Are the standard e90 seats that bad? 335i SE Saloon

[yus786]

In the market for a 335i saloon which are quite rare in the first place and have found an SE 2009 model.

I think it has the standard seats (not the sport ones that come standard in couples and convertibles)

I've read loads of people saying the standard seats aren't worth looking at. Are they really that bad? The car seems rare already so I might have to wait an age for an M-sport version of the car and will probably have to pay quite a bit more too

The car I'm looking at is a 4 door 59 plate SE, manual, 65k miles, FSH, 1 owner from new, cloth interior, xenons, upgraded sat nav, bluetooth, dab, front and rear sensors, folding mirrors (not sure if any of these come as standard tbh) for £8k. Expensive?

Cheers in advance

Edited by yus786 on Saturday 4th February 02:09

[helix402]

If you want sports seat you can buy a pair of used ones.

[Smuler]

Must be losing my vision, was sure I saw an auto in the ad
SE seats are woeful and lack support, not good on such a fast car.
M Sport and leather are what you need and as Helix said, you can but.

Spec otherwise is excellent as Xenons which are essential may not be standard on saloon, they were on coupe I'm sure.
Other features are non standard so apart from leather a well optioned car.
Check build sheet to make sure it hasn't sport seats.

[Helicopter123]

yus786 said:

...cloth interior...

Edited by yus786 on Saturday 4th February 02:09

[Mike335i]

Almost nothing was standard on these! Cloth seats aren't the end of the world but the sport sears are far better and the adjustable bolsters are good.

[cerb4.5lee]

I believe that if you are of a bigger build the SE seats aren't too bad, I'm only little so I hated them and I was just sliding all over the seat because they have zero support.

The sports seats keep me nicely in place and the adjustable bolsters are great for holding you in.

[yus786]

Thanks for all the replies, this is what I get when I checked the VIN so doesn't look like it has sports seats

Standard Equipment
240 Leather Steering Wheel Lederlenkrad
249 Multi-function For Steering Wheel Multifunktion Fuer Lenkrad
321 Exterior Parts In Body Color Exterieurumfaenge In Wagenfarbe
497 Centre Armrest In Rear Mittelarmlehne Im Fond
520 Foglights Nebelscheinwerfer
853 Language Version English Sprachversion Englisch
Options
1CA Selection Cop Relevant Vehicles Selektion Cop Relevanter Fahrzeuge
1CB Co2 Content Co2 Umfang
1CD Brake Energy Regeneration Brake Energy Regeneration
2BZ Lt/aly Wheels Double Spoke 161 Lm Raeder Doppelspeiche 161
2PA Locking Wheel Bolts Radschraubensicherung
230 Eu Specific Additional Equipment Eu Spezifische Zusatzumfaenge
258 Runflat Tyres Bereifung Mit Notlaufeigenschaften
302 Alarm System Alarmanlage
313 Exterior Mirror Package Aussenspiegelpaket
346 Chrome-line Exterior Chrome Line Exterieur
4B9 Int.trim Finishers Alum.high Finish Int.leiste Aluminium Feinschliff
423 Floor Mats, Velour Fussmatten In Velours
428 Warning Triangle Warndreieck
431 Interior Rr Vw Mirror W Aut Anti-d Innenspiegel,automatisch Abblendend
441 Smokers Package Raucherpaket
465 Through-load System Durchladesystem
470 Child Seat Isofix Attachment Kindersitzbefestigung Isofix
5AC Autom. High-beam Headlights Control Fernlichtassistent
502 Headlight Washer System Scheinwerfer-waschanlage
508 Park Distance Control (pdc) Park Distance Control (pdc)
521 Rain Sensor Regensensor
522 Xenon Light Xenon-licht
524 Adaptive Headlights Adaptives Kurvenlicht
534 Automatic Air Conditioning Klimaautomatik
544 Cruise Control With Braking Function Geschwindigkeitsregel. Mit Bremsf.
563 Lights Package Lichtpaket
6AA Bmw Teleservices Bmw Teleservices
6AB Control Teleservices Steuerung Teleservices
609 Navigation System Professional Navigationssystem Professional
612 Bmw Assist Bmw Assist
615 Extended Bmw Online Information Erweiterte Bmw Online Information
616 Bmw Online Bmw Online
620 Voice Input System Spracheingabesystem
633 Prep.mob. Ph. Business Bluet.interf. Handy Vorb. Business/bluetooth-sch.
654 Dab Tuner Dab Tuner
694 Preparation For Cd Changer Cd-wechsler Vorbereitung
698 Area-code 2 Area-code 2
761 Individual Sun Protection Glazing Individual Sonnenschutzverglasung
8SC Country Spec. Release Of Teleservice Laenderspez. Teleservicefreisch.
8SM Vin, Visible From Outside Fahrgestellnummer,v.aussen Sichtbar
8SP Cop Control Cop Steuerung
8S2 Coding Of Alarm Signal Kodierung Alarmsignal
8S3 Automatic Lock When Driving Away Autom. Verriegelung Beim Anfahren
812 England Version England/irland Ausfuehrung
850 Add Fuel Tank Filling For Export Zusaetzl. Tankfuellung Export
863 Europe/dealer Directory Service Kontakt-flyer Europa
877 Deletion Cross-over Operation Ueberkreuzbedienung Entfall
880 English / On-board Documentation Englisch / Bordliteratur

