My wife just took a step out of the house for a couple of hours, leaving me with my one-year-old, who is undoubtedly going to try to hit my keyboard. In fact, right now he’s pullin3445diod – sorry, that was him. He hates when I’m on my laptop, which I understand. He also seems to think the keyboard is a toy, which makes sense, as it does make some satisfying clicks. Anyway, let’s see if I can jam out a quick blog about my BMW i3, a small city car, and whether or not it makes as a decent child-hauler.
First things first: As a hauler of grown-children, the i3 is excellent. Recently my neighbor wanted to test drive my 2021 i3S to see if it might be a car he’d buy for himself since a tree crushed his Honda, and after a few spins around the block, the six-foot-five gentleman was sold. The i3’s unique shape is really only possible due to it being an EV with a lightweight carbon fiber body; the lack of weight up high and the presence of a heavy battery down low means the car can be super tall and narrow — perfect for bean-pole-like folks, but still an excellent city runabout.
As a single guy, I found the i3 to be perfect as an LA daily-driver. Now that I have a kid, I can’t say it’s quite perfect, but it’s manageable. Here’s what I mean.
Either Front-Seat Legroom Or Easy Child Access — Not Both
The BMW i3’s rear seat is far more spacious than people think, and getting in and out is really not a big deal once you get the door open (more on that in a bit). Check it out:
Legroom is fine for someone my height (5’8″), but as I found out recently: It’s not quite enough to handle a 360-degree spinning seat.
Personally, I didn’t really want a spinning baby seat, because they’re so dang huge, but trying to get my baby in and out of the rear-facing Clek seat we had was an absolute nightmare. I basically had shove him head first into the small slot between the seat and the C-pillar, then turn him and drop him into the seat, whose latches I had to fasten by leaning far in so I could see. As you may imagine, he hated every bit of that.
So I tried to find the smallest spinning car-seat I could, and I wound up with this British seat called the Joie Chili Spin 360. At $250 brand new, it was a white-hot deal. The downside is that, though many wrote online that the Chili was small compared to other “360” car seats (and one BMW i3 owner even posted pictures of it in place), the seat just isn’t that small, and requires me to move the passenger’s seat all the way forward.
This isn’t ideal for long-distance travel, especially since my wife is one of those people who likes to bring her baggage with her in the footwell (I personally hate this, but it seems to be a common thing), but for anything under about an hour, it’s totally fine for folks about 5’8″ and under.
Once we can turn the seat around and it becomes front facing (see below)? This i3 will be perfect.
Even now, since my family is only three people, my wife can just sit behind me, next to Delmar in the back, and we can all comfortably drive around spending roughly 8 cents per mile instead of the 30 cents/mile her Lexus RX gets in the current ridiculous gas price situation we’re in. The downside is that my wife thinks Delmar is fussier when she’s sitting next to him; also, she can’t open her door without me undoing my seatbelt and opening my door first.
Again, it’s not perfect, but once Delmar is front-facing, all will be well.
The Doors Are Tricky, But Worth It
One thing that frustrates me about many car reviews is complaints about a feature without describing the engineering compromises behind it. For example, when the Jeep Cherokee XJ and ZJ debuted, everyone complained about the spare tire in the cargo area. “This takes up cargo space,” they lamented without noting that putting the spare in the cargo area allowed for an excellent departure angle, as well as ease of use when you need that spare. Fast forward to 1999 and Jeep took those complaints too seriously, dropping the spare below the cargo floor, which pushed the gas tank way down low, harming off-road capability and aesthetics of that rear end. Few people complain about the cargo-area spare since it means the Jeep looks better and is better off-road.
The i3 has received similar critique. It’s got a really nicely thought-out carbon fiber body that’s small enough to yield an amazing city car, but big enough to seat four people. I’m fairly sure that, in order for the i3 to be as short as it is, but to also fit the drive unit/range extender, and to accommodate four passengers, four doors, and a decently sized cargo area, its carbon fiber structure had to have one large side aperture. This necessitated suicide doors, which, yes, aren’t exactly the most practical types of doors in the city. Would I rather have them than four doors and 6″ of extra length? Absolutely. The i3’s exterior size/interior space ratio is key to what makes it so excellent.
Anyway, the issue with the suicide doors is that, when you park next to someone and you’re trying to take your baby out of the rear door, you have to do a bit of a dance. You open the front door to open the rear door, then you close the front door (it won’t latch unless the rear doors is closed, so it’ll just sorta sit there), then you take your child out of the rear seat, carry them next to the closed-ish front door, then close the rear door, which you can’t quite do without slightly opening the front door. So you open the front door enough to let the rear door close but not enough to shove you and your baby into the neighboring car, then you can close the front door.
