Happened to see this while in Park Lane MINI in London. Looked good and did seem to fit very nice.






Apologies for the iPhone quality.

 

they look awesome. we still use a booster for our smallish 9 year old (47 inches tall and 47 pounds) and that looks very comfy, and has nice head rests on the sides (he always falls asleep on long drives). It looks like it would be used as a booster as well. who made that product???

 

That's pretty cool. I wonder where you can get that?

 

I thought it was actually made by MINI - so I hadn't looked very close.

Sorry!

Maybe someone else is familiar with it? Maybe someone from Park Lane MINI is reading this?

 

It is a BMW / MINI product. We looked at getting one when our first was born in 2004. They are very nice.

 

It is a BMW / MINI product. We looked at getting one when our first was born in 2004. They are very nice.

 

It seems like I remember the MINI car seat only being available in Europe.

 

That's probably true. I was living in the UK at the time so that would make sense. I know BMW only sells their motorcycle helmets in Europe because of the fear of being sued if they did in the US (A UK BMW motorcycle dealer told me this) so it would make sense that they wouldn't sell their car seats in the US either.

 

Actually, that's not really the reason. An ECE-approved (BMW) helmet conforms to all European standards. However, to be sold in the US, it must be retested and comply with US DOT and, optionally, Snell Foundation standards. This means BMW must spend additional costs to attain the US approval and, quite possibly, modify the design (most likely the EPS liner). A modified design means additional cost to product both an ECE version and a US version. I suspect BMW made a cost decision here.

Also, there are other high-end Euro/US helmet manufacturers against which BMW would compete. The most recent manufacturer returning to the US market is Schuberth. They produce both an ECE and DOT C3-model helmet which has won high praise...even with its $700USD price tag.

 

I don't want to get into a debate because you are correct, but it was a logical statement that the UK dealer made. The BMW helmets would pass DOT regulations without any issue, they would only have to submit the helmets for testing. As loyal as BMW riders are to the brand they would have no problems selling the BMW branded helmet which is actually made by Schuberth. At the time they would have had to change the EPS liner to meet the SNELL standards (in 2004). SNELL were finally called out on their standards and have adjusted them in 2010. Funny enough, if a helmet meets ECE 22.05 standards they will meet the newer SNELL 2010 standards.

I image that BMW /MINI could easily sell their car seats if they decided to have them tested for the US market. Brand loyalty would would make them an instant hit. So what is the reason they won't sell them here? Maybe we will never know. For now I will go with the liability issue. It seems to make sense, but it could be as simple as BMW NA doesn't want to bring them over. Lord knows that there are several BMW/MINI accessories that we will never see because BMW NA just doesn't want them.