TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2015 BMW X5
2015 BMW X5 Seat Room and Comfort: Pros
Year
Comment
2014
BMW's multicontour seats, a $1,300 option on six-cylinder X5s and standard with the V8, deliver a rarely matched combination of support in turns and comfort on long drives. In a reversal of traditional tendencies, the buckets in the Range Rover Sport feel firmer and less comfortable.
Though you'll find a commanding view forward in either driver seat, the Range Rover Sport maintains an edge in this area. Unusually large windows are one thing that makes a Land Rover a Land Rover.
see full BMW X5 review
2015 BMW X5 Seat Room and Comfort: Cons
Year
Comment
Audi and Mercedes both offer much longer SUVs. At least until BMW fields an X7, the X5 is available with an optional third-row seat. Especially considering the size and price of the X5, said third row is absurdly tight, thinly upholstered, and difficult to access. The door openings are small, and the entire second row seat pivots forward and upward off the floor in an only partially successful attempt to compensate. To provide even minimal legroom for those using it, the second row must slide forward a few inches, to the point that its occupants find their own legroom severely compromised. Both rows are too low to the floor for adult comfort.
The third-row seat optional in the Range Rover Sport probably isn't much better, and deletes the spare tire (not available on the BMW regardless). This might explain why it wasn't on the tested vehicle. If you want a usable third row, Land Rover offers the less stylish, but also much less expensive and roomier LR4.
Shift focus to the second-row seat, and I found that in the smaller X3 at least as comfortable, and easier to get into and out of thanks to the more compact vehicle's lower ride height. That in the Range Rover Sport, though also not the roomiest or the most comfortable, is better than the X5's.
see full BMW X5 review
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TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2019 Land Rover Defender
2019 Land Rover Defender Seat Room and Comfort: Cons
Year
Comment
As a two-row vehicle, the Defender provides plenty of room. But if you want to use the third-row seat (optional on the four-door), the second row folks will need to slide forward a few inches, such that both rear rows end up with marginal legroom.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Ignore the 197.6-inch length on the spec sheet, as ten of these inches are taken up by the external spare. Without the spare, the Land Rover 110 is merely 187.4 inches long--insufficient for three spacious rows. Even with transverse powertrains, three-row crossovers tend to be as lengthy as the Defender with the spare included.
One good way to maximize space in a relatively stubby vehicle is to mount the seats high so legs angle downward rather than forward, and the Defender's second-row seat is comfortably high off the floor. The third-row seat is not. There is plenty of headroom back there, so space constraints didn't force a low seat. There must have been another reason, such as the amount of space available for the folding mechanism. You might think that the third-row seat is intended for only occasional use, but Land Rover has given it seat heaters and its own HVAC fan control.
All of this said, even a tight third row is better than none at all if you need to carry seven people. And none at all is what you can get in the Wrangler, Bronco, or G-Wagen.
If you only occasionally need to carry a sixth person, the Defender alone offers the option of a front center jump seat in place of the console. What's more, this option is offered in the shorter wheelbase two-door Defender as well as in the four-door.
see full Land Rover Defender review
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