Is there a 5 seat car that supports 3 baby seats and 2 Adults???

[FoRahman]

My wife and I are expecting twins later this year (at which point our first child will be 2 years and 3 months old) and is currently using a harness back supported booster seat. I am currently looking for a car that has 5 seats as I would rather avoid purchasing a 7-seater.

My options are BMW 5 Series Estate, E class Estate, BMW X5 or a Mercedes ML (all 13 or 14 plates). Anyone know which of these cars will be best to support our family and whether we can or cannot (space-wise) use two ISO-fixes for the twins with any of these cars and then an infant seat or adult in the middle rear seat?

I have a BMW X6.
1 car seat
1 booster
And my adult niece could sit in the middle of them.

Isofixes are a godsend with twins, no way do you want to faff about with belted carseats with twins. Also, think about what size pram youre getting. I had an inline one and it was big and bulky but not massive once folded. The side by side ones had a huge footprint when folded and would've taken up the whole boot. That's before you take into account changing bags/accessories/shopping/coats/ anything else you might want to carry in the boot. Sorry mate but it's kind of hard to be trendy when you've got 3 under 3. Practicality wins. We have a 5 seat car (mondeo/insignia sized) and it's too small. We can just about squeeze the three kids in but we had to forward face the twins earlier than we would have liked as the only ones that would fit in the car were front facing. Luckily our biggest dc is out of car seats now or we would never got everyone in. Our next car will be a 7 seater. Something like a skoda kodiaq or a kia sorento.

I should add our car is 10 years old so predates kids and we couldn't afford to replace it for the sake of rear facing.

Middle seat of X5 is just very narrow and hard. Not comfy at all! Dc is darling child/ren in Mumsnet speak!

I have a 7 seat x5 it's a pain in the arse to get three seats across the back and I definitely couldn't get three of the big car seats in. I could just manage high back boosters with out using isofix and I used to scrape the skin off my knuckles every time I tried to belt them in (no chance the kids could do it.
The two seats in the boot are small I can just about squeeze the high back boosters in. My nine year old can fit in them but her knees are round her ears.
I don't know your budget but bmw released the x7 last year bigger and possibly a bit wider. It's pricey though. I will look at them in a couple of years when hopefully price has come down a bit as the x5 is a tight squeeze for a family of six.

S max - it is the best option. We had the same ; twins and a 2 and a half year old. It has made everything so much easier. The boot is absolutely massive and we use every bit of it! The buggy takes up so much space. You could get the sport one, I don't think they look that bad and they are great to drive. It will take some adjustment from your BMW but I have fun driving the s max. Everytime we meet someone with twins my husband asks what car they got and its always the s max . He spent the whole pregnancy obsessed with what car to get 🤣.

Sorry just to add with two isifix bases in the back of mine no way you would fit any other kind of car seat on the middle row.

we had aVauxhall Astra with 3 child seats.

We are early 30s and I understand what you say about friends with nice cars. I don't think my smax is pretty but once you actually start using it and not having to faff stretching over to click in seat belts etc you soon get over the look. We have a c max too. I sit in the middle back. Can fit 3 boosters across back but wouldn't fit first stage seats all across. I sit in the middle back but it's a right pain to get in an d out past the seats. Also I hate turning up to meet people and having to climb out from there. It's not such a nice look clambering out

Oh and your friends with all their nice cars may smirk, but give it a couple of years and they'll all end up with people carriers too. I had a few friends laugh at my bus, now they all drive them

We have a 7 seater xc90, I can sit on the middle row between 1isofix baby car seat & 1 isofix booster. It's not the most comfortable but manageable, not sure if another car seat would fit.

A few friends have S max's, I wouldn't think to judge but I don't care about cars just safety.

tbf if you're the only 1 of your friends with children & you have a toddler & twins you're going to be too busy & preoccupied to worry about your friends cars. You may envy their freedom though!

We bought a low mileage Mercedes Viano, 8 seats, built like a tank, superb driving position, impossible to park but you can thrown two buggies in the back, you done even need to fold them if it's a mega rush.