It’s not ideal.
One option is to have your partner take the child out of the car before parking, though if there’s someone behind you, that won’t work. I find myself heavily favoring the size that the child isn’t on so I have a bit of extra space, and given the i3 isn’t particularly wide (70.5″ without mirrors — so 4″ narrower than my wife’s 2017 Lexus RX350), this generally works out OK.
Cargo Space Is Honestly Fine
The cargo area in the i3 isn’t terrible. The floor is a bit high, since there’s a drive unit underneath, but you can easily fit a travel stroller like this YoYo:
Can you fit a full-size stroller? Lemme see here:
It fits, just.
There’s also a frunk, which fits a small carryon-bag worth of stuff, though it’s not sealed from the elements so everything I want to stay clean to go into a bag:
Accessing the frunk is a bit annoying since it’s not on the key fob and has a secondary latch, but for stuff you don’t use often, it’s not terrible.
The Interior Is Vulnerable To Baby-Chaos
One of the biggest concerns I have is the interior, which, to me, is one of the i3’s greatest attributes. It’s made up of a blend of olive leaf-dyed leather, wool, kenaf (a plant also called “Hibiscus cannabinus”), and Eucalyptus.
Nevermind that I have to dye my Eucalptus regularly to keep it from fading/cracking. I’m more worried about the back bench. The wool stains incredibly easily — even water will stain it. I’m also concerned about the white armrests back there getting marked up with some kind of marker or whatever it is my child is playing with back there.
Probably my biggest concern is the seatback, which is made up of a thin piece of cloth stretched taut in the center of the seat. One swift kick, and that cloth is tearing; I know this because the cloth was torn on my old 2014 BMW i3.
My plan is to install a seatback protector like this:
And for the seats, there’s a person in Hong Kong who makes special cover that mimic the factory seats. Check these out:
These covers are quite expensive, though. So I’m not sure if I’ll spring for them. Either way, the seats will need some kind of cover.
The i3 — A Perfect City Car, An Imperfect Kid Car
Driving Delmar around in the i3 is awesome, and because mine is the “S” model with rather stiff springs, a few spins around the block usually has him snoozing (for some reasons bumps help kids fall asleep; my wife’s cushy Lexus is a nightmare in this area).
With my wife in tow for short trips, the passenger’s seat is fine. And for longer trips, she sits in the back and hopes Delmar doesn’t get too fussy back there, and she deals with having to wait for me to open my door before she can get out. At 8 cents per mile, and with that lovely interior and small exterior dimensions that make for easy parking, it’s worth the compromises, especially once Delmar’s seat can face forward and my wife can sit up front. We’ll have to make do with the compact stroller, but we use that anyway, regardless of the car we drive.
So overall, I’d say the i3 is a solid B family car if you have one rear-facing child. If there are two, the grade drops to probably an F. One rear facing and one front facing? C. Two front facing? Again, back to a B. Maybe a B minus since you need more stuff for two kids and the i3 is a bit small.
Could be worse, is what I’m saying.
(Luckily my wife came home shortly after I started this article, hence the lack of gibberish from Delmar slamming my keyboard).
As the owner of an RX-8 with 3 kids, I feel your pain on the suicide door shuffle. I bought the RX-8 when my 2nd kid transitioned to a forward-facing seat, and it was fine. When kid #3 came along, we just took my wife’s car (a Mazda CX-7) whenever we went somewhere as a group. Also, that “full-size” stroller is monstrous. I haven’t shopped for strollers in 8 years, but the ones we had always folded down to half that size.
“I bought the RX-8 when my 2nd kid transitioned”
😮
” to a forward facing seat”
oh that makes sense.
I just got the newborn seat system installed back in the cars in preparation for baby #2. I forgot how much bigger a newborn rear-facing seat is than a forward facing seat.
We have the Doona and its awesome. This is a combo car seat/folding stroller. In your case the important bit is that this means you can install your little puddin’ outside of the car, harness and all, and then plunk the whole seat into the car. We got the separate seat bases, each car has a base, which secures with the child seat clip thingys. Then you wheel the doona in stroller mode up to the car, nugget already strapped in, fold the wheels, and plunk it onto the already mounted base. Voila!
