E39 saloon - folding seat option?

[Targarama]

Brother is looking at E39 5 Series as a potential replacement for his E36 Coupe. He needs folding rear seats to get his mountain bike in the boot. Was this ever an option? All we've see are 'ski hatch' holes.

[dcb]

Targarama said:

Brother is looking at E39 5 Series as a potential replacement for his E36 Coupe. He needs folding rear seats to get his mountain bike in the boot. Was this ever an option? All we've see are 'ski hatch' holes.

Don't think so.

He might be better off with the Touring.

On the saloon with no folding rear seats, I find
it's not much aggro to take the bike wheels off
and put the frame on the rear seats.

The rear seat belts come in handy for restraining
the frame, too.

[phelix]

And if it ever was an option it's likely to be a rare one.

[[TW]Fox]

Yes it was an option along with a ski hatch.

[Dunk76]

Yep - believe in BMW parlance it's called Through-Load System.

[wee_skids]

My E39 has folding rear seats. You have to unlock them with the ignition key. So they do exist.

[sniff petrol]

Could one be converted? I mean it's hardly going to have a strengthened shell.

[NickXX]

If it's like the e46, the two cars have different chasses. The one with folding seats being less rigid.

It's impossible to retrofit the folding seats without a LOT of butchering.