[wilkoal]

Hi all
I know this may sound silly...but has any previous owner of E46 experienced a difficulty in finding a good (I should say perfect) driving positions in the E90?
In theory the manual settings should be the same but maybe because I am tall I cannot find the perfect position that fit harms and legs.

[SRT]

Yep
I'm more comfortable with the E46 - but I'm also a big fella at 5" 10 / 200+lbs . Having taken a test drive, I think the E90 is less suited to big people in terms of driving position. It has less of a "tucked up" feel but like everything else, it takes some adjusting and getting familiar with it. One complaint I have, even when fully extended, the steering wheel is too close to my legs and my hands rub with my legs when I steer and feather the clutch simultaneously - not such a big problem, but it feels cramped

[James Bond]

Well, I drove before my present E46-Coupé the BMW 120d - it´s a little bit the same as the E90 - so I can say something about the very
good sitting position and handling: In the 120d I had the sport-seats, combined with the Iordosis-backing - that was very
good for my back, I had never any problems also at long driving-distances. The sport-seats in my coupé are also very good, but not the same as in my 120d.
The manual settings I find in booth series 1er & 3er okay, many people aren´t lucky with the electrical-windows-switch and mirror-
setting and it´s position in the E90...I find it okay, but it´s everybodys
decision.

[E90Fleet]

Im around 6'2" and around 230Lbs and I find the E90 sport seats much more comfortable than our E46's with normal or sport seats

[JonMad]

Not driven an E46 but I did 10 hours (600 miles) in the car on Monday and was comfortable. I'm 6'3 and 190lbs. My girlfriend is 4'11 and drove the day before. After getting back in the driving seat and doing the manual adjustment I think it was then set up differently to how I had it previously, but it's now quite comfortable

[kal-el]

own both E46 and E 90, both are fun to drive, once you get the seat memory set up, there was nothing to complain for me.

although one thing is still akward : the window control buttons, the E46 has all window control buttons in the middle console, while the E90 has them on the door side of the driver.

so when switching back and forth between those 2 cars, sometime I got confused, reaching the wrong area trying to open the window.

[noflash]

6'3", 240 lbs.

I loved my e46 sport seats. My e90 ones are a bit concave as opposed to the flat backs of the e46. I had major back pain from it. Also, even on it's widest setting the side bolsters pinched my kidneys (I am a waist size 40 (I'm not fat, I'm big boned!)).

I added 1.5" of foam to the inside center of the seat to remove the concaveness of it and it's great now.

Besides the seatback, I can get a slightly better driving position as I think the telescopic wheel comes closer in the e90.

Good luck.

[Redguy]

I am 5'10" and find the E90 perfect. Not driven, only sat in a a '46 (having come from other BM's - last one being an E36), I settled in pretty quickly. The straight dash layout makes it feel a little different to sit in, but after a little bit, I really like it.

[no1sportz]

I have had 3 e46s and I find the e90 to be superior in the seating department. I will go out on a limb and even say the positioning of the sport seats in the e90 are better than my past M3. I am 6'0 and weigh approx 180. I haven't had a chance to test out the non sport seats for longer than 10 minutes.

[wheeler]

Neither the E46 nor the E90 fit me well. I'm 6'2," 220 lb. The cars both really need telescoping steering column.

Sadly, my wife's C230 fits me better due to having this feature.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by wheeler

Neither the E46 nor the E90 fit me well. I'm 6'2," 220 lb. The cars both really need telescoping steering column.

But the E90 does

(Unless im misunderstanding you ? The E90 wheel can go up and down and in and out )

[noflash]

Originally Posted by wheeler

Neither the E46 nor the E90 fit me well. I'm 6'2," 220 lb. The cars both really need telescoping steering column.

Sadly, my wife's C230 fits me better due to having this feature.

So does the e46.

[gos]

Seating position is definitely something that can take a while to figure out... My wife's WRX hurts my back a lot for long drives, but I found that as soon as I was playing ice hockey twice a week instead of once, the seat became more comfortable. Something probably to do with the strength of my back muscles and the seating position.

My Dodge Intrepid it like a bit fat worn-in beanbag, I can drive forever without problems in it. I drive to Arizona a few times a year, and 14+ hours doesn't bother me at all.

My mom's E34 hurt my back for the first hour or two of driving, but my back "adapted" to the seats and then it was fine for several hours of driving.

I'm sure I'll adapt to the E90 seats, they're a lot more customizable than anything else I have driven.

--gos

[gos]

there's a little lever, push it down I think and you can move up/down in/out.

[Gitta]

I have both in my garage. The e46 doesn't have the sports package so I find the seats too flat and I much prefer the e90 seats. My e90 sport seats are much more configurable so it did take me pretty long to find the right combination of seat and wheel placement. And, both my wheels telescope. I thought that was standard?

[h_curtis]

I loved my e46 w/sport pkg. Thought it fit me great. I test drove the regular e90 and felt it wasn't as nice and then I test drove one with sport seats and felt that was outstanding. I guess I like the sport seats and the feel of not moving around so much. I am 6'2" 180 lbs.

[RPM90]

The E46 has better left and right arm rests that give a better "even" feel.
The E90 has a very odd left arm rest that "dives" away from your arm too fast. It looks odd and feels odd. Also, the right arm rest in the E90 does NOT match up the left one. It sits farther back and down compared to the left. That leaves one feeling awkward.

The manual shift lever to steering wheel position is a bit different in the E90 compared to the E46. I prefer the E46 relationship as it seems "closer" with less movement needed to shift and then get the hand back to the wheel.