We have a base in each car, and a single Doona seat, which only works because our daycare has stroller storage so the stroller stays with junior when I drop him off and is ready to go when Mamma picks him up.
I was a long-haul commuter when my first born came into this world and was driving a 1996 Toyota Tercel (the last car sold in the US with a 4-on-the-floor) and for a 2 door it had pretty good access to the rear car seat. The V70 that we replaced it was an excellent child hauler but a money pit.
Come on David, we all know that since 2009, the absolute best vehicle for carrying babies has been the Dodge Journey
I seriously considered getting a Honda Element when my kids were still in car seats. Reading about the shuffling required to get in and out with the suicide doors helped make up my mind. Went with the Odyssey instead.
I can’t imagine having children… good on you man for making it all work.
Even though I don’t have babies anymore, I’m delighted to see a new Will it Baby series.
My wife had an ’06 Mazda 3, which she absolutely loved. We made it work when we had one kid. If we took her car, I sat in the back behind my wife, next to the baby. Once we decided to have a second kid, the 3 regrettably had to go. The CX-5 that replaced it has been great. It’s big enough to do the job, while still being plenty small and easy enough to park in the suburbs.
I have never been so disappointed by an autopian article. A husband and wife and one child will only work in Suburban or Expedition EL. Not sure what you’re thinking here. /s
Thank god. Finally someone with common sense raising children. I almost gave you shit for the spinning car seat, but, you didn’t want it, and it seems to work well for the application.
I’m glad that you’re framing things with the mentality that Delica (or whatever Japanese market van we’re naming your kid after) will only be rear facing for a short time.
My spouse has never liked the way trucks ride. But both my F150 and my Excursion knock my kid out like you fed her a sleeping pill.
The suicide door encourages you to park away from others in the far reaches of the lot, which means more exercise, which helps counteract the fatigue and comfort food indulgences brought on by the stress of parenting. So…it’s a win?
Carseats are hell. You can have a backseat which can accommodate a six-footer comfortably and a carseat will make it feel like a compact car again. These chair-height upright seating positions which can make a short car roomy for adults also don’t provide much of a benefit for carseats which just take up a ton of longitudinal space.
This is 100% true. I now park in between two empty spots instinctively whenever I have the kids.
That door dance sounds like hell, good on you for keeping at it!
We’re in the midst of baby life with a chaotic 2.5yo and a sweet little blob of 7-month old (well, sweet as long as you don’t put her down). My advice is:
– No messy food in the car. Dry and low-crumb food only. Water only. Enforcing this from a young age is better as then they’ll never know any different
– Just get some cheap seat protectors from your local big box baby store – the back seat already looks a mess with the big ugly baby seat so there’s no point wasting money on preserving a look that no one can see anyway (because the baby seat prevents you from taking non-baby passengers). I recommend protectors specifically designed for baby seats because they have extra padding where the seat sits so it should better protect the cushion underneath.
– Another challenge is keeping the door cards clean. You can’t do much about this apart from enforcing the no messy food rule and perhaps using some fabric sealer/protector.
On the plus side, my son loves going for drives in the car with dad, and I love taking him. He enjoys it when I go “real fast” (it’s not that fast, honest) and when I “beep beep” the horn (only when necessary, of course). Our only source of conflict is the stereo (“Fruit Salad!” “Wiggles!”).
Yummy yummy
So when my first was born we took a class offered by the local children’s hospital on how to properly install carseats. Basically they make sure you can do your own and that it’s in right before you leave. One of the things they emphasized was not to put those protectors or anything else under the seat. It can compromise the install and safety.
That’s interesting, I can’t really see how this is the case as the ones I use don’t interfere with the seatbelt or isofix points, but I’ll look into it.
So I looked into this and it, weirdly, seems quite country-specific. Our local child safety body says covers specifically designed for use with baby seats are ok, but not to use thick padded covers or towels as they could interfere with the fitting mechanism – which makes sense.
The suicide door dance resonates because I do the same getting groceries in and out of my F150 Super Cab. I don’t have any child issues at the moment since my adult children have yet to produce offspring.
FWIW we had two kids in a 1995 Ford Escort 5 door hatchback and while we got funny looks with how much stuff emerged we also did without a minivan or SUV
Not as bad as the i3, but my parents thought a 1980 Toyota Celica was a good family car. We also probably didn’t have back car seats back then either, I turned out fine, mostly.
