[BeaArthur]

My first child will be delivered on Thursday. I have a 2023 X5 E45.

I installed the seat I have in the latches on the second row of the driver's side; I noticed there were no child seat latches available for the middle seat. I have two concerns:

1) Airbags. I want to know if this is a potential problem. I reached out to the BMW "genius" line via email and they said the airbags there could not be disabled. But I'm not even sure if they need to be disabled. Thoughts?

2) I do not know why they didn't put child seat latches for the middle seat. Considering moving the seat there and using the belt to harness it but I'm not sure if that's better - but I am told that's the safer location. Thoughts?

[mmm50i]

Unfortunately, for the middle seat, you have to use the seat belt. Safety wise, it's just as safe as the latches, albeit less convenient if you plan to remove and reinstall the car seat often (ie. switching cars). In regards to the middle being safer than the side options, of course the middle would be safer, in the case of a side impact collision.

I have a 3.5 year old and a 10 month old. I just have them behind the driver and passenger seats. My wife sometimes sits in between them.

[skyline408]

Many cars do not support latch on the rear middle sears. I'd say you'd be hard pressed to find one that does.

[eelnoraa]

Middle seat anchors are NOT very common at all, relatively small amount of vehicles have them. Seat belt is actually safer, just less convenient. Achors have combined weight limit of 65lb, car seat + kid. Seat belt is a lot higher.

[zsap]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

Achors have combined weight limit of 65lb, car seat + kid.

That may be a problem with a kid that require Child Seat. Especially for a Newborn

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by zsap

That may be a problem with a kid that require Child Seat. Especially for a Newborn

do you know how heavy can convertibles car seat be?? Either way, belt is safer. It is not a compromise.

[zsap]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

do you know how heavy can convertibles car seat be?? Either way, belt is safer. It is not a compromise.

Well, as a father of two (3 and 7,5 yo) I know that there is a big margin between the seat with a newborn and mentioned limit by you :-)

For the first one, when he was a Newborn we were struggling with a seatbelt to mount his "shelf kind of seat" with a RWF position, and I said never-ever. It needs to be safe, but also usability is important - so the second one had an Isofix base + "shelf" that we were unlocking and putting on a stroller frame. Now she is using her second Child Seat, but the same Isofix base as previously, and still driving in RWF.

Currently, my older one has his third Child Seat, and it is still locked with Isofix + because of his height and FWF position he is using a car seatbelt.

And guess what. European ADAC is still giving those maximum number of their safety points :-)

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by zsap

Well, as a father of two (3 and 7,5 yo) I know that there is a big margin between the seat with a newborn and mentioned limit by you :-)

For the first one, when he was a Newborn we were struggling with a seatbelt to mount his "shelf kind of seat" with a RWF position, and I said never-ever. It needs to be safe, but also usability is important - so the second one had an Isofix base + "shelf" that we were unlocking and putting on a stroller frame. Now she is using her second Child Seat, but the same Isofix base as previously, and still driving in RWF.

Currently, my older one has his third Child Seat, and it is still locked with Isofix + because of his height and FWF position he is using a car seatbelt.

And guess what. European ADAC is still giving those maximum number of their safety points :-)

Please don’t take part of my comment out of context. OP worry if missing isofix in center seat is a concern, the fact is it is not because seat belt is safer than isofix for the reason it capable of holding a lot more weight. You can argue he/she doesn’t need the extra capacity. I don’t disagree. But it was not the context.

As to the ease of installation, it is all about the car seat. There are brands like Nuna or Britax, quite a few others, their belt installation mechanism is as easy as isofix. I am not saying isofix doesn’t have its place. It is convenient. But it is not safer than belt.

As for car seat weight, it depends on the seat. I have a 32lb (Diono) 28lb (Nuna). American boys 50% tile weight at 36 months is about 32lb. So by 3, half of the American boys shouldn’t be using isofix. Sure many parents ignore this because they either don’t know or just forgot they need to switch.

[zsap]

ADAC was (didn't check recently) taking out points for the same model of Child Seat when it was considered to be mounted with a seat belt, not Isofix.
The point was taken out because of the risk of improper installation.

And Isofix is made for a maximum of 73lb (33kg) total weight (child and seat).

[Orient330iNYC]

the weight capacity of LATCH is lower than seatbelt. the issue that LATCH was designed to fix was that a very large number of parents do not install carseats with a belt properly. in this case, improperly installed with a belt vs LATCH, the LATCH will be safer.

for lower weight children, LATCH is safer because it eliminates installation error (well it should, i've seen parents "borrow" latch connections from the left and right seats to mount a carseat in the center, which is not good, because the anchors are not designed to withstand pull forces at the angles that creates. rigid latch, like you find on NUNA bases, eliminates the possibility of this).

Once the kids get heavier, LATCH runs into issues, because of, here we go again, use error. parents keep their kids using latch past the weight limit. there is margin built in, but at some point the latch anchors fail in a crash as they are not as strong as the seatbelt. some cars NHTSA tested failed at 78lbs total weight (seat plus simulated child load). thats not much higher than the stated limit of the anchors. Seatbelts have a tensile strength of about 5000lbs and an adult weighs far more than a child and carseat.