The E90 has taller door panels. If you rest your arm on the door sill in the E46 it does feel a bit tall, but in the E90 it feels not just too tall but useless as it sits pretty high up.

Both sport seats are quite fantastic and very similar.
The E90 feels a bit better padded in the lower butt portion of the seat.
The side bolsters, however, feel a bit narrower than the E46.
That makes no sense to me considering that the side bolsters are now adjustable. Since they are adjustable why start with them being narrower and then only adjust narrower still?
They should start farther apart and then let people adjust them to be narrower.

For broader shouldered guys the "adjustable" side bolsters of the sport seat will never be used. I tried it to see and it's much too tight and thus I left it in it's neutral fully open position.

I do like the adjustable lumbar in the new E90. Much better than sport seats in my 325i that don't have lumbar.
Also, the steering wheel in the E90 seems to have a bit greater adjustable range in terms of telescoping as you can get it a bit closer if you like.
Plus the thickness of the wheel feels excellent now.
The negative is that the E90 wheels doesn't seem to go up as high as before in the E46. Odd. But for me it goes up plenty and I don't need anymore and can see the guages just fine, and I tend to like my wheel at a higher angle.

Overall, I find the driving position and sport seats to be quite nice in the E90, and with the lumbar support and adjustable thigh support, which seems to be a bit longer than the E46, the overall position is quite comfy.
The weird overall feeling, however, is one of disconnectedness in the E90 vs. the E46. I think the E46 had a more connected feel due to it's better ergonomic positioning of wheel to lever to armrest to window sill to dash controls. The E90 is a bit awkward in the total overall relationship and maybe that's why it seems to "feel" like you can't find a perfect position.
Overall, the more I drive the E90 the more comfortable it becomes as I get used to it. Still, it has some quirks that just shouldn't be there.

[F32Fleet]

Advice on proper seating position (those of u who've taken driving school classes feel free to chime in).

#1 Gangsta Rapper seating is a no no.
#2 The backrest/steering column should be set so as to give u enough distance to hold the steering wheel @ 9/3 o clock with arms slightly bent (you should also be able to rest both wrists on top of the steering wheel)
#3 Your head should be about 3 fingers from the roof of the car.
#4 Distance from pedals: You should be able to mash to brake pedal to the floor (Really mash) and still have your knee slightly bent.


Do #4 1st and then follow with #3 and #2.

http://www.grubbsauto.com/technotes/position.html (add'l information)

[mwilli]

This is a good thread, I have owned 2 E46 and loved the driving position, while test driving the E90 I felt more "tucked in". All 3 of the cars had the sport pkg, which I consider to be a requirement. I am glad to hear the steering wheel is telescopic. Between that and the extended thigh support I am sure I will find a comfy spot to drive.

Side note, my car is awaiting transportation, the wait is KILLING ME!!!

[xyz123]

Originally Posted by kal-el

own both E46 and E 90, both are fun to drive, once you get the seat memory set up, there was nothing to complain for me.

although one thing is still akward : the window control buttons, the E46 has all window control buttons in the middle console, while the E90 has them on the door side of the driver.

so when switching back and forth between those 2 cars, sometime I got confused, reaching the wrong area trying to open the window.

I drove an E46 for about 200,000 kms before buying an E90 last year. I find the E90 sport seats to be a worthwhile improvement over the E46 sport seats, although the E46 seats were excellent and I had no complaints about them. Except for the adjustable side bolsters, the seats look pretty much identical to the eye but for some reason they don't feel identical, maybe its the bolsters. I also find that I can adjust the seats to get a good driving position on the E90 and still have tops of the gauges visible, something I was unable to do on the E46 - and this is with a smaller and thicker steering wheel on the E90.

I wondered why BMW chose to move the window buttons from the centre console to armrest in the door and thought of some possible reasons. On the E46, I fairly often unintentionally opened the left rear window by inadvertently depressing the lift button while resting my arm on the centre armrest. This cannot happen with the buttons in the door. An early complaint from a few people in this forum was that the buttons on the E90 are too far forward and we have to reach for them. I think this forward positioning is intentional; if you have to reach for the buttons, you are less likely to accidently touch them when using the armrest. Having said that, I personally prefer the window controls on the E46; after six months, I still don't like the E90 arrangement.

[David328M-Sport]

My old e46's drivers seat didnt "hug' me as my E90 does, even though the E90 seat is not that "huggable"

Anyway, I had no difficulty at all finding a great seating position in my e90. BOTH memory positions have the same setting as I am the only one who drives the car and just in case some (BMW) service guy (in the future) accidentally sets one memory differently, I hopefully have the other as backup.

I'm 5'6" and around 153lbs (68 - 70kgs)

[Lost Rider]

Originally Posted by Socom

Advice on proper seating position (those of u who've taken driving school classes feel free to chime in).

#1 Gangsta Rapper seating is a no no.
#2 The backrest/steering column should be set so as to give u enough distance to hold the steering wheel @ 9/3 o clock with arms slightly bent (you should also be able to rest both wrists on top of the steering wheel)
#3 Your head should be about 3 fingers from the roof of the car.
#4 Distance from pedals: You should be able to mash to brake pedal to the floor (Really mash) and still have your knee slightly bent.


Do #4 1st and then follow with #3 and #2.

http://www.grubbsauto.com/technotes/position.html (add'l information)

Well said, using those same guidelines, I've found a comfortable daily position that any racing instructor would be happy with.

Too many people want to "roll" like a pimp, and look more like a dumbass IMO.


Pesonally, I think my e90 is more comfy than my e46. No sport in the e46 though.

6' 180