Requesting more “Will it baby” articles here. Totally overlooked by traditional car reviewers. I would like to propose starting with the current gen Kia Carnival as the benchmark. We rented one and my engineering brain was immediately taken with the significant effort that was put into this vehicle to move smaller humans around. I like to imagine it involves an intern in Seoul running in excitedly having completed “KiaSOW43201 test for fitting isofix seats to 3rd row” and the manager turns around and says “Great! Now do that 1000 times.” You can also fit a stroller in the boot without folding either the seats or the stroller. That is an engineering masterclass.
Cars.com actually does a really nice job with giving report cards to cars for ease of use with car seats.
Despite most people’s distaste for Subaru around here, this is something they’re probably the best at. The latch anchors are always super easy to get to and well positioned. Not just jammed between the cushions.
I enjoy these articles and it’s great when it’s about cars we also have in Australia.
I was wondering if you have ever thought about buying a set of seats from a wrecked i3 to replace the rare model specific white seats while Delmar is in his projectile vomit stage? store the white ones and place them back in later when he is more in charge of his facilities?
.For comparison, I saw a 911 with TWO baby seats in the back area.
I thought the standard rear seats in a 911 were baby seats.
When I was a kid, I spent the night at a friend’s house whose dad drove me and my brother home in what I think was a 944 (I was young, it was the 90s, and can’t recall exactly which Porsche, but I know it was a Porsche). What I do remember was that he managed to get 7 people crammed into it. Him and his wife up front, his 3 kids and my brother in the back seat, and I was in the very back under the glass hatch. After he dropped us off, my mom stopped letting us spend the night there for some reason…
Too bad. He also had a couple Peugots, which are the only ones I’ve ever seen in Texas.
There’s an MX-5 (Miata) parked near me with a kid seat. It doesn’t seem super practical to me, but hey, they seem to have made it work.
Tangentially related: I think the single most absurb example of people in cars I have seen is a group of 5 who had somehow squeezed into a Peugeot RCZ, whose backseats are possibly even smaller than that of a 911.
Welcome Back! Looking forward to the Jeep stories, but I’ll comment on this one too.
What you’ve proven is that a small car can baby. It may not be as easy as a three row SUV, but it works without compromising safety. Buying a big car is a choice, not a requirement. On the other hand, if that’s someone’s choice, I won’t condemn them for it.
A David Tracy article never disappoints. I get you don’t like getting engineering information, but as the typical auto journalist isn’t an engineer would they have helpful information? I wonder why a Auto Journalist who is an engineer can’t provide a suggestion to improve an engineering issue? First remember the design is for as many different situations as possible. First for Delmar spilling take a fitted sheet and just cover the seats before lockdown. Second it seems that rear facing child seat would be accessible better from the rear hatch. Install the seat and leave it and place Delmar in it. If SHE WHO CAN’T BE NAMED can access the back seat have her climb in the other side and assist installing Delmar than on a long trip climb out and ride in the front. You have solved many more difficult problems than this and you will solve this probably right as Delmar grows into a larger seat
Does the child seat have to be behind the front passenger? We put our kids in the middle seat and the rear facing seatback just went in between the front seats instead of wedging behind the seat. Both our cars had the latch system that supported it. We were OK with sliding into the backseat with the infants to buckle them in. Them being in the middle seemed a bit safer too in case of a side impact.
By the way what happened with the Jeep build? Seems weird that we get articles from you after a short break but nothing about what you’ve been working on recently.
WWII Jeep stories are coming soon! We have a bit of a bottleneck that we’re working through.
Some of us look forward to the Jeep stories as first sign of spring. Glad to hear they are coming soon
The i3 doesn’t have a middle seat in the rear, unfortunately. Also, we have two rear-facing. We’ve been suffering lol.
And even if it did have a middle rear, my experience with similarly sized vehicles is the middle seat is a no-go for the car seat because it interferes with BOTH front seats, whereas if it’s behind the passenger seat then only that one has to slide forward.
When I needed to haul a baby around I got rid of my beloved CRX 16i16 and did the sensible thing of buying a large car with a hatch.
It was a S13 Nissan 200SX. Baby in the back, pram in the trunk, job done.
Legend.
I’m going through the same problem, I’m getting rid of the Z4 I’ve owned since 2009 and modified until perfection and bought a 1983 Z28 Camaro. I justified it by telling my wife it has rear seats and a hatch. Lost the convertible but gained T-top, both have a 5 speed manual and with the Camaro I gained 2 cylinders, doubled the displacement and officially have 2 more HPs. She also has her VW Jetta and I have 5th generation Camaro as well, and both of those are pretty good at hauling the baby anyway, though one is slightly more practical.
