[crew09]

Does anyone here use their G30 as the main kid hauler?

As background, my wife and I just had a baby and are moving from NY to Pittsburgh. We haven't had a car since living in NY, so we are starting from scratch. Originally we were thinking of getting 2 cars - maybe one sedan and an SUV, but my wife hates driving and wants to hold off on the second car. I expect we'll eventually get another vehicle (which will likely be a crossover or small SUV), but it may be 6-12 months.

An SUV seems to be the most "practical" one car option for those that can't bring themselves to get a minivan. However I enjoy a traditional driving position and the best that can be said about SUV options is they drive "car-like".

[SteveinArizona]

Perhaps an X4 or X6?

Do you use your car to commute? If yes...you will find you do need a second car. But if you don't use the car to commute, you might be able to make do with just one. But as much as your wife hates to drive, unless you are living in NYC or San Francisco (and, of course, you are not), your wife will need a car for trips with the baby.

[ArchieV]

With an infant the space of a G30 is definitely manageable. I'd say it would really come down to how much traveling with the baby you plan on doing because that's when you'll notice you may have to bring a vacations worth of items for an overnight trip. Would it be impossible no, but expect to use the backseat as secondary storage. Getting them in and out will be a slightly bigger PIA but again not terrible. Having had a small SUV for the first 2+ years of my kids life I'd definitely say it was easier than having to do it in a sedan. Perhaps like above user said consider an X3 or X4.

[YeaG30]

I have two kids, currently 2 and 4 years old and they are both forward facing. Most cars will be able to comfortably fit kids when they are forward facing. The challenge will always lie when they are rear facing with a carrier or the convertible seats. That being said, I previously owned an F30 328i and center mounted the infant carrier, to a convertible rear facing, to two car seats and was always able to make it work. I am also 5'7" so was able to fit up front but just barely. At the same time I also had an F15 X5 and that provided ample space but was more difficult in terms of loading and unloading.

Now, I traded the F30 for a G30 and its the sweet spot for me. Plenty of space for the kids car seats and leg room for me. Ample trunk space for anything and very easy to load and unload. I highly recommend the G30 if an X5 is not in your mind, but honestly the bigger SUV does not yield substantial differences over the X3/X4.

Don't consider the minivan until child 3 comes along. Until then, long live the sedan.

[johnnyp420]

Agree that if it's your main car for baby hauling, especially for vacations and or having more children down the road, an SUV is your best bet. Having 2 young kids, I am amazed with the amount of crap we need to bring with us even if it's just for a day away from home. It's better to have more space and not need it then buy an expensive car and find out you don't have enough room (speaking from experience).

[Bymep]

trunk space in G30 is limited for strollers (meaning the big, lux ones), make sure your's will fit. If you go with non-run flats (like me), forget about anything but an umbrella stroller since the spare tire takes up a lot of trunk space.

[Mi540i]

Rear trunk space is tight. Interior seating area is comfortable. We travel with a 2 and 4 year old. Only thing I don't like is rear trunk is small. Wish it was bigger. If you have any stroller it kills most of the space.

[Pictor]

Ditto what others have said.

My kids are older now. The days of car seats are gone -- for now. We're a 2-3 car house for our adulting years with children. While we've always had either a mini-van (gasp) or SUV (X5's), the 5 series was always a family hauler when needed. The 5-series has gotten larger over the years so it's only become better for a family hauler.

When I needed car seats, the rear of the E39 540i/6 did okay. It was tight but I managed to fit a rear facing seat without problem. Trunk space was limited but it worked. For long trips or heavy shopping we used the E53 X5. The minivan had to come into the picture when we had three kids in car seats. There was just not enough room for three car seats in a 5 seater SUV. Thankfully, as kids started to grow out of the car seats the minivan went away for another X5. All throughout that time we had a 5-series and it worked out well except for long trips where we also needed room for our dog and lots of kids stuff.

