Sports Seats

Through all the excitement of finally purchasing the BMW M3, one thing I overlooked until later in the purchasing process was the seats. The sports seats are more supportive than the traditional seats found in the 3 series. However, with the sports bucket seats on the M3, they did take away the thigh support and the adjustable head rest. These might not seem like a big deal at first but on longer trips it might just make a difference.

A quick overview of the adjustability  of the seats is as follows:

Seat position forward/backward
Seat angle forward/backward
Lumbar support up/down/in/out
Side bolsters inward/outward

The thigh support is essentially and extendable portion of the seat that can help accommodate for various upper leg lengths. It prevents the user from having a gap between the knee joint and the seat. For someone taller or shorter than the average sized male by some amount, it might become an issue. For shorter people, their lower back may no longer contact the bottom of the backrest. It may lead to discomfort and fatigue in the longer term unless properly fitted with the lumbar support or even a pillow. For taller people, the seats might not provide the optimal amounts of thigh support in the area closer to the knees. Although this might not be a deal breaker, one might want to go try out the seats before purchasing. You wouldn't want to buy a car with seats you cannot be comfort in now can you?  ​

The other thing is the lack of an adjustable head rest. The head rest is not fixed into the bucket seats. To make it more suitable to your seating position you would have to adjust the angle of your seat. It truly is not a big deal in my opinion but it certainly decreases the range of motion of the seats so you may need to slightly compromise

If you are really picky you can point out the fact that the M3 does not have ventilated seats. BMW wants to keep some features for the higher end M5. You simply cannot have everything in its smaller brother. The ventilated seats might be a gimmick for some in cooler climates but for others it might be more useful. It's not a must have but another feature wouldn't hurt either.

NOTE: The M4 convertible does however have the extendable thigh supports.