[Smuler]

yus786 said:

Thanks for all the replies, this is what I get when I checked the VIN so doesn't look like it has sports seats

Standard Equipment
240 Leather Steering Wheel Lederlenkrad
249 Multi-function For Steering Wheel Multifunktion Fuer Lenkrad
321 Exterior Parts In Body Color Exterieurumfaenge In Wagenfarbe
497 Centre Armrest In Rear Mittelarmlehne Im Fond
520 Foglights Nebelscheinwerfer
853 Language Version English Sprachversion Englisch
Options
1CA Selection Cop Relevant Vehicles Selektion Cop Relevanter Fahrzeuge
1CB Co2 Content Co2 Umfang
1CD Brake Energy Regeneration Brake Energy Regeneration
2BZ Lt/aly Wheels Double Spoke 161 Lm Raeder Doppelspeiche 161
2PA Locking Wheel Bolts Radschraubensicherung
230 Eu Specific Additional Equipment Eu Spezifische Zusatzumfaenge
258 Runflat Tyres Bereifung Mit Notlaufeigenschaften
302 Alarm System Alarmanlage
313 Exterior Mirror Package Aussenspiegelpaket
346 Chrome-line Exterior Chrome Line Exterieur
4B9 Int.trim Finishers Alum.high Finish Int.leiste Aluminium Feinschliff
423 Floor Mats, Velour Fussmatten In Velours
428 Warning Triangle Warndreieck
431 Interior Rr Vw Mirror W Aut Anti-d Innenspiegel,automatisch Abblendend
441 Smokers Package Raucherpaket
465 Through-load System Durchladesystem
470 Child Seat Isofix Attachment Kindersitzbefestigung Isofix
5AC Autom. High-beam Headlights Control Fernlichtassistent
502 Headlight Washer System Scheinwerfer-waschanlage
508 Park Distance Control (pdc) Park Distance Control (pdc)
521 Rain Sensor Regensensor
522 Xenon Light Xenon-licht
524 Adaptive Headlights Adaptives Kurvenlicht
534 Automatic Air Conditioning Klimaautomatik
544 Cruise Control With Braking Function Geschwindigkeitsregel. Mit Bremsf.
563 Lights Package Lichtpaket
6AA Bmw Teleservices Bmw Teleservices
6AB Control Teleservices Steuerung Teleservices
609 Navigation System Professional Navigationssystem Professional
612 Bmw Assist Bmw Assist
615 Extended Bmw Online Information Erweiterte Bmw Online Information
616 Bmw Online Bmw Online
620 Voice Input System Spracheingabesystem
633 Prep.mob. Ph. Business Bluet.interf. Handy Vorb. Business/bluetooth-sch.
654 Dab Tuner Dab Tuner
694 Preparation For Cd Changer Cd-wechsler Vorbereitung
698 Area-code 2 Area-code 2
761 Individual Sun Protection Glazing Individual Sonnenschutzverglasung
8SC Country Spec. Release Of Teleservice Laenderspez. Teleservicefreisch.
8SM Vin, Visible From Outside Fahrgestellnummer,v.aussen Sichtbar
8SP Cop Control Cop Steuerung
8S2 Coding Of Alarm Signal Kodierung Alarmsignal
8S3 Automatic Lock When Driving Away Autom. Verriegelung Beim Anfahren
812 England Version England/irland Ausfuehrung
850 Add Fuel Tank Filling For Export Zusaetzl. Tankfuellung Export
863 Europe/dealer Directory Service Kontakt-flyer Europa
877 Deletion Cross-over Operation Ueberkreuzbedienung Entfall
880 English / On-board Documentation Englisch / Bordliteratur

