[carzaddict]

going through a midlife crisis, have 3 kids and a giant escalade right now that im sick of, want an M5

curious to hear about other dads experiences with multiple car seats in the back. I have 2 front facing car seats (greco 4everdlx) and 1 booster seat which would go in the middle. Theoretically it should all fit

[Virtualinsanityva]

Yes you can fit a booster between two car seats. The details matter though. I have 3 kids and purposefully got diono radian 3xt so three can fit in a row. I can try to find a picture for you later. If the max width of both seats are somewhere in the 15 range. You are good. Then the order issue is access to seat belts and how the seats are anchored. Isofix vs seatbelt based on child’s weights.

[pmsteinm]

2 front facing work for me, although when I exit the car my upper backrest almost ends up in my kid's lap when it moves to the exit position. She will be in a booster soon which will make that less of a problem. I'm 6-2 so I have the seat fairly far back.

[Boiler Up!]

+1 on the Diono 3 series. I have 2 forward facing on the outsides and one rear facing in the middle.

[LouK]

Only specific car seats will work with this, We have Recaro car seats and they are too wide. We only have one left in a car seat thankfully but can say just by seeing it that it would be too wide to have two car seats and a booster in the back.

[omaralt]

as others have said, yes its doable.

however

are you going to be regularly hauling the kids around? if so, stick with the escalade. if its just an occasional thing then the M5 works

[Aronis]

Went through same phase. It would be nice if they sold Dual Car seats (two connected with less bulk between) for such a purpose.

We were able to fit two car seats with our oldest between in my RS6. The back seat of the RS6 was larger than the 5 series. We migrated to a A8L for a few years. Now my kids are all over 6 feet and don't fit in the bed of a pick up truck.

Mike

[NoMods]

good luck getting kicked in the back unless you're a manlet and only 5 feet tall

[pbonsalb]

3 out of 4 dads would choose the M5 over a Suburban, Odyssey, Sienna or Telluride.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

3 out of 4 dads would choose the M5 over a Suburban, Odyssey, Sienna or Telluride.

And probably only because the fourth one never experienced an M5.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by Aronis

Went through same phase. It would be nice if they sold Dual Car seats (two connected with less bulk between) for such a purpose.

We were able to fit two car seats with our oldest between in my RS6. The back seat of the RS6 was larger than the 5 series. We migrated to a A8L for a few years. Now my kids are all over 6 feet and don't fit in the bed of a pick up truck.

Mike

Great idea for sure, but US safety regulations would never allow for such a thing. Putting two individual seats next to each other is fine, but they can't share lower anchors, and they can't affect each other's install at all, which a dual seat would obviously inherently have to do.

[Aronis]

Originally Posted by ResIpsaLoquitur

Great idea for sure, but US safety regulations would never allow for such a thing. Putting two individual seats next to each other is fine, but they can't share lower anchors, and they can't affect each other's install at all, which a dual seat would obviously inherently have to do.

So how do you explain the rear seat to begin with? Three seating positions connected together, sharing anchors to the seat belts with the same bolts, etc? If there was a market for such a seat it would be cleared to US Safety regs (after spending $100,000,000 on crash tests). It would have to be designed with a few issues in mind. It could be separate 'seats' with less crap between them. The designs currently have a wide section on either side made of that great material plastic, which needs to be wide to provide much strength. The sides could be stream lined to make seats fit better but that would require using better materials and add cost. However, it's not like the cheap injection molded plastic seats are just given away, they are NOT cheap to buy. There is not a great market for such a set up.

Mike

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by Aronis

So how do you explain the rear seat to begin with? Three seating positions connected together, sharing anchors to the seat belts with the same bolts, etc? If there was a market for such a seat it would be cleared to US Safety regs (after spending $100,000,000 on crash tests). It would have to be designed with a few issues in mind. It could be separate 'seats' with less crap between them. The designs currently have a wide section on either side made of that great material plastic, which needs to be wide to provide much strength. The sides could be stream lined to make seats fit better but that would require using better materials and add cost. However, it's not like the cheap injection molded plastic seats are just given away, they are NOT cheap to buy. There is not a great market for such a set up.

Mike

I don’t think it’s about the seat belts and bolts as much as the specific safety regulation stating that the install of one seat can’t “affect the other.” Two seats as one piece, if connected, could mean that if one “side” of them is affected in a crash, the other “side” would/could also be affected. Keeping them separate means that in certain crashes, theoretically, one seat could be affected and the other wouldn’t; i.e., T boned on the passenger side, the driver’s side seat would/could perhaps not be affected. The goal is to provide independent safety for each occupant of each seat. I’m not arguing with you; I actually personally agree with you. If they’re connected though, it’s hard to get around that requirement. Just stating the regulations and how they would prevent a dual/two in one seat if the individual seats are connected to one another in any way. I don’t think any connected/dual design could get around that requirement, as good as your suggestion is.