[SoYank]

Originally Posted by ASHFORTHUK

on a icy morning make a cup of tea, go out to your car open door with remote key fob pop it in the fob hole press the brake, then the start button, then press the stop, remove key fob put foot on brake press the start get out of your car lock it with the remote and leave it running but locked why you go and finish your tea.

Later, when you come back out you may have a £30 ticket underneath the wiper blade. Locked or not, it's unattended with the engine running.

[ncoig]

Originally Posted by SoYank

Later, when you come back out you may have a £30 ticket underneath the wiper blade. Locked or not, it's unattended with the engine running.

Party pooper.

-N

[stimpy]

Originally Posted by SoYank

Later, when you come back out you may have a £30 ticket underneath the wiper blade. Locked or not, it's unattended with the engine running.

Why would you get a ticket for leaving your car running in your garage/driveway?

[visor]

Originally Posted by stimpy

Why would you get a ticket for leaving your car running in your garage/driveway?

Because it would be so easy to steal... just smash window and drive away!

If indeed it is stolen in this manner, he is going to have a tough time getting his car replaced by the insurance company...

[NaTuReB0Y]

no power steering

[UdubBadger]

i didn't know fold down rear seats was an option... so fucking dumb IMO. I've never heard of a 4/5 passenger car without fold down rear seats, I know sometimes the whole split 60/40 thing was made up to be extra convenient but not even the entire seat folds down, its either you pay for it or you dont get it at all. Way to nickel and dime me BMW.

[stimpy]

Originally Posted by visor

Because it would be so easy to steal... just smash window and drive away!

If indeed it is stolen in this manner, he is going to have a tough time getting his car replaced by the insurance company...

Thanks but your explanation had *nothing* to do with what I said :P

[SoYank]

Originally Posted by stimpy

Why would you get a ticket for leaving your car running in your garage/driveway?

In England it's called the "offense of quitting". Leaving a car running in your garage leads to carbon monoxide poisoning.

[darkphantom]

Originally Posted by SoYank

In England it's called the "offense of quitting". Leaving a car running in your garage leads to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Wow, didn't know that, but again, who would be dumb/inattentive enough to do this?

[Nr!qUe]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

i didn't know fold down rear seats was an option... so fucking dumb IMO. I've never heard of a 4/5 passenger car without fold down rear seats, I know sometimes the whole split 60/40 thing was made up to be extra convenient but not even the entire seat folds down, its either you pay for it or you dont get it at all. Way to nickel and dime me BMW.

According to the 2009 Brochure for the E90, the Fold down seats are now standard,

I guess they realized it was too complicated to make two types of cars, ones with the fold down, and ones without.

http://www.bmwusa.com/PDF_359fdbcd-c...6956f39eb.arox

(btw, i read the entire thread yesterday)

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Nr!qUe

According to the 2009 Brochure for the E90, the Fold down seats are now standard,

I guess they realized it was too complicated to make two types of cars, ones with the fold down, and ones without.

http://www.bmwusa.com/PDF_359fdbcd-c...6956f39eb.arox

(btw, i read the entire thread yesterday)

Still an option according to these:

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...ndOptions.aspx
http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...ndOptions.aspx

[bsd107]

Originally Posted by Nr!qUe

According to the 2009 Brochure for the E90, the Fold down seats are now standard,

I guess they realized it was too complicated to make two types of cars, ones with the fold down, and ones without.

Nope - I have a 2009 E90 in my driveway without the fold down seat option.

[VIZSLA]

Originally Posted by Hawkshaw

Still waiting to learn something I didn't know about my 3 series...

If you're going to cheat by reading the manual....

[danimal]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

i didn't know fold down rear seats was an option... so fucking dumb IMO. I've never heard of a 4/5 passenger car without fold down rear seats, I know sometimes the whole split 60/40 thing was made up to be extra convenient but not even the entire seat folds down, its either you pay for it or you dont get it at all. Way to nickel and dime me BMW.

Not to defend charging extra for fold-down seats (it's totally nickel and diming), but I think one reason they're not standard is that it makes the chassis more rigid to have fixed seatbacks. I'm sure there are some hard-core enthusiasts who are willing to sacrifice the practicality.

-Dan

[KevinO]

Originally Posted by danimal

Not to defend charging extra for fold-down seats (it's totally nickel and diming), but I think one reason they're not standard is that it makes the chassis more rigid to have fixed seatbacks. I'm sure there are some hard-core enthusiasts who are willing to sacrifice the practicality.

-Dan

Yeah, I was annoyed it wasn't standard as well. But then I thought about how many times I actually used them in my e46 (once, not counting the time I put them down to install my iPod kit) and figured I'd save $500 on my e90 LCI. I wonder if I'll ever really miss them.

[MN BMW]

Originally Posted by darkphantom

Wow, didn't know that, but again, who would be dumb/inattentive enough to do this?

When it gets -20F or -30F below zero you'd do it too. Granted it might not hit that in the UK where ASHFORTUK is from.

