1M for a Small Family - Yea or Nay?
Discussion
Hi guys,
Exciting times ahead, we expecting a our first child in July!
I always liked BMW 1M and wanted it. I need some help on whether it'd be a good and enough for a small family. It will not be a daily as I commute by the tube but of course it will be used for usual errands as well as occasional track days if possible (saying this without knowing how life will be time wise). We put give or take 2k miles per year, maybe this might increase after...
The biggest question is how easy/difficult to get the baby seat in and out? Living with a small coupe, is it really a pain as some people say? Anyone have any experience with this with the 1m? One of my friend who had a coupe in the past said he did not see much difference as he was pushing the front seat forward and steeping in to place the child seat and later child to the seat. Please tell me how difficult or not this sequence could be? if i am lucky enough some photos maybe?
I don't want to go down the route of 4 door in this case it could be m3. I see some people are almost carrying their house with them when they have a child, can't comprehend it!
Looking forward to hearing your experience and/or views on this matter.
Thanks all in advance!
Exciting times ahead, we expecting a our first child in July!
I always liked BMW 1M and wanted it. I need some help on whether it'd be a good and enough for a small family. It will not be a daily as I commute by the tube but of course it will be used for usual errands as well as occasional track days if possible (saying this without knowing how life will be time wise). We put give or take 2k miles per year, maybe this might increase after...
The biggest question is how easy/difficult to get the baby seat in and out? Living with a small coupe, is it really a pain as some people say? Anyone have any experience with this with the 1m? One of my friend who had a coupe in the past said he did not see much difference as he was pushing the front seat forward and steeping in to place the child seat and later child to the seat. Please tell me how difficult or not this sequence could be? if i am lucky enough some photos maybe?
I don't want to go down the route of 4 door in this case it could be m3. I see some people are almost carrying their house with them when they have a child, can't comprehend it!
Looking forward to hearing your experience and/or views on this matter.
Thanks all in advance!
It's doable but not enjoyable. You're not going to drive fast or spirited with your baby and partner on board, getting children in and out of a coupe is a pain, the boot is tiny and will struggle to hold a pram, shopping and luggage, and when they get older they will absolutely trash the back of the car.
chronic123 said:
I see some people are almost carrying their house with them when they have a child, can't comprehend it!
Oh you will, you will.Babies take up much more space than older children - pushchair, toys, travel cot, high chair, spare clothes, etc. etc. Of course your destination might have some of these, or you may choose not to take them, but why make your life more difficult just to have a smaller car?
I'd say something Focus / 3-series size is a minimum to be comfortable.
This question has popped up a few time albeit not with a 1 series. Some manage it fine and some don't.
My own view is a hatchback of focus or Mondeo sized would be fine. A 2 door 1 series will get tiring pretty quickly. You can lift the seat into the back of a coupe but babies in their seats are heavy when you do it several times a day. Buggies are big as is all the gubbons they need.
Someone will now post the opposite view and give the example of how they managed to take their family of five in a 2 week camping holiday in a Yugo zastava etc.
P.s. good luck with your new family! Contrary to many views on pH, having kids is great. Enjoy it!
My own view is a hatchback of focus or Mondeo sized would be fine. A 2 door 1 series will get tiring pretty quickly. You can lift the seat into the back of a coupe but babies in their seats are heavy when you do it several times a day. Buggies are big as is all the gubbons they need.
Someone will now post the opposite view and give the example of how they managed to take their family of five in a 2 week camping holiday in a Yugo zastava etc.
P.s. good luck with your new family! Contrary to many views on pH, having kids is great. Enjoy it!
This sounds like a carbon copy of myself, I bought my 1M new 2 months before our lad arrived.
We used the 1M for around 3months as a family car before we got fed up trying to fit everything in.
You can get a child seat in the back but it's tight getting it in through the gap behind the seat back, then when your belting the child in its a bit of a faf trying to clip the belt buckle home.
The boot will take a pushchair but doesn't leave a lot of room for anything else and the car especially in the back does ride rather hard which is not great for keeping a small child's stomach contents contained !
As soon as your child is old enough not to have a pushchair and can climb into there seat themselves then a 1M is perfectly manageable, my lad has now just turned 7 and absolutely loves the 1M.
We ended up using our vw t5 combi as our family wagon and I still think that it's the best family car you can get.
The child seat sits in the middle of the rear seat, you can walk between the two front seats to get to them without having to get out, side sliding doors which are brilliant in car parks and the biggest boot for prams, bikes and any thing else oh and rubber floors !
We used the 1M for around 3months as a family car before we got fed up trying to fit everything in.
You can get a child seat in the back but it's tight getting it in through the gap behind the seat back, then when your belting the child in its a bit of a faf trying to clip the belt buckle home.
The boot will take a pushchair but doesn't leave a lot of room for anything else and the car especially in the back does ride rather hard which is not great for keeping a small child's stomach contents contained !
As soon as your child is old enough not to have a pushchair and can climb into there seat themselves then a 1M is perfectly manageable, my lad has now just turned 7 and absolutely loves the 1M.
We ended up using our vw t5 combi as our family wagon and I still think that it's the best family car you can get.
The child seat sits in the middle of the rear seat, you can walk between the two front seats to get to them without having to get out, side sliding doors which are brilliant in car parks and the biggest boot for prams, bikes and any thing else oh and rubber floors !
With kids you want it as practical as possible. A 1 series coupe is not the car for this.
