Car Seats

bwalvoord

bwalvoord

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Based on the thread related to owner's ages, I have to ask the question of whether or not anyone has car seats or boosters in their back seats. I have a 2 and 5 year old and had seat belt anchors welded as my car is did not come with any seat belts.
 
Absolutely! Today is a nice day here in NJ, so I will be using 2270012 to pick up my boys from day care and school.

They are 2 and 6, and the seats are a little tight but it's fun to use the car for "commuting"

My car has anchors from the factory for 3 point belts front and rear...I bought modern 3 point retractable belts and installed them a few years ago.
 
I also have a 2 year old but just wouldn't risk putting him in my coupe. 40 year old safety standards and technology would worry me qite a bit if an accident was ever to occur.
 
bwalvoord said:
I have to ask the question of whether or not anyone has car seats or boosters in their back seats.
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I removed the passenger-side rear seat so a buckled-in toddler seat could fit and sit lower. It gave me easy access to the ECU adjustment screw also....
 
Safety

I told my neighbor who is an ER doctor that I had bought a 1974 bmw coupe. The first thing out of his mouth was "No airbags, huh?".
 
I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old and I have had them in child seat and booster seat in the coupe. I only take them out in the coupe on rare occasions and during periods when there isn't heavy traffic. Definitely don't feel as secure as when we are in the mini-van, but it sure is great to ride with my two favorite girls in the back seat, and they love it too!

It's funny how most of us are of the age when we rode without seat belts and other safety nets, but find them so necessary now. Yes, cars were generally bigger back then and there was less traffic on the road, but some of us rode w/o seat belts in our parents VW bugs in NYC and DC and managed to make it through. I live in Africa now and it is not uncommon to see mothers holding their babies as they ride side-saddle and on the back of mopeds zipping in and out of traffic, all without helments. Somehow they make it too. Obviously, this is not a great practice and I am all for progress, but if you haven't taken your child for a cruise on a sunny, Sunday morning, you are missing out.
 
The technology and the safety standards were not there when we were kids so yes we did drive around without child seats, all of us made it and some that could have made it didn't. I just don't think your point is reasonable. 40 years ago pregnant women regularly smoked and drank alcohol, would you accept that type of wrekless behavior today?? Anything you do has a certain level of risk but you try to lower the chances and have the odds in your favor as much as possible.
 
I certainly appreciate the feedback and have been wrestling with whether the car is "safe enough" for the kids and balancing that with what I know will be pure joy. I owned a Ducati Monster for 2 years and put less than a thousand miles on it because I almost always found myself more interested in running to the mountains with my two year old than by myself or with other bikers. Sold the Bike and bought an M3 convertible which turned into a 550 once the second child was born. I've still only had the chance to test drive the coupe but am looking forward to a slow and steady drive up the Blue Ridge Pkwy with the whole family.
 
Verde-Aren't you the guy that suggested insurance fraud in another thread? Covering up a DUI and then lying to an insurance company? Don't school me on risk when you are recommending behavior that will land someone in JAIL.

Considering my role as a father, *I* shouldn't be in the coupe, much less my kids...I have a responsibility to be here to provide for them, and if I get into an accident in that car, I probably won't. See my avatar? That's a track car, on a track at high speed....I should give that up too.

You've made your choice, and your point. Let people discuss what they do without judgement.
 
Took the coupe out this weekend for a nice drive down PCH with the family. My 5 year old was in the back seat and loved every minute of it.
 
Some of us even remember riding backwards in the third row of our parent's Ford Country Squire, fake/metal wood, spear point steering wheel, while younger sibling rode on Mom's lap.
 
oneills said:
Some of us even remember riding backwards in the third row of our parent's Ford Country Squire, fake/metal wood, spear point steering wheel, while younger sibling rode on Mom's lap.
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Ha! The way it worked in my family was that all the seats behind the front bench folded flat, and us kids (and the dog) would just play around back there. Then if someone (usually me) acted up, dad would hit the brakes, we'd slide forward, he reach around and give us a quick smack, and then hit the gas so we'd fly backwards.

Great memories, not very safe tho.
 
Same here - as the youngest of 4 my spot was with the luggage in the way back of the station wagon. Life is a choice of risks, theoretically none of us should be driving these if safety is the prevailing thought. But I don't want to stay home and watch tv - that's bad for you too.

rb1971 said:
Ha! The way it worked in my family was that all the seats behind the front bench folded flat, and us kids (and the dog) would just play around back there. Then if someone (usually me) acted up, dad would hit the brakes, we'd slide forward, he reach around and give us a quick smack, and then hit the gas so we'd fly backwards.

Great memories, not very safe tho.
Click to expand...
 
rb1971 said:
Ha! The way it worked in my family was that all the seats behind the front bench folded flat, and us kids (and the dog) would just play around back there. Then if someone (usually me) acted up, dad would hit the brakes, we'd slide forward, he reach around and give us a quick smack, and then hit the gas so we'd fly backwards.

Great memories, not very safe tho.
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Your dad too! Thought mine was the only one. Hilarious.

Verde,

I agree with you mostly and bought the minivan in large part to have a big, safe car to haul the family 90% of the time. But, we have enough safety nets nowadays to practically bubble wrap our kids. You have to draw the line somewhere. My line happens to be at the occasional drive in the coupe with the girls.
 
