Oddly enough, very few cars have the pivoting headrest feature anymore. I have had several BMWs in the past that had them and always thought it was a great feature. I suspect the reason they are not so common anymore is that many passive restraint systems now incorporate the headrest into them by making them pivot forward in an impact to shorten the whiplash effect. I had an 04 Maxima and this was the reason given for them not pivoting. I'll guessing that you like lots more about the 540i than the headrests, they are great cars.

 

If you find that the back problems come back over time (with a very long commute in the car like that) you might have to look at a car like the BMW 7 series where the seats are on a type of computerized gimbal, so that, as you continue driving, the car makes very minute changes to the seat position, just enough to change the sitting position of your body, but not enough to make you sense that the seat has moved.

The concept is that it's sort of "stretching" for you to keep your back from getting sore, and your legs from going numb.

 

My '06 Hybrid Civic has the same problem with the lumbar. Even my S2000 has that problem as well. Of course, it is only a problem for the select "few" that are sensitive to it.

I will strip these seats and make 'em work.

Jesse

 

Our HiHy's headrests pivot.

Don

 

I was having issues with back pain and leg numbness after long drives in my HAH too. I spoke to a medical person about it and they gave me a blunt answer - raise the seat up as high as you can. I didn't ask for a reason, I just did it, and it worked! I don't mean changing the angle of the back of the seat, I mean raising the bottom of the seat to it's highest position.


Hope this helps.

 

You people must be old...

I haven't had any problems whatsoever with comfort in the HAH. Well, I do hate where the lock lever is located. Every time I put my arm onto the window ledge, that lock stabs me in the elbow!! <<where's my Dremel?>>

My back started to get tight in my recent trip in our Escape. I had to keep changing my seating position the whole 200+ mile trip. I'll try raising the seat next time to see if that helps.