[Fahrfun]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

I've never found the communities for the other brands as useful as this one.

+1

[mar_carol]

Originally Posted by allinon72

I just took delivery of my 45e M Sport with multi contour and the seats were fine on the 250 mile trip back from the dealer :

Exciting! Congrats!

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Mynoles1

I am on my 5th BMW, all of which have had the sports seats. Now, this may be due to my physical build, but each seat has been awesome. SO much better than the Audi "sport" seat and right up there with the Porsche 14-way seats I had a couple of years back. I actually opted NOT to get the multi-contour seat as I did not want the ventilation (too many reports that they are firmer than previous MC seats prior to ventilation.)

I do like the feel of being "held" in the seat and not getting tossed around and also don't want to feel like I am driving from my living room couch. I like feeling the support in all all key areas (I have a bad back.)

Don't give up on them, play around with the adjustments. I admit that it normally takes me a while to get it set where I want but once it is there I find it to be the best. Lumbar support height is key, as are the side bolsters.

I am 5-11, 205lbs, fwiw.

This has been my experience too. I'm the same height and weight. Maybe that's it! I've got sport seats in my 2014 3er and absolutely love them.

[sygazelle]

First, sorry you are having such issues with your sport seats.

Second, you probably have tried adjusting in every way, but if not, please do yourself a favor and try different positions for all the settings.

When I picked up my 3er with sport seats, I felt the same way. The seats were horrible. I spent time adjusting the settings and once I dialed in the correct setting, the seats went from horrible to remarkable. I can now drive from the Bay Area to LA and not squirm in my seat at all. My sport seats fit like a glove.

Coincidentally, my wife has a G05 X5 with multi-contour comfort seats and Merino leather. We just got back from a week-long car trip in her X5 and the seats were nice and comfortable. I love them too. But, when I got back into my 3er with sport seats, I felt immediately at home. They are perfection to me.

Please keep trying different settings. Hopefully, you can get a positive outcome.

All the best!

[mar_carol]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

First, sorry you are having such issues with your sport seats.

Second, you probably have tried adjusting in every way, but if not, please do yourself a favor and try different positions for all the settings.

When I picked up my 3er with sport seats, I felt the same way. The seats were horrible. I spent time adjusting the settings and once I dialed in the correct setting, the seats went from horrible to remarkable. I can now drive from the Bay Area to LA and not squirm on my seat at all. My sport seats fit like a glove.

Coincidentally, my wife has a G05 X5 with multi-contour comfort seats and Merino leather. We just got back from a week-long car trip in her X5 and the seats were nice and comfortable. I love them too. But, when I got back into my 3er with sport seats, I felt immediately at home. They are perfection to me.

Please keep trying different settings. Hopefully, you can get a positive outcome.

All the best!

Thanks for sharing this information...glad you've found comfort in the sport seats...you've given me hope! I'll keep trying different settings and hopefully I too will find that sweet spot. Best!

[demet123]

I hate the seats on my new X5. Specifically its the side bolsters on the bottom seat, they dig into my thighs, and are literally a PIA. Also an impediment to getting out of the car (along with stupid m-sport trim below door). Tolerable around town <20 minutes, but beyond that they really start to hurt. Why are they not adjustable like the bolsters on the back? Yes, I'm a bigger guy, but not THAT big. Seats in most all other cars are fine for me. I'm 6'3"/230 lbs. And I'm long in the torso, so adding a cushion pushes me up too high ;-(

Thinking about either selling the car or paying probably hundreds of dollars to have an auto upholsterer fix them. Will give me serious pause on any BMW in the future.

EDIT: To add insult to injury, we paid for the upgraded Multi-Countour in Merino leather.

[mar_carol]

Originally Posted by demet123

I hate the seats on my new X5. Specifically its the side bolsters on the bottom seat, they dig into my thighs, and are literally a PIA. Also an impediment to getting out of the car (along with stupid m-sport trim below door). Tolerable around town <20 minutes, but beyond that they really start to hurt. Why are they not adjustable like the bolsters on the back? Yes, I'm a bigger guy, but not THAT big. Seats in most all other cars are fine for me. I'm 6'3"/230 lbs. And I'm long in the torso, so adding a cushion pushes me up too high ;-(

Thinking about either selling the car or paying probably hundreds of dollars to have an auto upholsterer fix them. Will give me serious pause on any BMW in the future.