[Nr!qUe]

Originally Posted by danimal

Not to defend charging extra for fold-down seats (it's totally nickel and diming), but I think one reason they're not standard is that it makes the chassis more rigid to have fixed seatbacks. I'm sure there are some hard-core enthusiasts who are willing to sacrifice the practicality.

-Dan

I totally agree with you.

[CyberGypsy]

Originally Posted by Prowess Symphony

I didnt know that some light switches supposedly push in. My 09 doesnt have this unless Im not pushing hard enough.

And on the climate screen on iDrive it shows three fan speed settings which are not adjustable. So why show them?

Mine on my car adjust fine love having that

[bsd107]

Originally Posted by CyberGypsy

Mine on my car adjust fine love having that

Yeah, but on the 2009's you can't adjust the air distribution, even though they are shown on the iDrive screen....

[bsd107]

Originally Posted by danimal

Not to defend charging extra for fold-down seats (it's totally nickel and diming), but I think one reason they're not standard is that it makes the chassis more rigid to have fixed seatbacks. I'm sure there are some hard-core enthusiasts who are willing to sacrifice the practicality.

When I bought my E39 I declined to get the fold-down seats due to reports of the car being more rigid without them. Plus, on cheaper Japanese cars the fold-down seats can sometimes end up being one of the things that can start to rattle as the car gets older.

On that E39, I did actually remove the rear seatback to install the BMW TV tuner, and I actually found a solid, complete metal panel, welded in place, and even stamped with a huge roundel. It was something that nobody would ever see, but it did look cool. No doubt in my mind at that point that there truly was some extra rigidity being lent to the car by avoiding the fold-down seats. Also, again on the E39 the rear seatback cushion was a LOT thicker and more comfortable if you did not get the fold-down option. You could easily see this as the center armrest was also twice as thick for the non-folding rear seat.

I had that E39 for almost a decade and never missed the fold-down seats. One thing about sedans with fold-downs is that they aren't as useful as they may seem at first, 'cause whatever you are loading must fit in that hole below the rear shelf.....

In any case, on my E90 LCI I avoided the rear fold-downs for the same reason. However, I was disappointed to find the benefits of the stationary seat do not seem to be as great on the E90 as they were on the E39. The rear seat cushion does not seem to be any thicker, as evidenced by the armrest being just as thin as on the fold-down version. Also, looking in from the trunk, it does NOT seem to me that there is any welded solid panel behind the seatback. Just looks like the seatback cushion has been screwed in, blocking the pass-through opening. (Looking at the CD Changer install instructions, which require removing the rear seatback if you don't have the fold-downs, it doesn't seem to indicate any rigid panel or additional structure adding rigidity to the car....)

So, I'm disappointed in the E90 that they didn't seem to tweak the car as much to gain benefit from a stationary seat-back as they did with the E39 model. However, I still won't miss the fold-downs in my E90 as the pass-through opening seems pretty small, I won't have to worry about the rear fold-down eventually creaking/squeaking as the car ages, I don't have those plastic doors over the LATCH/ISOFIX doors, and I don't have that annoying additional buckle on the center seatbelt.

But, hey, I have no argument with folks who think that charging $500 for the folding rear seat is rediculous - it should be a no-cost option....

[MBrown1003]

Originally Posted by darkphantom

Wow, didn't know that, but again, who would be dumb/inattentive enough to do this?

Who? My next-door neighbor's elderly mother, upon returning home from Europe. She also happens to be hard-of-hearing, so between the jet lag and lack of hearing, she managed to leave her car in the garage, running. Fortunately, my friend found her as she was losing consciousness. The mother had a very minor heart attack and required treatments in a hyperbaric chamber; the daughter was given oxygen.

I live in a townhouse condo, so we share one wall. Since the CO had gotten to the third floor of her unit, they wanted to check mine. I was out to dinner for all this, and another neighbor saw what was happening, and stopped the fire department from breaking down my door. I did, however, get home and find all my doors and windows wide open, courtesy of the fire department. I had them come back the next day and verify their readings of no CO in my unit.

It does frost me, though, when I see cars sitting in front of stores unattended and running while we still have a high-theft list that includes just about all cars built in the last 5 years or so. I'd love to see that law passed here.

[BK]

Originally Posted by bsd107

On that E39 ... No doubt in my mind at that point that there truly was some extra rigidity being lent to the car by avoiding the fold-down seats.

on my E90 LCI ... looking in from the trunk, it does NOT seem to me that there is any welded solid panel behind the seatback. Just looks like the seatback cushion has been screwed in, blocking the pass-through opening.

Your thinking is exactly right. On the E90, the rear seats are not a structural element contributing to chassis rigidity. For the E90, there is no "extra chassis rigidity" from opting out of folding rear seats. I agree that there's no reason not to just make folding seats standard, except as a cost-saving measure.

I suppose it's possible to have more squeaks if you get folding seats, so maybe that's a benefit to opting out. But you don't get a more rigid chassis.

I think the same goes for the E92. I'm sure there are threads here on this topic. You'll see car reviewers (and people posting here) get this wrong all the time.