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If you have a proper pedal spanner it is a piece of cake to whip off the pedals and it does give you quite a lot more room.
I'd be surprised if you can't fit two bikes in the car with the back seats down - it's a pretty decent space. The main issue is that it's not a tall loading aperture so I reckon as I_Ache says taking the pedals off will help a lot.
tbh I find both the 3 series, like the Audi A4, to be pretty useless cars for people who want to actually put stuff in them - saloon or estate style.
Maybe get some heavy duty plastic sheeting, a dust sheet to soak up any water/mud and some wheel bags.
taking pedals on and off sounds like a faff, both wheels off is bad enough!