If your worried about status with with m3 m5/) driving friends get a new AMG V Class and you're fit in fine. Though I've always found that 'keeping up with the Jones's' goes out the window when your covered in baby milk/sick/s*+$.

We used to have an S-Max with 3 car seats across the back. The 7 seat option was also very handy. Parts and servicing were reasonably cheap. Only thing I didn't like was that I found the turning circle to be a bit too big.
We now have an older ML with two Isofix in the back plus high back booster in the middle. Plenty of room for double buggy in the boot plus scooter. I'd really recommend the car as it's roomy in the front too and a very comfortable drive.

Just to say OP, you should be rear facing all three.

Toyota verso. 3 isofix seats in the back. Ours has extra seats folded into the boot.

We have a BMW X5 but the 7 seat variety (2 optional seats in the boot) as have 3 children. My girls are 15 months apart so both had isofix seats at the same time and my son had a small booster in the middle if we didn't want to use the rear seats but you can't fit 3 normal size car seats across the second row. Would be a real squeeze for an adult to be between 2 seats too. Hope that helps!

Just get an xc90 or a GL. We are about to get a sport version of the xc90. It's quite nice. I have an audi rs4 estate. We could get 3 seats across the back but it was a real nightmare getting your hand down in between the seats to do the buckle - hence the xc90. When the children are older, we will get an rs6 estate so it has a bit more space - it's just for a period of time you would nedd a 7 seater and it's handy for taking other people/friends along with you

Your wife will look a lot sillier trying to climb out of the middle seat of the car than she would in a properly sized vehicle.
Please make sure all dc are rear facing the toddler doesn't magically become big because new babies come along. Good luck OP

I would speak to the in car safety centre (google them) - if you are not close to a centre they would advise you anyway. They are car seat specialists really but often promote when they have managed to get 3 child seats on a back row and I am sure they would advise you as to whether or not the cars you are looking at would work. They may let you know which cars they have been able to fit 3 in a row in before.

I have an E-Class Estate and you won’t get 3 car seats in the back.
Had a Q7 before that as my 3 DC were all 5 and under.

Another option is a pick up like Nissan Navara, that has 3 full seats in the back.

I had your age gap and car seat needs and had to go for a 7 seater to fit them all in the back. We were putting one twin in infant seat in the front seat and either dh or I squashing between car seats at the back but felt squashed, unsafe, and as soon as twins grew out of their infant seats we had to put them in the back anyway so had to go for a 7 seater. We have a seat Alhambra and it's fab. We only have 5 seats up in it and a massive boot! The boot is still roomy enough with 7 seats as well.

Also we often hire a 'minivan' when we are on holiday because it's massively convenient- and I usually drive an xc90 (2kids). Neither of us like the look but wow is it easy to move around and get stuff in. We are considering getting one when we next change cars. The convenience would well be worth a bit of ribbing from your friends, especially when you have 3kids to del with....

@FoRahman I understand that you want to have a car similar to your friends, but you really should be mindful of your own situation and what will work, rather than what looks good.

I would personally always have isofix as it prevents a lot of user error and if you’ve got three children to strap into a car that will take time. Think about the pouring rain and you’re struggling to get them fitted, even worse when space is tight on a row.

Plus you’ll only be using the rearward facing car seats until baby is between 9-14 months. Also don’t forget the car seat needs to fit the car, not the other way around - so buy the car first and then try car seats.

We have two children, a newborn and four year old. I’m 35 and looking for a seven seater because we have family visiting regularly and currently everything is a two car journey (even when we had one child!), plus I can’t fit the pushchair and child’s bike in the boot of either of our cars! I think you’ll end up with a seven seater within the next year or two.

Citroen c4 Picasso (or the grand 7 seater) it had 3 full sized seats in the back. We regularly have the 2 car seats next to each other and an adult in the back.

We have the grand and the extra boot space is good for pram and shopping. Occasionally use one of the extra seats.

The worrying about how the car looks is tedious. You're a father of three. Own it. And provide your family with safe and convenient transport. You can be 'cool' when they've all left home and your friends are still elbow deep in Brownies and GCSEs.