Montesquieu

Does anyone have experience putting three child seats in the back row of an E63 wagon? If so, what seats did you use, and what has been your experience?


My understanding is that Radian seats are the narrowest at 17". Perhaps three of these would fit across. I'm hoping not to have to kill knuckles with boosters and a Radian in the middle.


The answer will determine whether or not we buy an AMG wagon. We need to be able fit three kids - ages 7, 7, 3 - across the back row. We have an Odyssey minivan as the primary family mover; this would serve as one of my two daily drivers and the backup family car.


The other car under consideration is a Cayenne, which I think is 2" wider. If anyone has tried to fit three kids in each, I'd value your input.


Thanks!

grocery getter

Any of your kids using a booster seat only? I have a 2 year old in the recaro car seat and 7 month old in a infant britax seat and no way a regular car seat will fit in the middle...but a booster seat might.

Chocofishez

Not sure on 3 car seats... but I could not sit an adult in the middle between two car seats for a 2yo and a 4 yo, and the UAS clip spacing would not allow two car seats side by side.

I don't think you could. Unless the seats for a 7 yo are a lot narrower than what my 4 yo. sits in.

Boosters must be narrower?

Take the seats to the dealer and give it a shot... any E class will do, rear seats are the same size.

Montesquieu

Our 7-year-olds can sit in boosters, although it would be hard to routinely access the latches if a Radian seat is in the middle.


We only have one Radian, so at this point, we can't easily test three Radians across. I'm hoping someone has done that or something similar.


Thanks for the feedback so far.

vdubpower

probably wont, i have in my 2006 denali, 2 recaro prosports and one recaro pro ride and that fits comfortably

the reason i dont have A GL is for that reason , i dont believe that 3 of those kinda seats will fit 3 across...

in the E, i have one recaro probooster and one other recaro, and the middle space left over is very thin.

i think 3 radians will fit in a S class rear, saw an article about that once before, some writer for motortrend had that issue with his w220, got those radians and was set

benyl

I don't know. The center seat is super narrow. My kid sits in the middle and has a britax Frontier CT http://www.britax.ca/car-seats/frontier-ct and I know that getting at the seat belts is tough for the passengers on either side. The Frontier is pretty wide, but whatever you put in the middle has to be really narrow if you are going to use the latch points on either side.

3 Radian might* work, but aren't 7 year old big enough to go without boosters? the height is adjustable on the rear seat belts like the front, but they don't have quite the range.

captlst

I tried three car seats my 2014 sedan. It was a tight fit to be able to reach your hand in between the seats to buckle the belt. I wouldn't recommend it for regular use.

Montesquieu

What seats did you use? Based on what you said, I'm presuming that some were boosters. Are there narrower seats that might work better, and/or would fixed seats (e.g., the Radians) help avoid the need to latch the belt each time.

vdubpower

car seat . org forum has a wealth of info on these topics...might check over there or in the regular w212 section

jimxyz

I doubt it - I can fit 3 in the back seat with no carseat or booster - ages 11, 10 and 6 (or just one booster) and it is pretty tight. The non-AMG has a 3rd row that is akin to the backseat on a 911, so small that I have no idea who is supposed to sit back there. I was going to retrofit one in my AMG, but figured it would be a huge waste of time.

nyc123

I don't know the answer to this question but concern over space in the rear seats has also kept me from buying an e63 wagon. My family mover now is a current body s8 and my wife has a gl550. Both cars fit 3 radian car seats no problem. I have been tempted to swap my s8 for an e63 wagon but while I clearly will gain room in the wagon trunk for all our kid gear you certainly loose space in the back seats compared to a full size sedan like my s8 (or a alpine b7 or an s63 etc).... can't get myself to give up that rear seat room for both the fact that I need 3 kids back there and for times when we drive other adults around its cramped compared to a full size sedan. While I have always preached the benefits of the e63 wagon over an expensive high end SUV, the truth of the matter is a range rover supercharged, or a GL63 really does offer much more back seat room for both kids and adults. I would suggest looking at a GL63 before settling on a cayenne.
Good luck all nice cars.

Montesquieu

Thanks everyone for the feedback.


I now have access to three Radian car seats, which I hope to test in an E63 AMG sedan this coming week. I suspect that they'll fit across since they do in my 2001 M5. I'll also test the configuration of a Radian in the center and a booster on each side. I'll let you know what I find.


As for comparing the wagon to a larger SUV, we don't really need the SUV because we have a minivan. The wagon would be the backup family transport in a pinch. Its primary use would be as one of my two daily drivers, replacing the M5, and my wife's car when she doesn't need the minivan.

vdubpower

take some pics for us too, that would be great.....and a 2001 is still an e39 right....yes we will take pics of that too, and the 991..keep the odyssey

cnolke

I drive with an Evenflo Momentum in the middle (3yo) and a Graco booster on each side.

Sometimes the kids struggle to get to the seatbelt buckles, but its not a significant issue.

I've measured and the E63 wagon back seat is as wide as most mid-size SUVs (some of which are surprisingly narrow).

To get anything significantly bigger, you have to go up to a full-size truck. I have a Tundra Crewmax, and 3 across is trivial in any configuration.

PASN YU

I have a Radian in my sedan. I measured at the widest point of the seat. At that point across the rear seat of the car it's about 51.5". The Radian measured right at 17" so three would be able to fit albeit very tightly as there won't be much room in between.

Montesquieu

OK, the E63 passed the test.


I went to the dealer today and put three Diono Radian seats across the back. Packed tight against each other, they fit across with about an inch to spare from the doors on each side. The Radians are 17" wide, and the width from door frame to door frame is more than 51". The middle Radian will use the seatbelt and top latch, and the two side Radians will use three latches.


I also tested a Radian in the middle and two back-less booster seats on either side. This did not work. The seat belt latches were incredibly hard to access under the Radian, and I would hate to wrestle with this to get kids in and out every time. In short, if you need to put three kids in back, get Radians.


I'm convinced that this is a great setup and makes the wagon a fine family car. The Radians are very comfortable for kids and sufficiently wide. There is plenty of foot room in front - more so than in my old M5 - and therefore I doubt the kids will feel cramped or kick the seat backs. A mid-size SUV, which at best would be an extra few inches wide, really wouldn't make much of a difference. You'd still need Radian seats, and the added inch between seats and doors, or between seats, wouldn't add much to comfort.

Montesquieu

After the successful test, I placed an order on the spot for a Euro-delivery 2015 E63 AMG wagon. I don't have a build date yet, of course, but I'm first in line from my local dealer to get one.


What I think I will order if 2015 options don't differ from 2014:


Palladium silver
Designo sand leather with natural curly maple panels
Forged 5-spoke wheels
Rear seat entertainment (but only if this plays Blu-rays in 2015)
Driver assistance package (so my wife doesn't destroy the car)
Surround view system (again, for her)


If they decide to make Burmester an option in 2015, then I'd upgrade to that from the Harman/Kardon.

vdubpower

thats a nice fit...i think my recaros might be too wide....for some reason i have a thing about getting those....got 5 of them, various sizes...the recaros are safe and look cool..

kart125

I questionned myself about rear seat entertainment system too... I doubt they will improve it. After talking to salesman the sales are really low so no volume to justify investment to improve it... Plus it only reads one dvd at a time. I decided to go with ipad option... Probably going to get the supports mb makes.

The smartphone/ipad era is there! Going to kill fixed installations!