Seating options mid row seats legroom ?

nsnk · Jul 9, 2012

I bought my beach as a 4 seater with the two seat rear bench and then bought seperately a mid row swivel chair. With the chair in there is ony about 10 cm of legroom between the bench and the chair. Not even sufficient for Children.

The bench seat can't go back further because of the multi flex board. Do the muti flex boards come in different sizes? Or is this normal. If I had a 3 seater bench would the multi flex board be the same one or is it different for the 3 seater bench.

The catalogue pictures make it look like there is loads of room. Did they take the board out to make the photos look good?

James · Jul 10, 2012

nsnk said:
I bought my beach as a 4 seater with the two seat rear bench and then bought seperately a mid row swivel chair. With the chair in there is ony about 10 cm of legroom between the bench and the chair. Not even sufficient for Children.

The bench seat can't go back further because of the multi flex board. Do the muti flex boards come in different sizes? Or is this normal. If I had a 3 seater bench would the multi flex board be the same one or is it different for the 3 seater bench.

The catalogue pictures make it look like there is loads of room. Did they take the board out to make the photos look good?

As per my other post - I have sat in a three seater model with two extra seats and there was enough room for everyone.

The boards between the three and the two seater are different, the three seater board adjusts. I think possibly there will be a diference in size.

James

Kimmhu · Jul 14, 2012

Hi,
The front (side nearest the seats)of the flexi board actually folds down. As well as the bit at the back that lifts up - the other side folds down. If you look under it, there are some hinges - you press them & it folds down. This gives you quite a bit more space.

Hopefully, that should help!

Kim

James · Jul 14, 2012

Kimmhu said:
Hi,
The front (side nearest the seats)of the flexi board actually folds down. As well as the bit at the back that lifts up - the other side folds down. If you look under it, there are some hinges - you press them & it folds down. This gives you quite a bit more space.

Hopefully, that should help!

Kim

Kim

i only realised that the other day lol but you are correct. It's why the three seater exists as the MPV option.

James

Kimmhu · Jul 14, 2012

Hi James,

We only discovered it when something was resting on the hinges & we were resting on the bed! It collapsed - tee hee!!!! No injuries though - lol

Kim

James · Jul 14, 2012

Kimmhu said:
Hi James,

We only discovered it when something was resting on the hinges & we were resting on the bed! It collapsed - tee hee!!!! No injuries though - lol

Kim

Yeah - I was writing a reply on here and I went to look to see what the board does, played around with the board, looked in the manual.

I am glad there were no injuries - looks like it could be dangerous!

As i said the 3 seater is clearly to be designed part camper/part MPV whereas the two seater is clearly designed for camping with some practical touches.

Any pictures of Bertha Bus?

James

nsnk · Jul 16, 2012

As well as posting on here I have been talking to vw technical. They have said that I should swap my fixed shape multiflex board for a folding one and have said they may even do a free swap. I have passed the details to my dealer. Fingers crossed.

Alternatively they suggest contacting an approved converter and getting them to make something.

James · Jul 16, 2012

nsnk said:
As well as posting on here I have been talking to vw technical. They have said that I should swap my fixed shape multiflex board for a folding one and have said they may even do a free swap. I have passed the details to my dealer. Fingers crossed.

Alternatively they suggest contacting an approved converter and getting them to make something.

A folding board would seem to be the answer. It's the only way in a Beach you can have a full quota of seats and legroom

Hopefully they will swop it - that would be good, can't they order one for you if all else fails?

The cost would be quite high I imagine but might be worth it.

James

BikerBoy · Jul 18, 2012

nsnk said:
I bought my beach as a 4 seater with the two seat rear bench and then bought seperately a mid row swivel chair. With the chair in there is ony about 10 cm of legroom between the bench and the chair. Not even sufficient for Children.

The bench seat can't go back further because of the multi flex board. Do the muti flex boards come in different sizes? Or is this normal. If I had a 3 seater bench would the multi flex board be the same one or is it different for the 3 seater bench.

The catalogue pictures make it look like there is loads of room. Did they take the board out to make the photos look good?

I have all seven seats and there's tons of room. Maybe get the deler to flip for another car?

syrup1971 · Jul 18, 2012

Wow, that is strange, didn't realise the 2 seater rear bench had a different rear board.

Chris

James · Jul 18, 2012

syrup1971 said:
Wow, that is strange, didn't realise the 2 seater rear bench had a different rear board.

Chris

No Chris neither did I until the meet at Hollands Wood

The reason seems to be that the two seater Beach is a camping/going away vehicle - has a flatter Cali bed for example.

The three seater for seems to have been introduced to give more practicality.

How is yours - nice spec on yours

James

syrup1971 · Jul 18, 2012

I'm very happy with mine, bed is comfortable (though I do think a mattress is probably a necessity). Excellent in day to day use.

I also hadn't realised until this thread, that the flex board, also hinges from the middle to the back, so you can lift the back of it up, for tall loads, without having to move it! Very flexible & handy.

To me, the two seat rear bench seat seems to defeat a lot of the purpose of the beach, which is much more MPV/Camper.

It is however really annoying, that you can have a vehicle which is £15-20K more expensive, has more engine power, and yet costs less to insure, just because it has a water tank & gas hob ....

James · Jul 18, 2012

syrup1971 said:
I'm very happy with mine, bed is comfortable (though I do think a mattress is probably a necessity). Excellent in day to day use.

I also hadn't realised until this thread, that the flex board, also hinges from the middle to the back, so you can lift the back of it up, for tall loads, without having to move it! Very flexible & handy.