If you get to modding your Camaros you can call yourself a Camarosmith. Though if you start blasting a similar-sounding band stick to the pre-Alicia Silverstone era.
I’ve been modding my 5 gen since I bought it in 2013, and will start on the 3rd gen during summer break… I may just need to change my username now! Thanks for the suggestion. Not a huge fan of classic rock but my tastes are changing as I get older.
About the seat covers, we also used our i3 as the main car when our daughter was growing up (our other car was a Fiat 500!)
We found these covers, much cheaper, and they fit surprisingly well.
https://a.co/d/0aCNuNdM
Quality is not as good, but they are much nicer than we expected.
Thank you! I didn’t see these!
I wrote a little review when I got them, which also has a picture of them installed. In case it helps 🙂
https://www.mybmwi3.com/threads/ekr-custom-fit-leatherette-seat-covers.17666/
I will also vouch for the EKR covers. I had some of their custom fit ones for my Civic and they were considerably nicer than expected. A bit of a pain to install the seat bottoms because of fat hands and how Honda built the seats, but I loved them. Mine had zippers down the backs that made the install much easier.
Here’s a link to my review, which primarily covered install of them.
https://amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R19VWU68IXPKHD?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp
I think something is missing here?
I wanted to not be like everyone else and get the big car but man once you have kids just having the space rules. Even in my E63s Wagon I had to move the front seat to get the rear facing seat to fit and when we started doing that and even my 5ft mother was complaining I caved and traded it in for an Escalade ESV V.
Is it ridiculous? yes. But have I totally been converted? also yes. When I drive one of my small sports cars I actually feel a little claustrophobic lol
Hey I just checked the dimensions and the rear seat in an I3 is actually bigger than the average economy seat on Spirit airlines so deal with it.
Not really just trying to interject some fun here
Same here, small car fanboy turned F150 convert trying to fit a Clek Fflo into a back seat not the size of a living room
Luggage in the footwell? I feel your pain.
I have to what my Eucalyptus regularly?? Had no idea. What should I use?
Also I wonder if the leather parts of the seats need some regular care..
I’m using Teak oil. I’ve spent hours researching this, and I can’t find a great answer, so I’ll just go with one that seems to have seen some success from users: Star-Brite Teak Oil.
Actually this gave me a great idea. Eucalyptus oil is a great moisturizer for human skin. So leave Delmar with the grandparents, you and the missus oil each other up and take off on a road trip piled up and in your birthday suits. The more craZy you drive the more protected your seats are.
Think out of the box
The last time I shopped for a car, I took a serious look at the “eye three”. The fact that the rear windows don’t roll down was the deal killer for me. My kids are a little older and like to roll the windows down. I ended up with a manual Fit, which I couldn’t be happier with.
Wonderful car, the Fit! My neighbor’s has 300,000 miles on it. He even bought one for his wife.
We’re trying to figure out our next car. My wife’s Lexus is great, but we just don’t need to be using gasoline when we can charge at home, and when she’s driving such short distances daily.
A Jeep, obviously.
The Lexus RZ should be your next car. I believe there is some sweet deals to be had. 0% for 72 months if that makes a difference or $7,500 off.
We are looking at cheaper 2023s. She can trade her 2017 RX350 almost one-for-one for an RZ450E.
Not sure if it’s a smart move if she anticipates wanting a bigger car in the future, as it may depreciate more than even her old RX.
We have a MY 2025 of that exact car and if you’re not road tripping it’s fine. the lack of a glove box takes some getting used to but it’s a great car and a decent EV.
If you’re going to grow the family, then long term it might not be the car for you.
I expect there will be an EV version of the Highlander soon, possibly called the TZ.
The RZ450E doesn’t have great range, from what I’m reading. There are likely better-range used EV options out there.
As Cheap Bastard said, A Jeep.
For you the JL Wrangler 2 Door.
A 2 door has to be better than the i3 interior space wise, will handle LA’s meh roads like a dream, and still turns tight.
I’m waiting to see what the remaining 12 for 12 edition Jeeps will be like.
Personally I hope there will be a stripped down Jeep Wrangler variant for the 12 for 12.
Base option is effectively a Jeep Sport with no doors, no top, add the waterproof floor kit, vinyl seats, properly waterproof the interior, and let people option out the rest of what they want.
That way the modders can buy the base Jeep they want, with nothing else, and add the rest that they want from the aftermarket.
Custom order only.