[wamochi]

Originally Posted by beemerb0y

I dont think 2nd row captains in any brand car lay flat.

mercedes GLS has captains chairs that lay flat.

[XM Label]

No regrets with captains seats. I will be ordering again if I stay with another X7. Just way more comfortable for rear passengers. I carry rear passengers 99.9% of the time over hauling cargo necessitating second row seats to be folded down so it doesn’t bother me they don’t lay flat. Still hauls a ton of cargo!

[tkelley86]

Originally Posted by wamochi

mercedes GLS has captains chairs that lay flat.

Yet they can't/won't put rear wheel steering in that application... biggest reason I'm here amongst 6-7 other things...

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by wamochi

mercedes GLS has captains chairs that lay flat.

If that's a GLS in the pic, that's not current. Although I have a MY23 GLS450 w/bench 2nd row, I was told by the dealer captain's chairs don't fold flat in the GLS!

[dcoopdeville]

Love the Captain chairs. I have a truck so hauling in the x7 is not necessary. Depends on your second car situation I guess... Annnnnddd. I really wouldnt wanna haul stuff in my wonderful X7 anyways... lol. Thats the people hauler.

[tkelley86]

Originally Posted by EWL5

If that's a GLS in the pic, that's not current. Although I have a MY23 GLS450 w/bench 2nd row, I was told by the dealer captain's chairs don't fold flat in the GLS!

ALMOST folds flat

https://youtube.com/shorts/A-bxqLlk28g?si=mGPO6Bp2UKLsEBdB

[dcoopdeville]

Originally Posted by dcoopdeville

Love the Captain chairs. I have a truck so hauling in the x7 is not necessary. Depends on your second car situation I guess... Annnnnddd. I really wouldnt wanna haul stuff in my wonderful X7 anyways... lol. Thats the people hauler.

If I absolutely needed to haul with the X7, I have a trailer hitch and would rent a uhaul trailer.

[tkelley86]

Originally Posted by dcoopdeville

Love the Captain chairs. I have a truck so hauling in the x7 is not necessary. Depends on your second car situation I guess... Annnnnddd. I really wouldnt wanna haul stuff in my wonderful X7 anyways... lol. Thats the people hauler.

Preach!

That's why we're keeping the GLE43, that's the new "work truck".

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by tkelley86

ALMOST folds flat

https://youtube.com/shorts/A-bxqLlk2...PO6Bp2UKLsEBdB

That's why wamochi's pic confused me (it looks completely flat in that pic). For some people, "almost flat" is not good enough!

I also never cared for that gap b/w the captain's chairs when 3rd row is down. Too easy for small items to sneak into the main cabin!

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by beemerb0y

I dont think 2nd row captains in any brand car lay flat.

Bench is nice for 3 car seats across. Getting into the 3rd row with 3 car seats across wont work, as the middle seat overlaps the split needed for the seat to move to access the 3rd row

My Lincoln Navigator captain chairs do fold flat. I bet there are many other cars that can do the same too.

[fly121]

I haven’t read about this yet on the captains chairs vs the bench and I’m wondering if they move the captains chairs in from the doors or is the same distance if there was a bench seat from the doors. A smaller person with shorter legs has trouble getting in and out of my XB7 because the seat seems further away from the door opening and the ground. I was wondering if the bench seat end to end is longer than end to end of the captains chairs.

[wamochi]

Originally Posted by EWL5

That's why wamochi's pic confused me (it looks completely flat in that pic). For some people, "almost flat" is not good enough!

I also never cared for that gap b/w the captain's chairs when 3rd row is down. Too easy for small items to sneak into the main cabin!

yeah i have seen the GLS captains in real life when i was trying to decide on GLS vs X7. they definitely aren't 100% flat, a small incline exists. but they do fold over as shown in the photo and allow cargo to be slid in all the way to the backs of the driver/passenger seats. i used to have a GL550 with bench seat and would put that down many times when transporting large items. super easy and quick too with the simple pull lever.

not going to lie, there have been a few times in the X7 i really wished for that extra cargo space and functionality. but overall i'd still choose the captains chairs for 99% of our purposes with teens at this stage in life.

we did manage to get a new 9' artificial christmas tree home in the X7 with the captains chairs slid forward every possible inch. the box was absolutely ginormous. it was tight but the box fit, which was awesome and saved a bunch of money on not having to pay for shipping. i was worried i'd have to borrow a friends pickup or something, but there was enough trunk height and length to make it work even with captains chairs:

[TPATURK]

I love my capt chairs. Big kids and wife even is comfortable in back.