EDIT: To add insult to injury, we paid for the upgraded Multi-Countour in Merino leather.

Ugh...how horrible. You mean you actually have the multi-contour seats? Sounds like they're just as bad as the sport seats as to the bolsters on the seat bottom. Sorry that you're faced with such a decision.

I've definitely heard complaints about the M Sport side sills, but I've hardly noticed them on my X5 and I think it's because my prior SUV had running boards (which I didn't use, i.e. I always stepped over them) and they stuck out even more than the M Sport side sills, so I'm used to something being there in that area. Hopefully it's something that you will eventually get used to, provided you keep the car.

[allinon72]

BMW seems to be going towards a narrow seat bottom across many models, it's complained about in the X1 and X3 as well.

[CGG]

Originally Posted by demet123

I hate the seats on my new X5. Specifically its the side bolsters on the bottom seat, they dig into my thighs, and are literally a PIA. Also an impediment to getting out of the car (along with stupid m-sport trim below door). Tolerable around town <20 minutes, but beyond that they really start to hurt. Why are they not adjustable like the bolsters on the back? Yes, I'm a bigger guy, but not THAT big. Seats in most all other cars are fine for me. I'm 6'3"/230 lbs. And I'm long in the torso, so adding a cushion pushes me up too high ;-(

Thinking about either selling the car or paying probably hundreds of dollars to have an auto upholsterer fix them. Will give me serious pause on any BMW in the future.

EDIT: To add insult to injury, we paid for the upgraded Multi-Countour in Merino leather.

I feel your pain. For the life of me I don't understand why they are making such high side bolsters on the bottom seats. I am 6'3"/210 lbs. My G30 5 series had sport seats and my thighs sat on top of the bolsters. It was a pain in the ass and it never ever got better.

The only thing that helped was a cheap seat cushion to try and lift my butt to be more even with the bottom side bolsters. I thought it was crazy that I had to drive a $90,000+ car with a seat cushion. Embarrassed every time I had a passenger and they wondered why I had to sit on a seat cushion. I think the seats would be okay for a smaller person that sits between the bottom side bolsters and do not sit on the bolsters.

The car drove like a dream but I could not stand driving it because of the brutal seats. I could not get rid of that car fast enough.

The comfort seats on my new G05 are much better - but then I am coming from the absolutely brutal sport seats.

On every BMW Forum someone writes in every couple of weeks and asks if anyone else has problems with the bottom seat bolsters. Short people say no problem and tall people say they suck.

BMW must know the terrible ergonomics of the seats is a real thing. For the life of me I cant figure out why they do not adjust the design or make the bottom bolsters adjustable like the side bolsters. Problem solved.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by CGG

Short people say no problem and tall people say they suck.


I cant figure out why they do not adjust the design or make the bottom bolsters adjustable like the side bolsters. Problem solved.

Not sure that's true as I'm 6'2 and have never had a problem, nor have others I know of similar height ... my guess is, when we hear from people it's because they have a problem due to how their body is, and whatever that body uniqueness is, it's maybe over-indexed on taller people.

Said differently, BMW likely designed the seats to be comfortable & functional for (a.) the highest prevalence of body types, and (b.) the highest prevalence of their target market. The much smaller % that don't like them, are the most vocal, and over-index taller (maybe).

[demet123]

Your comment makes sense, but I just think the seat bolsters should be adjustable like the back bolsters are. Delete another adjustable aspect if necessary but butt comfort should be prioritized IMHO. Would be in BMWs economic interests to take easy step to increase customer satisfaction.

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Not sure that's true as I'm 6'2 and have never had a problem, nor have others I know of similar height ... my guess is, when we hear from people it's because they have a problem due to how their body is, and whatever that body uniqueness is, it's maybe over-indexed on taller people.

Said differently, BMW likely designed the seats to be comfortable & functional for (a.) the highest prevalence of body types, and (b.) the highest prevalence of their target market. The much smaller % that don't like them, are the most vocal, and over-index taller (maybe).