E90 M3 Baby Friendly

[JStang]

Greetings! My wife and I are expecting our first child in September and wanted to get opinions on how spacious and child friendly the E90 M3 is. I currently have an E92 335i with about 88k miles which is obviously not the most child friendly vehicle on the road.

My options are as followed:

1) Keep my E92 335i (weekend / fun car) and buy a mid sized SUV (i.e. Toyota Highlander / 4 runner)
2) Keep my E92 335i (weekend / fun car) and my wifes E90 328i for my daily / kid car.
3) Sell my car and get an LCI E90 M3 as my only vehicle

Knowing what you know now as a parent, what would you do? Try to keep your M3 bias to the side as I know it can be hard to do.

Thanks!

[pooyab]

Definitely either 1 or 3. If you want a second car, an SUV will be more beneficial overall. But if you only want one car then the E90 M3 has room, but I don't know how comfortable or quiet it would be for the baby lol.

Keep in mind strollers, and other baby equipment I don't know about.

[JStang]

Originally Posted by pooyab

Definitely either 1 or 3. If you want a second car, an SUV will be more beneficial overall. But if you only want one car then the E90 M3 has room, but I don't know how comfortable or quiet it would be for the baby lol.

Keep in mind strollers, and other baby equipment I don't know about.

I also failed to mention that the wife will be getting a midsize SUV so we will have one when needed. Her E90 328i is paid off, mine will be before the baby is here.

[pooyab]

Originally Posted by JStang

I also failed to mention that the wife will be getting a midsize SUV so we will have one when needed. Her E90 328i is paid off, mine will be before the baby is here.

Oh then M3. SUV takes care of the family needs, and the M3 keeps you sane during the early baby years while still being fairly practical since its a sedan.

[burtonsbs5114]

I am single with no kids, but I would also go with the M3. You will love it and quickly find you now have 2 kids.

[X5-User]

M3 is not a baby friendly, even with 4 door version. M3 is stiff and loud. I wouldn't suggest to carry a baby in an M3 at least if he is 1 year old or less.

[Yoddha]

Get some Recaro Baby Seats and you'll be good to go. I'd definitely go with the M3, you won't regret it. Besides your wife already has the suv, so your decision is pretty much made

[Stronie]

Option #3.
I carry both of my girls and they love it.
Especially a baby plenty of room for the carrier and the rear door to load.

The car is not too load for the baby, if anything it will make them sleep better.

Stick with EDC Comfort.

[spiderspider]

#3 with the all season rubber floor mats and be prepared for dirty shoes on the back of your seats.

I'm considering a little pickup truck for home depot runs. no need for SUV

[Flying Ace]

the E90 is going to be better than an E92, ultimately you know your own family's schedule.

My wife is due later this year as well. We decided to buy a 2nd car. I have a E90 M3 and we now have a 7-seater X5d.

We needed a 2nd car b/c:

1. wife cant' drive MT
2. Depending on the schedule she or I will have to drive the kid to daycare, relatives, etc...we wanted the flexibility of which car to take and the driver.
3. From time to time, I need to transport 6-7 people for a short distance

Not sure if you know but, you can buy a car seat and buy a 2nd seat base and swap car seats easily between the two cars.

you'll also want to buy some type of padding, so base doesn't damage leather and some type of seat back protectant to protect against spills

[tito_gsx]

That was my situation 2 years ago. E90 m3 is great choice can get best of both worlds. The loudness and stiffness doesn't bother my boy at all in fact he loves it!

[Atomicteal_M3]

#1
I was in the same boat. I owned e92 335i (pic of it below) and my wife owned a e90 328i when we found out that we were expecting last year. It was a no-brainer to get rid of my car so my wife bought a LCI X5, and I bought a E90 M3 and a mini for my daily commuter! You will catch hell trying to put and take your newborn in and out of that e92!!

[davesaddiction]

How short is your wife?

[M3ANMACHINE]

Realistically i'm gonna say Option 1.

But Option 3 if you can swing it

[JStang]

Originally Posted by davesaddiction

How short is your wife?

She's 5'7

[aus]

You can't really put a rear facing seat in an E90 well if you're also going to have a passenger. It's just not big enough, IMO.

[davesaddiction]

Originally Posted by JStang

She's 5'7

Rear-facing car seats suck...

It's worth finding one to test drive, to see how much you like it and how far forward she can sit in the passenger seat.

[darkbmw]

You need to get a diono car seat rear and forward facing I have one kid and one on the way in my e90 m3. The diono is the only really good compact car seat. U can actually put 3 across.

[M3JB]

Option#3 for sure.
I have the E90 and my lil kid loves it! I don't regret it at all, fun car and great for small families.

Test drive one!

[GRUESOM3]

im in a similar situation my wife is due next month and we just added a e90 328i rwd 6mt for the baby/daily driver car. we got rid of a useless convertible car for the e90 328i

my e90 m3 mostly stays in garage and I think the e90 is spacious enough for a baby. Near where I work I see someone dropping off 3 kids in an e90 so theres defenetly room.

I say get the m3 but defenetly keep another car around

I also think your stroller choices and car seat choices make a big difference in all of this as well as how much the kid is going to be in the car.

we just got the urbo2 stroller and maxi cosi mico car seat, both very compact and light and still very functional so will see how it goes.

good luck

[BzsBimmer]

1) Keep my E92 335i (weekend / fun car) and buy a mid sized SUV (i.e. Toyota Highlander / 4 runner)
2) Keep my E92 335i (weekend / fun car) and my wifes E90 328i for my daily / kid car.
3) Sell my car and get an LCI E90 M3 as my only vehicle

Well you already have two BMW's. You have a coupe and sedan. Why get another sedan or coupe just because it's an M3?

I've had a M3 coupe (E46) when my youngest was first born. I had the click in rear facing carseat so the base was always buckled and the carseat disconnected. The coupe seats have a handle so the seat moves out of the way easily enough.
The 335 has plenty of power and you are going to be a responsible dad anyway riiight? No driving like an a$$hat with a baby on board riiight?

So do you really NEED a M3 or do you want one when you need to get away because the baby is crying it's head off?

My 3 kids are now 16, 6 and 4. My wife is fairly tall and likes to move the seat all the way back but with the 2 large carseats in the back, we can't fit a family of 5; those trips end up in the minivan. When we had the rear seat facing car seat, usually that went behind me since I like to sit closer to the steering wheel as you should driving properly anyway.

If you can swing a swap from your 335 to an M3 and are going to keep two cars (you mentioned a SUV) then just keep the E90 sedan and the M3 for you as a toy.

[late67]

I think #1 may be the best choice but your decision will come down to how often your car will have baby, baby and front seat passenger at the same time and how many longer trips you will take in your car.
My family decided to get a family mobile (initially a nissan murano but currently a honda odyssey) that does 90% of the kid duty. That allowed me to get a reasonably functional but still fun e90 M3. Everyone is more comfortable in the family car on long and short trips.
The interior of the e90 is adequate but not spacious. Most rear facing car seats in the e90, when placed behind the passenger seat, will minimize front passenger seat legroom and/or backrest angle to the point where your passenger will be uncomfortable on trips longer than 10 minutes.