No mention of sports suspension either. I think on a SE 335i that does, it would say M Sport Suspension as that would bring it consistent with the M Sport.

[yus786]

Yup the SE doesn't have the suspension or the seats as standard.

I'm torn lol

[Smuler]

Just as with the seats you could buy a sport suspension and possibly a better one.
Depends how much cash you have.

I think the best M Sport manual I saw on AT was another 3k.

[helix402]

£5/600 seems to be the eBay price for a full sport interior.

[Fore Left]

I have standard seats in mine. They're OK if a little on the firm side. Limited adjustment but supportive enough for me. I've looked at sport seats on eBay but they all seem to be fked one way or another (usually it seems from being stored on top of each other) so haven't bothered.

[sjj84]

Not sure what the se seats would be like on a spirited drive, but I drove my dads previous 3 series with se seats to le mans a few years back and didn't end up in agony. I have a dodgy back so anything over approx an hour and I'm in pain.

[MWM3]

Sports seats in the E9x cars were brilliant and would rate them as one of the best in a car I have owned, I could get out after 6 hours driving feeling fresh as a daisy.

The standard ones not so much, they lack support and you would definitley need a few pit stops on the same journey to save your back.

[Patrick Bateman]

I wonder if I'm an anomaly as I've yet to drive a car for 3 hours and get out feeling fresh, let alone 6.

[roofer]

Patrick Bateman said:

I wonder if I'm an anomaly as I've yet to drive a car for 3 hours and get out feeling fresh, let alone 6.

You need comfort seats...another level, especially with auto inflate.

[smashy]

roofer said:

You need comfort seats...another level, especially with auto inflate.

are they an extra £3500 only available on the 5 s roofer?

[gizlaroc]

It isn't the lack of bolster support that is the issue with the standard seats, it is their inability to raise the base up at the front, I always feel like I am sliding off the front of the standard seats. But then I do like to raise the base up at the front to put support under my knees.

[smashy]

gizlaroc said:

It isn't the lack of bolster support that is the issue with the standard seats, it is their inability to raise the base up at the front, I always feel like I am sliding off the front of the standard seats. But then I do like to raise the base up at the front to put support under my knees.

Spot on and with the SE suspension on my 3 series with the nose going forward on braking it was ridiculous.Funny that the ACS Springs and shocks have made the seat far more acceptable

[matthew-n2ilw]

I’m 6’2 and I found sport seats on my X5 and Mini Cooper dig into my thighs and on longer journeys is really uncomfortable so while they def hold you round corners I’m going to get SE seats in E91 and if I slide around I’ll swap them out for sports.