With my first I had a range rover - that was just about big enough for all the crap babies need to travel with!
When she got older and number 2 came along I was running an F10 M5... Again that was just about big enough.. Modern prams are not small, modern isofix car seats take up a huge amount of space too.
Plus your pride and joy will get destroyed!
Still - its your call and good luck with everything regardless.
Steve
With my first I had a range rover - that was just about big enough for all the crap babies need to travel with!
When she got older and number 2 came along I was running an F10 M5... Again that was just about big enough.. Modern prams are not small, modern isofix car seats take up a huge amount of space too.
Plus your pride and joy will get destroyed!
Still - its your call and good luck with everything regardless.
Steve
I've just gone down from a 3 series estate to an M140i - kids are now 7 and 5 - no way I would have gone to anything smaller whilst we still had all the baby stuff.
Even now though, the 1 series is a bit tight - we need to be careful with what we pack and also the kids only just about fit into the back with their car seats.
A friend of mine has a newborn and also an M140i - him and his wife are quite tall, and have found they need to have the baby seat in the front. Putting it in the back meant the passenger seat was too far forward for either of them to be comfortable.
This is both with 5 door versions.
That said, all depends on how much you are prepared to compromise.
Even now though, the 1 series is a bit tight - we need to be careful with what we pack and also the kids only just about fit into the back with their car seats.
A friend of mine has a newborn and also an M140i - him and his wife are quite tall, and have found they need to have the baby seat in the front. Putting it in the back meant the passenger seat was too far forward for either of them to be comfortable.
This is both with 5 door versions.
That said, all depends on how much you are prepared to compromise.
The first 4-5 years is a bit of a bell curve of ballache.
Their 1st seat is basically a child carrier that clips in the base. As long as you don’t have a bad back then getting them in the back isn’t too bad. Downside is that sometimes they wake up and need to be comforted, fed or entertained - so that means one if the parents has to comfortable getting in the back.
At some point they will spit milk, biscuit or some other unpleasant substance over the car, unless you are willing to stop every 20 minutes or callous enough to deny them food on the move.
The second seat (from 9kg I think) is the biggest pain as it looks like a normal seat, but uses a harness and not the belts that are attached to actual car. So you have to get them in place and then apply and tighten the straps. Hard when they are keen to get in their seat, but one if life’s biggest challenges when they don’t want to be in the car seat. For the ultimate ‘what the hell have I done’ experience doing that in a coupe ;-). You’ll be kneeling in the footwell (which will be full of mud and soggy biscuit remains) which one hand holding them in place (while they go limp/stiff/wriggle like mad) while trying to get a harness to clip in. If it’s raining your back, neck and one of your calves/ankles/shoes will be getting nice and wet.
The third seat looks like a big version of the second seat. At this stage you can reason with / bribe them and they can usually fasten their own seatbelt. They’ll also get bored quickly, still partially eat food and probably clobber the back of the front seat/rear air vents with their Velcro fastened trainers.
Prams that go with the first seats will fit in most cars, but probably with not much else. If you end up having 2 kids then you lose the option to sit in the back and comfort them, so the passenger will get neck/shoulder ache from turning round all the time.
Given the choice I’d get a saloon M3, although very different to the 1M and harder to exploit on the road due to the lack of low down power.
Also consider when you will be able to really use the car. Great if you drop the wife and child somewhere and head off to the hills. Less likely to be fun if you try and hoon around with them on board.
I tried a few things, but ended up with a 335i estate and Z4M. 335 has a LSD and uprated suspension which helps.
Their 1st seat is basically a child carrier that clips in the base. As long as you don’t have a bad back then getting them in the back isn’t too bad. Downside is that sometimes they wake up and need to be comforted, fed or entertained - so that means one if the parents has to comfortable getting in the back.
At some point they will spit milk, biscuit or some other unpleasant substance over the car, unless you are willing to stop every 20 minutes or callous enough to deny them food on the move.
The second seat (from 9kg I think) is the biggest pain as it looks like a normal seat, but uses a harness and not the belts that are attached to actual car. So you have to get them in place and then apply and tighten the straps. Hard when they are keen to get in their seat, but one if life’s biggest challenges when they don’t want to be in the car seat. For the ultimate ‘what the hell have I done’ experience doing that in a coupe ;-). You’ll be kneeling in the footwell (which will be full of mud and soggy biscuit remains) which one hand holding them in place (while they go limp/stiff/wriggle like mad) while trying to get a harness to clip in. If it’s raining your back, neck and one of your calves/ankles/shoes will be getting nice and wet.
The third seat looks like a big version of the second seat. At this stage you can reason with / bribe them and they can usually fasten their own seatbelt. They’ll also get bored quickly, still partially eat food and probably clobber the back of the front seat/rear air vents with their Velcro fastened trainers.
Prams that go with the first seats will fit in most cars, but probably with not much else. If you end up having 2 kids then you lose the option to sit in the back and comfort them, so the passenger will get neck/shoulder ache from turning round all the time.
Given the choice I’d get a saloon M3, although very different to the 1M and harder to exploit on the road due to the lack of low down power.
Also consider when you will be able to really use the car. Great if you drop the wife and child somewhere and head off to the hills. Less likely to be fun if you try and hoon around with them on board.
I tried a few things, but ended up with a 335i estate and Z4M. 335 has a LSD and uprated suspension which helps.
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