Either is fine if used properly. my personal preference is seatbelt- and knowing how to install and check for proper installation. most baby shops will have a cps tech, and most police stations will offer to check installs if you are unsure.

[MikeX521]

Originally Posted by BeaArthur

My first child will be delivered on Thursday. I have a 2023 X5 E45.

I installed the seat I have in the latches on the second row of the driver's side; I noticed there were no child seat latches available for the middle seat. I have two concerns:

1) Airbags. I want to know if this is a potential problem. I reached out to the BMW "genius" line via email and they said the airbags there could not be disabled. But I'm not even sure if they need to be disabled. Thoughts?

2) I do not know why they didn't put child seat latches for the middle seat. Considering moving the seat there and using the belt to harness it but I'm not sure if that's better - but I am told that's the safer location. Thoughts?

Same issues in my previous car, CX-9.
First off you need to make sure the middle seat is 'flat' (no hump) and that the seat base sits flush with the back seat.
I ended up using the seat belt to secure in the middle until we had a second child.

You are right, statistically the safest spot for a child is the middle seat. The next is actually behind the driver. An impact from a crash is statistically less on the driver side than the passenger side.
So when I had two, one was behind driver, and the other in the middle.

[BeaArthur]

Thanks for all the great answers.

The seat I have is Bugaboo Turtle One by Nuna. It has a base that the seat locks into.

Given that middle is the safest position and given that I am pretty confident I can install the base correctly, I think I will position the newborn in the middle.

What wasn't addressed in any comment, however, is the impact of the rear passenger airbags on the child seat. I did watch a video of these bags deploying and they did not *appear* to really push into the place where the child seat is - only that they seemed to cover the window/glass so if you were slammed into them you'd have some cushioning.

[tantan911]

This how it's done with my UPPAbaby seat

[jad03060]

Rear seat airbags are there to protect the head from smashing into the glass of the door. While there may be a few out there that have additional bags in the rear, don't think the X5 is among them. The primary protection from side impact is the frame and door strengthening.

[zsap]

Originally Posted by BeaArthur

What wasn't addressed in any comment, however, is the impact of the rear passenger airbags on the child seat. I did watch a video of these bags deploying and they did not *appear* to really push into the place where the child seat is - only that they seemed to cover the window/glass so if you were slammed into them you'd have some cushioning.

I didn't want to stress you more about it (in case you didn't ordered them) because you mentioned 23 X5 45e, so it means you just got it from the dealer, but ... in my case, the first thing I'm adding when configuring a new car - and the third time in a row - is to add rear side seat Airbags.

People are not thinking about this. My friends are saying that there is a curtain that protects passengers so this expense is overprotection, but, when I as a driver have an extra airbag in my seat, I want to give the same protection on the rear seats.

Another argument I heard is, that kids are in their Child Seats, but 1) sometimes adults also are sitting on the rear sears; 2) as you mentioned, the curtain protects the head mainly, not the body

The last thing which is worth mentioning here, because I see it even when my wife is putting kids on their seats, is people are not using side "ears" of Child Seats. Probably all Childs Seats have them these days.

Those "ears" are for consuming energy in case of an accident from the side, before impact power will reach Child Seat and the child inside it.

[goobies818]

[QUOTE=MikeX521;30242409]An impact from a crash is statistically less on the driver side than the passenger side.

Guess I should play the lottery more often having been t-boned on the driver side twice already

[BeaArthur]

[QUOTE=goobies818;30245567]

Originally Posted by MikeX521

An impact from a crash is statistically less on the driver side than the passenger side.

Guess I should play the lottery more often having been t-boned on the driver side twice already

I learned this to while taking EMT classes. The reason is that in the split micro-seconds before an unexpected collision, the driver's subconscious actions are to protect himself first (since his eyes and perspective are from his own seat), thus the 2nd row behind the driver also benefits.

[BeaArthur]

Originally Posted by zsap

I didn't want to stress you more about it (in case you didn't ordered them) because you mentioned 23 X5 45e, so it means you just got it from the dealer, but ... in my case, the first thing I'm adding when configuring a new car - and the third time in a row - is to add rear side seat Airbags.

People are not thinking about this. My friends are saying that there is a curtain that protects passengers so this expense is overprotection, but, when I as a driver have an extra airbag in my seat, I want to give the same protection on the rear seats.

Another argument I heard is, that kids are in their Child Seats, but 1) sometimes adults also are sitting on the rear sears; 2) as you mentioned, the curtain protects the head mainly, not the body

The last thing which is worth mentioning here, because I see it even when my wife is putting kids on their seats, is people are not using side "ears" of Child Seats. Probably all Childs Seats have them these days.

Those "ears" are for consuming energy in case of an accident from the side, before impact power will reach Child Seat and the child inside it.

Thanks for the advice. REar side airbags came standard for me and I maxed the car out - everything except hitch, side railings, and the alternative roof fabric.