The G30 is much larger than the E39. In fact, the G20 3-series is close in size to the E39 5-series for comparison. Another option if you want more room (and larger trunk) is to get a 7-series. I had someone once tell me that his 740iL was the best family hauler he ever owned. Large enough rear seat that kids couldn't kick the front seats while strapped in and a large enough trunk for stuff. I could never bring myself to get that large of a car but it would have been better than a minivan.

BTW, the G05 X5 is also an excellent option that drives more like a sedan (depending on suspension option) and it has plenty of family utility.

[hlothery]

Have no problem with my granddaughter in her forward facing car seat in my M550. Except that she only prefers Sport Plus mode. She loves the stereo, and could watch gesture control forever.

[crew09]

Thank you for all of the replies - it seems like it's definitely do-able, but I would be sacrificing some ease of use vs an SUV. Right now we've only got one, so hopefully we won't need another car seat for a little while

[en1gma]

A G30 will be fine! My kids are 18 and 16 now, and when they were toddlers I used to have an e39 530 and have progressed through e60 and f10 iterations to my current g30 530i.

The earlier cars have been used with two child seats in the back, pushchair/stroller, travel cot, milk bottle sterilising kit, plus clothes, toys, etc and whatever else was necessary for the journey (sometimes over 230 UK miles each way to see family or attend a wedding) as well as driven to the shops!

There is plenty of space to get the kids in their seats plus lots of storage space in the doors, etc.

My wife dislikes SUVs (which are in all honesty an overkill for most of us in the UK, and especially me in London!) and as for people carriers - pah! Although I kinda liked the Mercedes R-Class when it was around...

If you were in Europe, then the option of the Touring would have been a good one to explore as an option for more luggage space... but as it's not available in America

[CosmicCharlie]

I would suggest very carefully evaluating the actual usable space in the rear of the smallish SUVs being recommended (especially x3/4)- it's often far less than people assume when they think SUV=kid hauler. With the cargo space metrics being cubic, vertical "air space" boosts the figures for the little SUVs, but what is more useful is practical floor surface area (of which, the g30 has more of than an X3).

I bought my m550 with kid transport as a key criteria. When cross shopping I've found that the useable space behind the rear seats in the x3 and x5 were tiny for the trade off one does in terms of driving characteristics and overall appeal (of course that part is personal preference)

I've been using my m550 for fairly regular kid transport with rear facing, forward facing, and booster seat configurations (I'm a dad to 4 kids, oldest is currently 5yrs old); of course I can only carry two of them at any given time- you can't carry four kids in car seats in an x3 or x5 either- but I've never had an issue with inadequate trunk space in the g30. That includes packing for beach trips and other road-trip getaways. My two older kids love the m550. I may wind up with an x5 or x7 at some point, but the thought of plunking around in an unexciting x3 when I don't have the kids with me (which is often) keeps those lower-tier bmws off my list.

My wife has a full length Escalade esv (the anti-minivan), which easily fits all 6 of us when we do family trips or any outing involving 3 or more kids. For a bigger family, I don't think even the x7 has the cargo capacity to be a single-vehicle family mover.

[Dalbmw]

I can get both my kids in my G30 (one forward facing + one rear facing) just fine. The trunk is tight but big enough of all of their crap (stroller, pack & play) plus a couple of bags for a weekend trip. Running around town is fine but less than ideal for much more than that.

[clee1982]

man, only American would think G30 is not big enough to have with a kid, how much stuff do you really haul? I have a smaller stroller that I permanent put in the trunk and car seat that might as well glued to that the one behind my wife, then everything else I just put in different storage space in car (I put everything in zip lock bag), works for me...

[crew09]

Originally Posted by clee1982

man, only American would think G30 is not big enough to have with a kid, how much stuff do you really haul? I have a smaller stroller that I permanent put in the trunk and car seat that might as well glued to that the one behind my wife, then everything else I just put in different storage space in car (I put everything in zip lock bag), works for me...

I know, I know. This would be my first car with more than 2 doors too!

Part of it is the whole unknown since this is our first. The other is looking for justification to help convince my wife

[steve090619]

Originally Posted by crew09

I know, I know. This would be my first car with more than 2 doors too!

