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CLK Passengers

J7NNO

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2004
Messages
54
Car
2012 ML350Cdi
Morning all. I think I know the answer to this but here goes !! I have a CLK coupe which obviously is a 4 seater. Is it possible to carry out a modification to carry a third passenger in the back ?? Presumably if not and I did carry a third passenger I would be prosecuted under construction and use or similar?

Does any body have any experience of this ............?

And yes I did think of this before buying the car !!! I just have one occasion where having a four seater will be a problem.
 
J7NNO said:
Morning all. I think I know the answer to this but here goes !! I have a CLK coupe which obviously is a 4 seater. Is it possible to carry out a modification to carry a third passenger in the back ?? Presumably if not and I did carry a third passenger I would be prosecuted under construction and use or similar?

Does any body have any experience of this ............?

And yes I did think of this before buying the car !!! I just have one occasion where having a four seater will be a problem.

How about a big rental car for the day instead?
 
Don't think it is possible to engineer another seat in there - seatbelt mounting points would probably be an issue, and it would be extremely cramped. It would be illegal to transport an unsecured third person in the back, never mind the danger to them and the other passengers in the event of an accident. If it is only a couple of times a year, rent another car, if not, you'll need to consider selling the CLK I fear.
 
Brett said:
Don't think it is possible to engineer another seat in there - seatbelt mounting points would probably be an issue, and it would be extremely cramped. It would be illegal to transport an unsecured third person in the back, never mind the danger to them and the other passengers in the event of an accident. If it is only a couple of times a year, rent another car, if not, you'll need to consider selling the CLK I fear.
The W202 has a middle "seat" (it's an uncomfortable hump between the two normal rear seats) with a lap-belt basically bolted to the floorpan and fed through to the cabin area around the seat base.

You could do this to any car!
 
Shude. Thanks for the reply. I wasnt aware of this. On the W209 there is simply a plastic/leather "tray" in the middle......

If I fitted a lapbelt I would surely still be in breach of construction and use regulation though as the vehicle is only manufactured for 2 rear seat passengers.

Do we have legal bod (or perhaps a plod) who would like to comment ???
 
J7NNO said:
Shude. Thanks for the reply. I wasnt aware of this. On the W209 there is simply a plastic/leather "tray" in the middle......

If I fitted a lapbelt I would surely still be in breach of construction and use regulation though as the vehicle is only manufactured for 2 rear seat passengers.

Do we have legal bod (or perhaps a plod) who would like to comment ???

When I ordered my first W208 CLK I was offered a third seat option for the rear. As the car was based on the W202 originally I was assured this would be relatively easy. I´m not sure though about the seat belt anchoring points though. When I get back from hols I´ll pull my seat out and have a look!
 
Alfie said:
When I ordered my first W208 CLK I was offered a third seat option for the rear. As the car was based on the W202 originally I was assured this would be relatively easy. I´m not sure though about the seat belt anchoring points though. When I get back from hols I´ll pull my seat out and have a look!
I can see no 3rd seatbelt parts on the EPC for the W208. The W202 does have a third seatbelt kit though.

Are the left and right seatbelt clips in the centre next to each other on the W209? If they are then we're probably wasting our time here!
 
No. As I say theres a kindof tray thing between the two rear seats which is about 10-12 inches wide. (enough for a bum albeit not too comfortable!) the seat belt holders are either side of that.
 
J7NNO said:
No. As I say theres a kindof tray thing between the two rear seats which is about 10-12 inches wide. (enough for a bum albeit not too comfortable!) the seat belt holders are either side of that.
Well in that case there is little physically stopping you from ordering a retrofit lap-belt kit. Bear in mind that the fitting will require you to either drill holes in the floorpan or weld pre-drilled brackets onto the floorpan to fix the seatbelt components to. This is exactly the same as fitting a racing harness to the car so is 100% legal to do and probably happens more regularly than you'd think. I bet a local bodyshop or other workshop could sort a quote out for you.

As for the legal aspects, I suppose we have to speak to someone who knows something. How about an MOT inspector?
 
Shude said:
The W202 has a middle "seat" (it's an uncomfortable hump between the two normal rear seats) with a lap-belt basically bolted to the floorpan and fed through to the cabin area around the seat base.

You could do this to any car!

Shude, I suspect the rear interior dimensions (shoulder to shoulder) of the W208 are smaller than the W202, which would probably make the rear pretty cramped and uncomfortable for three across. Just IMO of course.
 

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