My seat is killing me !!

I had this problem when I first got my car. Took me ages to get it right. It is at least partly because the seating position is so different to a normal family car - your legs are stretched out rather than in a normal sitting position, which stresses your back muscles in unfamiliar ways. Couple of things I found that helped me get it just right, though if you are very tall only some of this may work :

- sit so that my legs go with the seats rather than fight them. This means they are closer together and stretched out more as I am not pressing firmly up against the side of the bolsters with the side/base of my thighs. They are instead holding me in.
- seat is back far enough that my foot rests easily flat on the footrest, front of the seat tilted up a bit to support any bend in my leg under the thigh. I have short legs, so pulling the support out makes it uncomfortable
- I am only 5'7", but I have my seat all the way down. This means my legs are as supported as possible in a relaxed position rather than held somewhere between a normal driving position and flat, reducing stress on my back
- my seat is quite upright - makes the angle between my back and legs smaller, less stress on my back. I saw a programme once of a Z4 test driver who had his seat upright enough that he was sat fully against the seat back but he could reach his arms out and break his wrists over the steering wheel. I have short arms, so am not quite that upright, and my wrists sit on the front of the wheel
- bizarrely I have two memory settings - one for work/suit shoes, and one for my trainers. The latter have no heel as such, and so I need to sit just a bit further forward. Totally weird, but that is how much I buggered about :D

I was devastated when I got my car and my back started aching so badly - my dream car was turning into a nightmare, as I drive it every day, sometimes quite long distances. However all the above helped me loads, and I only tweak it a teeny bit occasionally now - recently I drove 1300 miles to Scotland and back, with a 280 mile hoon in the middle, over 3 days... I was mentally and physically tired, and my back was a bit stiff, but it was not painful at all.

Hopefully at least a little bit of that essay will help... If only to reassure you it can be overcome :thumbsup:
 
Just realised - I have made myself sound like a deformed short arse :roll:
 
its even worse with manual seats as you cant get do an minimal adjustments, more so on the recline - Hence i have this with my sport seats and why i want to return to electric bases
 
Yep... Though I never had the problem with my non ///M sport manual seats in my first Z - possibly because they are a bit less 'restrictive' and shaped. And of course you are a LOT taller than me.

Just went back to check the OP was talking about electric/sports in case I'd wasted 20mins of my life giving irrelevant advice :D

BTW the pillow is good advice. Bloody seats in a premium car should have lumbar support as standard anyway :x
 
I had some pain until I angled the seat a bit more and pulled the front extension out all the way. Still a bit nervous about the planned trips to the continent though.
 
It's funny, I've always suffered in car seats, but I find the leather M seats the most comfortable yet!

I suffered form a ruptured disc in my lower back about a year and a half ago, and the zed was one of the most comfortable places I could sit to avoid pain. Any long journeys in my Focus (which had fully adjustable Recaro's) or my wife's 1-series would leave me in pain, unless I used a cushion as lumbar support.
 
I think the M Sport seats were very comfortable in my old zed, much better than my standard ones in the current one. Seat position is very important, it took a few weeks of back pain to get the seats right and for me to get used to them again after the Audi seats.

As for the OP, having the seat reclined excessively will most likely be the cause of your back pain, however more significantly it is dangerous to do so. In the event of an accident you will submarine through the seat belt, if your lucky you might just fracture your legs as you fly into the footwell. If your unlucky the seat belt will either crush your wind pipe or snap your neck like a twig.
 
I can certainly join this club. I've only had my coupe for less than a week. I did a 300 mile trip the day I got it and my back was in tatters. I don't find them comfortable at all. Why on earth didn't they fit a lumbar support? No reason why a sport seat shouldn't have lumbar. I mean, they're heated after all.

Think I will need to get a lumbar cushion
 
It's funny how people of similar heights have such different seating positions. I am 6ft 1 and I have the seat quite far forward and certainly nowhere near as far back as it will go. Then I let my mate drive the car a couple of times (he's exactly the same height) and he could hardly get his legs under the steering wheel using my settings. I've got quite long legs as well so it wasn't that!

I find having the front of the seat pushed up so it supports the underside of your thighs helps reduce stress on your lower back a lot.
 
original guvnor said:
It's funny how people of similar heights have such different seating positions. I am 6ft 1 and I have the seat quite far forward and certainly nowhere near as far back as it will go. Then I let my mate drive the car a couple of times (he's exactly the same height) and he could hardly get his legs under the steering wheel using my settings. I've got quite long legs as well so it wasn't that!

I find having the front of the seat pushed up so it supports the underside of your thighs helps reduce stress on your lower back a lot.
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same height doesnt mean same dimensions tho... her indoors has really short legs so has the seat really far forward. cant even attempt to get in. also has it really high there is a good 6" between the seat and the back. i have mine almost as far back as it will go and quite angled on the base. the only major discomfort was after driving back from north germany but that was 800 miles that day :)

so if any of you want really cant cope with your seats and want to swap for full electric normal seats just drop me a PM :wink: :P :D lol
 
I like the sport seats never had any issue with them

I have the base as far down as other will go at the back and the front as far up as it will go

As far back as it will go and quite upright

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Bing said:
I had this problem when I first got my car. Took me ages to get it right. It is at least partly because the seating position is so different to a normal family car - your legs are stretched out rather than in a normal sitting position, which stresses your back muscles in unfamiliar ways. Couple of things I found that helped me get it just right, though if you are very tall only some of this may work :

- sit so that my legs go with the seats rather than fight them. This means they are closer together and stretched out more as I am not pressing firmly up against the side of the bolsters with the side/base of my thighs. They are instead holding me in.
- seat is back far enough that my foot rests easily flat on the footrest, front of the seat tilted up a bit to support any bend in my leg under the thigh. I have short legs, so pulling the support out makes it uncomfortable
- I am only 5'7", but I have my seat all the way down. This means my legs are as supported as possible in a relaxed position rather than held somewhere between a normal driving position and flat, reducing stress on my back
- my seat is quite upright - makes the angle between my back and legs smaller, less stress on my back. I saw a programme once of a Z4 test driver who had his seat upright enough that he was sat fully against the seat back but he could reach his arms out and break his wrists over the steering wheel. I have short arms, so am not quite that upright, and my wrists sit on the front of the wheel
- bizarrely I have two memory settings - one for work/suit shoes, and one for my trainers. The latter have no heel as such, and so I need to sit just a bit further forward. Totally weird, but that is how much I buggered about :D

I was devastated when I got my car and my back started aching so badly - my dream car was turning into a nightmare, as I drive it every day, sometimes quite long distances. However all the above helped me loads, and I only tweak it a teeny bit occasionally now - recently I drove 1300 miles to Scotland and back, with a 280 mile hoon in the middle, over 3 days... I was mentally and physically tired, and my back was a bit stiff, but it was not painful at all.

Hopefully at least a little bit of that essay will help... If only to reassure you it can be overcome :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Cheers Bing much appreciated :thumbsup:
 
M seats look good until you try going round a corner at anything over 25mph then you slide sideways out of them,pure crap.
 
Bing said:
Nah, you just need a bigger ass. Trust me, I know :wink:
Click to expand...

You called?

donkey-head-in-car1.jpg
 
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