[dcarp757]

I currently have a '14 335i sedan and I've been eyeing the M240i, but I'm concerned about going from a Sedan to Coupe. I have a 7 yr old son and he is the only one that rides in the back. In the two years I've owned the car I've had 1 adult in the rear.

Does anyone have a 2 series with a kid? Is he/she able to get themself in and out of the car on their own? My conern is he wont be able to reach the door to open/close on his own, which means I will need to walk around and do it for him everytime. That could get old...

No plans for more kids BTW...

Thanks for any input.

[emtrey]

I went from a 335 (now wife's car) to an M235IX.

My only direct experience with the back seat of a 2 series was as a passenger in a friends's M235. No issues getting in and out (we are not tall) and the button system helps a lot. However, would a young child need help getting in and out? Most likely so and what about helping if still in a car seat. I would not want to do it regularly if it were me.

Why not head over to the dealership with your little one and try it on for size. I think he is going to have problem with the door opening situation on his own. The doors are longer and certainly heavier. ( I forsee lots of door dings and nicked door edges if that kind of stuff concerns you)

ps. The 335 was the first 4 door car I ever used daily in my long life.

Bought it because "family 4 door" had 2 car seats installed and my wife reminded me we needed another car with 4 doors as a backup or for "friends". Now that my kids are moving out of town with the grand kids we don't need 2 four doors SO I am back in a coupe and very pleased with the difference from my 335i w/ PPK and the M235.

Good luck.

[BEM-S4]

Coupe you will not have a problem at all, I have had grown adults 6'/225lbs back there no complaints on a shorter trip.

Vert would be a definite challenge, I went coupe to vert and there is much less room in the rear on the drop top.

[stevenvillatoro]

Once beyond the need for a child car seat, there's no issue. In fact, I like the idea of not giving kids a car door or roll-down window! The coupe's electric access to the rear seat is simple, and there's ample room for kids.

[Kayevman]

Originally Posted by dcarp757

I currently have a '14 335i sedan and I've been eyeing the M240i, but I'm concerned about going from a Sedan to Coupe. I have a 7 yr old son and he is the only one that rides in the back. In the two years I've owned the car I've had 1 adult in the rear.

Does anyone have a 2 series with a kid? Is he/she able to get themself in and out of the car on their own? My conern is he wont be able to reach the door to open/close on his own, which means I will need to walk around and do it for him everytime. That could get old...

No plans for more kids BTW...

Thanks for any input.

Originally Posted by dcarp757

I currently have a '14 335i sedan and I've been eyeing the M240i, but I'm concerned about going from a Sedan to Coupe. I have a 7 yr old son and he is the only one that rides in the back. In the two years I've owned the car I've had 1 adult in the rear.

Does anyone have a 2 series with a kid? Is he/she able to get themself in and out of the car on their own? My conern is he wont be able to reach the door to open/close on his own, which means I will need to walk around and do it for him everytime. That could get old...

No plans for more kids BTW...

Thanks for any input.

If there's not another passenger in the front to close the door, then put your son in the front seat and he can close the door himself.

[xantdieselx]

Originally Posted by Kayevman

If there's not another passenger in the front to close the door, then put your son in the front seat and he can close the door himself.

^ This...7 years old is more than old enough to ride in the front.

[dcarp757]

Originally Posted by xantdieselx

^ This...7 years old is more than old enough to ride in the front.

It's unsafe for a small child to ride in front seat. Rule of thumb is kids under 12 should ride in rear. Sounds like I need a sedan and I think I'm going to wait for the M340i.

[emtrey]

I think the safety issue is about size, not age.

A child of seven is likely to get smacked right in the face should there be an airbag deployment.

Besides, I think it would be a giant PIA to have to open the door for your son to get out of the car on a regular basis.

Not a sedan fan, but, its the the right call for a few more years.

[chois2]

I've got a 2 and 5 yr old. One car seat and one booster seat in my m240i vert.
5 year old can get in and out by himself and open door on passenger side. Both love it, especially in the summer.

[dcarp757]

Originally Posted by chois2

I've got a 2 and 5 yr old. One car seat and one booster seat in my m240i vert.
5 year old can get in and out by himself and open door on passenger side. Both love it, especially in the summer.

Thank you this is the input I've been looking for. someone with direct experience.

[chois2]

Also just to help you make the right choice, I'm 5'9 and I have the car seat behind me. My wife is 5'3-4 and she has the 5 yr old in booster behind her. I'm not sure it would be as comfortable if we were both on the taller range.

[xantdieselx]

Originally Posted by dcarp757

It's unsafe for a small child to ride in front seat. Rule of thumb is kids under 12 should ride in rear. Sounds like I need a sedan and I think I'm going to wait for the M340i.

That is not 100% correct. Some states require children under 12 to use a booster seat while others allow children 6+ to use an adult restraint. I understand that as a parent you want to be cautious...I get that. Depending on how tall and how much your son weighs he would more than likely be perfectly safe in the front seat.

[BEM-S4]

Read up on the upcoming 2 gran coupe it might be what you need

[Nahlem]

When it comes to the Coupé vs sedan debate i would my self this time choose a sedan.

For my reasons i would choose a sedan because all of my cars except one so far has been coupés, And my main issues with a coupé is.

-People getting in and out have to fold the front seat to let people in feels kinda UN-modern if i may say so my self and especially if you have electric seats having to hold the button for the seat to move forward those seats aren't the fastest seats around. (For this reason i chose manual passenger seat in my car that i had) Cause it just looked stupid when people waiting in the rain to get in to the car while the seat was moving forward. How i know about this cause my former car not the 235i i had but a Volvo C30 had power seats both driver and passenger seat, and people had to wait in line to get in cause of the seat and being a coupé.

-People entering the back seat with dirty shoes and such hitting the back seats cause they have to jump over the middle seat if you are transporting 2 people in the backseat. Especially if its raining/dirty slush snow outside that spells disaster. This wasn't to much of an issue in the Volvo cause i had memory mapping the the seats, but on the 235i being manual seats i hated when people wanted to enter on my driver seat side cause they messed up my perfect positioning so i always forced all people to enter thru the passenger side to not mess up my seating position and always the smallest/shortest person had to sit behind me.

-Unpractical when it comes to transporting stuff sometimes, this was sort of an issue cause you don't buy a coupé cause its "practical" but sometimes you had to transport stuff witch made it hard to do from time to time.

-No back windows being able to be opened sometimes this would have been nice to have windows that can open back there, my 235i didn't have it, my c30 didn't have it nor the c70 didn't have it. I can't speak for all coupés some may be able to open back windows i am not 100% sure of this.

This was some of the issues that bothered me while having a coupé car so this might be something to think about.

So next time for me will be a sedan, cause having those 2 extra doors is rather good even though in may not look super good but its worth it for me to avoid those upper issues i mention earlier. This is probably the biggest reason for me not buying an M2 yet cause of the coupé part, i hope in the future there will be an M2 GC that would be perfect considering the M3 is rather to large car for me in my opinion i like the 2 series look it just lacks the two extra doors that i want so badly. An M2 GC Hybrid would be the ultimate car. The M2 sound and feel when i wan't to but at the same time when wanting to commute from work and back and not make to much fuss switching to full electric mode just cruising along and relaxing.

[phljeeper]

I have a 2 coupe and two boys 13 and 11. They like riding in my BMW but it is a hassle getting in and out. We use my Wrangler 4 door most of the time when traveling with more than one passenger.

[SDKevin]

I have two 12 year old's and they have no difficulty getting in and out through the passenger door into the back. They've been doing it in this car for the last three years now.