I just recently bought a 2006 Mini Cooper S and want to exchange the cloth seats with the vinyl ones in my 2004 Mini Cooper. I read a forums that it can be done, but don't have enough information to proceed myself. The wiring between the seats have conflicting plugs and I am afraid that if I start to tear into it the airbags and seat belt sensors won't work properly. I want to do this right.

 

How much information was there? Can you give a link to that?

The 2006 has an additional weight sensor pad in the seat bottom of the passenger seat (to meet new federal regulations that began in 2005). You'll have to remove the sensor pad and transfer it or else the passenger airbag warning light will turn on. That would account for one extra plug. There could also be extra or missing plugs if one seat has heaters and the other doesn't. Are plugs the same on the drivers side?

If they are both sports seats, another approach you might consider is keep using the same seats and swap only the vinyl and cloth uphostery covers.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-2003-mcs.html

That was one of the forums, I also talked to vladlos who did it in his mini cooper. The passenger seat does have a sensor and is impossible to pull out of the seat. The driver seat works great, all the plugs lined up after swapping the buckles. Maybe there is some way to turn the passenger airbag on permanently.

 

If you don't connect the seat pad sensor, I believe the passenger airbag will be permanently on, although the warning light will also be on all the time.

It should be possible to remove the sensor pad. People have done it and transferred it to aftermarket seats.

 

Is there a thread on removing the sensor from the seat that you know about?

 

firehawk618 removed his sensor in an attempt to fix it (they frequently go bad, which has happened to me but fortunately mine was still under warranty). There is a description and photo here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t-no-more.html. The photo is of the sensor itself, which he says is enclosed in a cloth sleeve.

 

Great the sensor will be put into the seat and there shouldn't be any problems. One more question since your an active member on this forum. Do you know where I could find the radio wiring diagram/ color coding for 2006 Mini Cooper S with H/K sound?

 

You can find wiring diagrams here: http://wds.spaghetticoder.org/en/. They refer to the H/K system as DSP or HiFi. In the diagrams, use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom. The color codes use German abbreviations (listed here).

Did you want to upgrade or repair your H/K system? The H/K system has a non-standard configuration and has special needs for upgrading.

 

I bought a kenwood head unit for my 2004 Mini Cooper that I wanted to transfer into the 2006 with the h/k. It has an axillary and iPod connection on it so I would have to mess with getting one that work with the head unit. It worked fine in my old mini but when I went to go plug it in, I wasn't getting any sound.

 

To use an aftermarket headunit with the HK amp, you need to use an "HK Enabler" adapter, available from this UK vendor: http://www.newministuff.com/new/shop...uctshow&id=116.

It was developed by Ian Cull (GBMINI), an engineer and member on this forum, and was chronicled in his blog.
http://www.gbmini.net/wp/2004/04/run...ory_head_unit/
http://www.gbmini.net/wp/2004/06/min...roductionized/

 

I bought some leather seats from a 2004 without seat heaters and another set from a 2006 leatherette with seat heaters and had my upholsterer swap the parts. I ended up with seats for my 2005 of parts from the 2004 and 2006 and it worked perfectly.

I.e., I added seat heaters and pressure mat and perfect plastic seat back covers and '06 airbags to the 2004 seats...cost a bit of money though to acquire everything, but it's certainly doable.

Richard

 

Thanks Octaneguy. I started to take the seats apart to see how hard it was to get to the sensor. The sensor lays right beneath the cloth on the seat and sits above the foam structure that gives the seat bottom shape. The sensor is tied in pretty well to the seat but it is possible to get out. I ended up opting out of doing it myself and took it to an ex-mercedies mechanic that had a better idea than idea of what to do. Post soon how it all turns out.