My wife drives a 2011 X5 which my son is in 99% of the time since this is the designated "family car" I am willing to risk the remaining 1% of the time for him to ride in the coupe. Obviously, the X5 is much safer than the car my mother drove when I was his age....a Ford Country Squire wagon complete with faux wood siding and slippery vinyl seats.
 
Fun thread.

I too was a lad with my two brothers and large Akita dog 'floating' around in the back of a 73 Ford Torino Wagon and 70's Dodge Power Wagon Pickup with a shell and couch w/ carpeting in the bed (an early 70s homemade SUV?!, lol!)

As soon as my son, now 10, was 60lbs and beyond the bucket and booster seat age/size, I put him in the coupe to share dad's madness. He is now a 2x 200 mile vintage car tour veteran and quite the lil' car guy. He's been 'working on' our coupe with me since he was two and i wanted him to enjoy his efforts asap. Now I am teaching how to shift and he loves the rowdy side pipe sound when its on. ;-)

Kids enjoy traveling in old cars because they are so different then cars today. They have character, smells, sounds and can be a great teaching tool and bonding experiencel for all.
old cars can teach 'patience and adaptability' very well.

If you are safe, they will be too.

Keep Coupin and pass it on!
 
'69 2800cs said:
Verde-Aren't you the guy that suggested insurance fraud in another thread? Covering up a DUI and then lying to an insurance company? Don't school me on risk when you are recommending behavior that will land someone in JAIL.

Considering my role as a father, *I* shouldn't be in the coupe, much less my kids...I have a responsibility to be here to provide for them, and if I get into an accident in that car, I probably won't. See my avatar? That's a track car, on a track at high speed....I should give that up too.

You've made your choice, and your point. Let people discuss what they do without judgement.
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Calm down guy, I wasn't judging anyone, just stating my opinion on the subject. Don't turn this into something negative with your upset or whatever you want to call it tone. This is a positive thread and forum so let's try to keep it that way. If any of the other members felt my concern was judgemental my apologies, that was not my intent.
 
One of my favorite things in life has been to take the kids out for a drive in what would be considered an antiquated automobile. They eventually grew up to enjoy that experience themselves from the driver's seat.

My wife and I saw it as a matter of quality of life with reasonable consideration of risk. We weren't going to keep our kids off bicycles because there are also cars on the road.....where I'd wager the statistical probably for injury is significantly greater than the occasional drive in the antique. Applies to backpacking, sailing, etc. etc. Expose your children to the things that bring you joy in life and don't look back.
 
what's the problem?

I took one or the other of my two daughters to high school on the back of my BMW K100RS, over 3-1/2 years. In morning and occasionally afternoon traffic, along the freeway, max speed was usually only 20 mph.

First day: I pulled up and stopped. I waited for her to get off and hand me the helmet, which I thought I'd keep with me since she didn't have a place to put it. She said "No, I'll carry it" and got a lot of mileage out of it those next few days. Other kids thought SHE had the bike. It wore off after a while, but them's some memories, for both of them.

We all take risks. We hope to be able to choose them.
 
About crash safety of the E9 and child transportation

With a little help from my field of work;

I'm a crash test engineer at a large child seat design and manufacturing company. I crash around 200 car seats a year, and join discussions with car manufacturers about technical aspects of child seats in cars in crash situations.
I recently whitnessed a new BMW slam into the wall at BMW's Munich Safety Centre. (if i tell you which color the i3 was, i think they will kill me ;))

There is this to know about crash safety: You are not safe in an accident in an E9.
The crashworthiness is quite bad of an E9, although at the time it was up to industry standard. A shame they did not test and judge the side impact for instance. Without any side load bearing structure, any modern car will plow well over 3 feet (90 cm) into your e9 at an ample city driving speed of around 35 mph/50kmh. Seatbelts do help (in an E9) in the case of a frontal impact and roll over.

So what you are missing in protection of the vehicle, you have to make up for in driving attitude.

In Europe we have the NCAP (new car assement protocol), similar to the USNCAP and institue called IIHS. They crash and rate cars with a star rating system for vehicles; 5 star safety is best.
The same system exist in Europe for child seats.

In our company we joke that you need to have about 12 stars out of max 15 to drive around safely:
0-5 stars from your vehicle
0-5 stars from your driving skills
0-5 stars from your child seat.

Our E9 scores zero....

So, i have a 3 and 1,5 year old, and untill a while ago i used it for daily transport.
So my tips:
- Use the best child seat you can afford (they are not expensive, compared to the optional airbags that many of us tick when ordering a new car; yet the gain is equal)
- Drive responsibly and look out for other -less talented- drivers.

And what also should be noted; classic car drivers aren't usually in a hurry (on public roads:wink:); they want to enjoy the experience and take as long as they can to reach their destination; that saves lives as well. This shows in the low insurance costs for classic cars as well.

For anyone having specifc questions about child seats in their E9, just PM me.

On a side note: Technology did save, and continues to save lives in Europe (US will be the same) Here direct results in statistics were seen when mandatory seatbelt regulation was passed. So sentimental (but funny) stories of yesteryear are in conflict with the many people who lost their lives. But they do not write on this board so their voice is never heard...

Regards, Erik.
 
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