Part of it is the whole unknown since this is our first. The other is looking for justification to help convince my wife

Originally Posted by crew09

I know, I know. This would be my first car with more than 2 doors too!

Part of it is the whole unknown since this is our first. The other is looking for justification to help convince my wife

I have 8 and 11 year old. No minivan for me. We have tons of fun in 540. Nothing like 8 year old telling you to floor it.

[crew09]

So went on test drives with a 3 GT, X3 M40, and 540 yesterday (looking at all CPO). All choosen based on more rear seat room than a 3 sedan and larger trunk space for stroller and other baby accessories.

3 GT was first - I liked the driving position and the engine felt surprisingly good, despite the dealer only having the 2L T. The car did feel "twitchier" than the other two and the interior felt the most dated, which I suppose is expected since it's a previous gen architecture.

540 was next - definitely felt more solid / planted on the road. Liked the driving position and the interior felt much more open inside.

X3 M40 was last - it felt something in between the 3GT and 540. It was nicer than the 3GT, but not quite the level of the 540. The power was good and throttle response perhaps felt a bit better than the 540 (both in sport mode). I disliked the handling though - it almost felt like I was on stilts versus the other two cars.

The real surprise was loading a stroller into the back of the X3 M40 and 540 - I went in thinking the X3 would be the best. However, since the 540's trunk is longer vs more of a square on the X3, I was able to push the stroller to the back, leaving more room for other bags / things.

So definitely leaning towards the 5 after the test drives.

[530iDriver]

Originally Posted by crew09

Does anyone here use their G30 as the main kid hauler?

As background, my wife and I just had a baby and are moving from NY to Pittsburgh. We haven't had a car since living in NY, so we are starting from scratch. Originally we were thinking of getting 2 cars - maybe one sedan and an SUV, but my wife hates driving and wants to hold off on the second car. I expect we'll eventually get another vehicle (which will likely be a crossover or small SUV), but it may be 6-12 months.

An SUV seems to be the most "practical" one car option for those that can't bring themselves to get a minivan. However I enjoy a traditional driving position and the best that can be said about SUV options is they drive "car-like".

Yes here. Fantastic car.

[stein_325i]

A G30 should work fine with kids, and should be spacious enough. I would also suggest you look at wagons as well, as they mix all the great aspects of both a sedan such as the lower ride height and traditional seating position you like, with all the practicality of an SUV that you want. Of course this is if you don't mind the looks, because like the minivan, while both are the most practical and best option for families, many immediately disqualify it because of the looks (although I find them to sometimes be better looking!). Currently Volvo, Audi, and Mercedes offer great choices in wagon form.

[clee1982]

I was looking at E450 and V90 wagon before but wife thought it looked ugly and I don't want SUV (would have look at 5 series wagon had it been available in the US).

[belcom]

the only thing is that the rear seats are fairly deep compared to other vehicles and leg space is not as good as a midsized SUV for example. What this means is basically with older kids 6+ and booster seats their legs are kind of resting on the edge instead of hanging straight down and that makes them hit the back of the front seat with their dirty shoes. Especially annoying in winter. Car looks disgusting inside during those months and you can't clean it every day because it'll be dirty the next day again and essentially a waste of time.

Speaking of winter, it freaking snowed overnight and still snowing a bit right now in Toronto. What in the F#$% is going on with weather!?

Also, very important, with booster seats and the nature of the seat belt buckle being recessed into the seat my kids had real trouble strapping themselves in as the booster seat would cover the buckle. We absolutely needed some 6" seat belt buckle extenders. Its a detail that BMW should've picked up on when designing the car or at the very least understand the issue and include a pair of extenders or something.

[ArchieV]

Originally Posted by clee1982

I was looking at E450 and V90 wagon before but wife thought it looked ugly and I don't want SUV (would have look at 5 series wagon had it been available in the US).

Yeah the G31 variant would be great to have in the US for the extra SUV type storage. Honestly I think the E450 wagon does a great job but can't get over the hideous rear end styling.