[Wtfitzvi]

Originally Posted by beemerb0y

I dont think 2nd row captains in any brand car lay flat.

Bench is nice for 3 car seats across. Getting into the 3rd row with 3 car seats across wont work, as the middle seat overlaps the split needed for the seat to move to access the 3rd row

My wife's escalade 2nd row folds flat

Before the caddy she had a 21 m50i with second row bench seat the amount of space back there was very roomy and it folds flat.

We may be getting another x7 since she hates the escalade...loves the room but doesn't really like anything else about the car. If we go with another x7 I think this time around we will do captains chairs. I think it give the vehicle more of a luxury feel. Just hate that getting to the 3rd row will be a PITA unless youre small child.

[ledphut]

Honestly after about 2 years with the XB7 I’m wishing I would’ve gotten the bench seat. It’s rare that we have people in the second row now that the youngins are away at school. I would take the convenience of a flat folding seat over comfort for second row passengers.

I was millimeters away from not being able to bring home a 65” TV from Best Buy last winter because of the terrible ergonomics of the captains chairs when pushed all the way forward.

[Wtfitzvi]

Originally Posted by ledphut

Honestly after about 2 years with the XB7 I’m wishing I would’ve gotten the bench seat. It’s rare that we have people in the second row now that the youngins are away at school. I would take the convenience of a flat folding seat over comfort for second row passengers.

I was millimeters away from not being able to bring home a 65” TV from Best Buy last winter because of the terrible ergonomics of the captains chairs when pushed all the way forward.

This is my biggest concern if we decide to get another X7...I kinda wish the 2nd row was manual instead of power.

It would definitely help speeds things up.

[Atlstl]

Thanks for all of the feedback from everyone. This saved me. I canceled the XB7 on order with captains chairs, and found the same dravit grey exterior that I wanted with a bench at another Chicago area dealer.

[ledphut]

Originally Posted by Atlstl

Thanks for all of the feedback from everyone. This saved me. I canceled the XB7 on order with captains chairs, and found the same dravit grey exterior that I wanted with a bench at another Chicago area dealer.

Team Dravit

Congrats!

[BurqueBMW]

I really struggled with this when ordering our X7 and I went with bench and am SO glad I did (called and changed from captains just before the close date on our build changes), we have never regretted it.

But it depends on your use and I wish dealership could have guided us better on this rather than me having to do all the research. I sat in both and did not notice a big difference in comfort. Love having flexibility of 3 across 2nd row, like the bench arm rest and storage. Like the carpet on back of 2nd row as we always pack a lot back there, like not seeing into the back, though you can lower just the middle seat on the bench to see back. Like the clean carpet look of trunk (especially with weathertech) without gap in the seats for stuff to fall into front.

We have 2 kids, rarely use the 3rd row and have soccer chairs and stuff in the back all the time. IF we had more than 2 kids and left 3rd row up, we would have chosen differently.

SO - if you plan to leave your 3rd row up all the time, definitely captains chairs. If you plan to leave it down most of the time and leave stuff in back trunk all the time - definitely bench seat.

[tkelley86]

It's been said before but I'll say it again...

With captains chairs and arm rests removed, you can bypass all the nonsense of SLOWWWW folding seats. I spent my first few hours of ownership trying to figure out the easiest way to manage 2 car seats and easy access to the third row for grand parents (early 60's).

No arm rests mode for the win, its been effortless for everyone.

[DonJuan]

Love the captain chairs, best $850.00 in ever spent on an option. It gives a whole different scale of luxury to the X7.

Only complain is they should have made the X7 a little wider, maintaining the same width as the X5 on a full size platform wasn’t the best idea.

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by tkelley86

It's been said before but I'll say it again...

With captains chairs and arm rests removed, you can bypass all the nonsense of SLOWWWW folding seats. I spent my first few hours of ownership trying to figure out the easiest way to manage 2 car seats and easy access to the third row for grand parents (early 60's).

No arm rests mode for the win, its been effortless for everyone.

Arm rests removed destroys the whole point of the captains chairs! I understand the middle is tight so either get a wider vehicle or just get the slow moving bench seat for max flexibility!