To me, the two seat rear bench seat seems to defeat a lot of the purpose of the beach, which is much more MPV/Camper.

It is however really annoying, that you can have a vehicle which is £15-20K more expensive, has more engine power, and yet costs less to insure, just because it has a water tank & gas hob ....

Chris

I think the two seater is popular in mainland Europe - those sort of vehicles are more ingrained in the culture - also, there is a much larger and extensive Beach range, including i believe tin tops. Here we are offered the two and the three seater both with a pop top for the same price - it's not difficult to pick the three seater, you are getting more practicality fo your money.

VW I guess could have offered the two seater without a pop top - but then because of the way VW markets it's T5's it probably clash with high end Caravelles and again, look poor value for money. As much as anything it's probably a chance for VW to see what sells in the UK, it costs no more - so, may as well see how sales go.

I didn't know the board did half the things it does till some of these threads lol.

The insurance is annoying but when I was quoted as a camper with business use, it shot through the roof

i would recommend a mattress topper - makes a lot of difference even if it is another thing to carry around.

I don't know about you but I have covered just over 3 thousand miles and the engine is really starting to come into it's own.

James

nsnk · Aug 1, 2012

As per the other thread. I now have a three seater rear bench and a folding multiflex board courtesy of the really helpful Colin at Oxford t5.

An interesting point.The folding multiflex board is several inches higher than the fixed shape one. This is because the three seater bench sits higher when folded. So the folding will not work with the two seater and the fixed won't work with the three seater.

I now have the required leg room and Mpv versatility and thanks to a killer deal from Colin at Oxford t5, it was a cheap and easy fix.

My new 3 seat is black leather and alacantra, my mid swivels are anthracite and my front seats the original stripe. All I need now is some covers to make it all match.
I would like the whole lot to match the rear seat, leather and alacantra in anthracite.
Anyone got any suggestions of where to source them? Brandrup and inka don't do the leather covers. I have contacted autoleathers to see if they can match them.

Finally big thanks again to Colin at Oxford t5. Highly recommended !

Stu · Aug 1, 2012

You could buy the covers as VW replacement parts and have them fitted or perhaps a custom retrim??

Either way probably not going to be cheap.

Andy · Aug 1, 2012

A local vehicle trimmer quoted me £1800 to do all four seats & door cards on my cali.
So I would expect your three seats to be somewhere around £1500.

oxfordt5 · Sep 25, 2012

nsnk said:
As per the other thread. I now have a three seater rear bench and a folding multiflex board courtesy of the really helpful Colin at Oxford t5.

An interesting point.The folding multiflex board is several inches higher than the fixed shape one. This is because the three seater bench sits higher when folded. So the folding will not work with the two seater and the fixed won't work with the three seater.

I now have the required leg room and Mpv versatility and thanks to a killer deal from Colin at Oxford t5, it was a cheap and easy fix.

My new 3 seat is black leather and alacantra, my mid swivels are anthracite and my front seats the original stripe. All I need now is some covers to make it all match.
I would like the whole lot to match the rear seat, leather and alacantra in anthracite.
Anyone got any suggestions of where to source them? Brandrup and inka don't do the leather covers. I have contacted autoleathers to see if they can match them.

Finally big thanks again to Colin at Oxford t5. Highly recommended !

Thanks for the kind words!!
Yes previous posts were right. The triple seat in the caravelle or the beach uses a multiflex board which hinges up/down in 2 parts and is set at a fixed height for the triple seat which is higher than the cali double seat/bed. Consequently they are not interchangeable.
It is possible to get matching leather/alcantara front seats to the triple that I supplied but these are rare to find used and also won't be factory swivel seats. You would be better off recovering your front seats as aftermarket swivel plates are no where near as good as the factory ones. If you decide to change your front seats or need a trimmer give me a call.
Colin

James · Sep 25, 2012

oxfordt5 said:
nsnk said:

As per the other thread. I now have a three seater rear bench and a folding multiflex board courtesy of the really helpful Colin at Oxford t5.

An interesting point.The folding multiflex board is several inches higher than the fixed shape one. This is because the three seater bench sits higher when folded. So the folding will not work with the two seater and the fixed won't work with the three seater.

I now have the required leg room and Mpv versatility and thanks to a killer deal from Colin at Oxford t5, it was a cheap and easy fix.

My new 3 seat is black leather and alacantra, my mid swivels are anthracite and my front seats the original stripe. All I need now is some covers to make it all match.
I would like the whole lot to match the rear seat, leather and alacantra in anthracite.
Anyone got any suggestions of where to source them? Brandrup and inka don't do the leather covers. I have contacted autoleathers to see if they can match them.

Finally big thanks again to Colin at Oxford t5. Highly recommended !

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words!!
Yes previous posts were right. The triple seat in the caravelle or the beach uses a multiflex board which hinges up/down in 2 parts and is set at a fixed height for the triple seat which is higher than the cali double seat/bed. Consequently they are not interchangeable.
It is possible to get matching leather/alcantara front seats to the triple that I supplied but these are rare to find used and also won't be factory swivel seats. You would be better off recovering your front seats as aftermarket swivel plates are no where near as good as the factory ones. If you decide to change your front seats or need a trimmer give me a call.
Colin

I am sad - I love the pattern on my Beach seats - adds so much to the character of the vehicle. You can buy alcantara seats covers from Germany that replicate the Velle seats.

https://california-camping.de/vw-califo ... tzbezuege/

Not cheap but look great

James