing when they get old enough.

[ForcedFirebird]

I just think we owners need a quiet place to relax and focus on the interaction between man, machine and road.

Children have their place, but until they can fully understand what's going on in the car and how a classic car varies from other vehicles, they should just stay home with the wife.

just my .02 cents

Wow.

Every year we sponsor the "Kids Racing For Life" event at Sebring, FL. We let the kids paint a car, then they get to ride along at full speed on a real race track. I beg to differ on that quote....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmea_3M-Pc&t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNS9mDHC2_I

All 4 of my kids have been at speed on a race track in mine or my friends' cars, I have been driving e30's for 11 years and my kids range from 11-19, so naturally, they all have ridden in them multiple times.

[Charlie]

I just think we owners need a quiet place to relax and focus on the interaction between man, machine and road.

Children have their place, but until they can fully understand what's going on in the car and how a classic car varies from other vehicles, they should just stay home with the wife.

just my .02 cents

I have a kid's seat in my Z4 and my '02. My daughter loves it. She was in the back seat of the '02 when she was 10 days old.

[HerbE30]

My nephew who lives with me loves his 'Unks Vroom' (Uncles car) and what little kid wouldn't?

The car makes loud noises plus with the car seat he can actually see out of the window, because of the 10 inch memory foam seat.

If you're looking for a car seat, I would suggest kids Recaro. I plan to buy one for him soon since he is in need of a larger seat.