GregTR

I've been shuttling around my little one without a child seat for a while because those $20 boosters are just utterly horrible, they don't even fit the contour of any car and are overall garbage. I checked on the law and in Texas it's required to have a child seat for any child under the age of 8 so I went on the quest to find a new child seat for my new car.

What can I say, most of the stuff that is out there is garbage and does not fit properly, the designers make them for big, ugly SUVs and minivans and not for a sport wagon.

So I bit the bullet and spent $$$ on the Mercedes KidFix Child Seat. This thing is not cheap! $500 for a child seat certainly sounds excessive and probably is excessive.

Once I got the seat installation was a breeze. The back of the seat hinges so it actually contours to your seat which is what makes this one fit better than any other child seat I've seen. The bottom of the seat is using the ISOFIX points to mount to the car for a solid feel and it uses a unique system which is a simple click is all it is instead of using belts that have to be tightened and loosened when you try to get the seat in or out of the car.

The seat feels high quality and a perfect fit. It even allows me to lower the center armrest unlike other much bulkier contraptions. Mercedes definitely did their homework when they picked their vendor for this seat.

After I did some more searching I found out that the seat is no other than a Britax/Römer KIDFIX with a custom cover made for Mercedes. The thing is only 150 GBP in the UK which is roughly $245 so Mercedes is definitely marking it up nicely and that does not include the fact that they sell for under 100 GBP on Amazon UK or 130 Euros on Amazon.de. Too bad neither of them ship to the US.

I'm very pleased with the seat, let's hope that my little princess agrees with me.

Here is the seat in the rear:



And here is a Youtube video about the KIDFIX:

telemakhos

I use a Britax Parkway SGL as the booster seat for my kids and it works quite well for me. It may not be as well contoured to fit the MB seat bench but with the ISOFIX latch connectors I'm happy.

Dema

Yes, you never know what you child will like. I have a similar expensive seat, but my princess doesn't like it. She prefers a very inexpensive seat with a table flipping over head. She can play on this table, and buckle it up really easy.

C230Brit

Thanks, I'm about to upgrade my sons car seat to a booster seat - so the information was useful and timely!

My gripe with all the child seats, most notable on my older C230 coupe was the imprint the child seat leaves on the actual car seat once the child seat is removed.

There doesn't seem to be a way to avoid the child seat imprinting onto the car seat with using some kind of buffer in-between the seats, like foam, etc - but then that potential compromises the integrity and safety of the child seat / booster.

johnfrancisco

I have three carseats that I use for my kids, and they all have Diono car seat protectors.


They are worth every penny when it comes to protecting both leather and vinyl seats. Plus, they keep out most of the crumbs that can fall into the seat creases.

PeterUbers

Great review Greg
I had two rado dionan (sp?) in the back of my e. They are solid and narrow but destroy the leather due to the pressure points. Ended up buying inexpensive boosters that the kids like (about $30 each.... Msrp was $65)

The Benz product does seem tempting but not at that price

One thing I learned going to boosters is that you have to draw out all of the seatbelt to get it to lock when recoiling so that if my toddlers fall asleep they do not fall out of the car seat

Slightly annoying but necessary

I too use suncast seat protectors in all our cars

pamiboy

Thanks for the information. I thought most of the car seats I know of use the isofix system to mount the bases (you are talking about the metal hooks behind the seat ?). It's a shame that Britax doesn't sell those car seats in U.S. I have another Britax car seat, but will check if the center arm rest can fold.
Yes $500 is a bit too much IMO, but still no cup holders .... What??? .

pamiboy

I have also found that the cheapest seat protectors that is sold on Toys R us ($20) are worth it as well (I'm sure there are better ones for more money). It's firm base significantly reduces the imprint of sharp car seat bases and also has a rubberized surface so doesn't slip. It is very thin also and therefore should not affect any safety parameter. If you have used a seat protector once, then you will use it for every car seat in all your cars thereafter.

thefisch

Gosh, all I used was those thin crib mattress protectors that are rubber/vinyl(?) on one side and felt-like on the other. Easy to wash in the washing machine and you could shape them to your preferred size with scissors if needed. Never saw a puncture or other problems. Seat were as good as new when done with those things.

TonyC

genius. I was going to buy 2 more seat protectors at like $20/ea, but I'm just going to go cut-up a used pee protector.

WilliamHotelie

i have the "duo plus" mounted in the back seat of my 2015 S212 for my 2 year old. she's been riding it since she was about 11 months. she enjoyed it while she was younger; now she makes a lot of noice back there and always wants to get out of it.