Rear Head Rests
 

Hi everyone, first post on this forum. Wife and i just bought a '19 Cooper Convertible, Pepper White. Wife does not like the intrusion in rear vision due to the rear head rests, so she pulled them off and now they sit in the trunk sliding around and getting in the way. I noticed the shape of the headrest would allow it to sit very low (if moved to the lowest possible position) on the seat top and "wrap around" the top of the seat very well, except there is a black plastic gadget on one of the headrest posts that prevents the headrest from lowering very far. Short of tearing it off with a pair of pliers (seems locked on there), has anyone been able to remove the plastic gadget so that the headrest can be lowered to its lowest position? Seems crazy to have the headrests loose in the car, and they sure do stick up far. thanks. Dave.

The black plastic needs to stay in place It lets you adjust the headrest up and down. However, there is a little metal pin on that side of the headrest that functions as a stop. Use a tiny little eyeglass sized screwdriver to push out the pin. Much better visibility with them all the way down.

Typically headrest posts have notches in them that catch the spring loaded button that is on the seat to select height, and these ones are no different. The black plastic thingie appears to just be a stopper that prevents the headrest from going down further...seems to me it has nothing to do with setting the height other than limiting travel. Am i missing something?

I popped my plastic things off years ago, but I still put the seats down if nobody is sitting back there...which is 99 percent of the time.

I was misremembering the plastic bits. If you look at the black plastic ring, there should be a pin visible which it what prevents the headrest from going down. Just push the pin out. I still have the plastic ring, but without the little pin The headrest goes all the way down.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...69d876f32.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...dc8ca710c.jpeg

I used a paper clip to push out the little metal pins in the plastic rings before we even left the dealer when taking delivery of our F57. Threw the pins and the plastic rings right in the garbage and immediately lowered the rear headrests all the way! I think legislators and insurance companies think U.S. car passengers are too dumb to adjust the rear headrests on our own, so they make it "impossible" to put them down, thereby ensuring rear passengers are protected from whiplash and such. It's dumb.

European photos show the headrest all the way down. When I first started seriously looking at new cars, I was perplexed by the all dealership photos showing them raised up so high. I'm guessing the US has a minimum height requirement, and since our rear seats are kind of short, the silly pin passes that test? My husband and I discovered that limitation when we went on a test drive.

I'm happy that the pin comes out so easily, and that my rear seats don't look like they are occupied by Star Wars droids :).

I think I'll go remove my plastic rings now...

Thanks guys for the great tip, problem solved. Yes, another example of overly protective North American laws made to protect idiots from frivolous lawsuits. Yes, I think we are indeed capable of adjusting the head rests...and did they ever think of liability aspects of severely hampering the view out the back window?? Clearly not...

Yep thats there for US standards.

Can these pins and plastic rings be re-installed to sell/trade in the Mini in Its original specs?

You can reinstall them easily. There are no tabs or other breakable pieces.

Thanks. I’ll see if my rear seats with the headrests re-installed will still clear the front seats when I fold them down. If they are on the car at least I won’t lose them😄.

Thank you!!
 

My 2020 is my 2nd mini! Always boggled my mind about the rear head restraints. This is awesome!! Thanks

Outstanding!
Rear headrests removed and visibility much improved -- particularly top-up!
Terrific tip!
Thx!

H

I just did the mod myself, quick and easy and oh my how much better everything is. From the look with the top down and the rear view with the top up. Oh and the seat fold down with the headrest on, but all the way down.

Yep you can see more. The older R52 you can see but its blocked by the roll bars being fixed. I have the euro blind spot mirrors which help.

Curious, the headrests on my '17 do not obstruct my view, but the top (when down) really does. I doubt there's anything I can do about that(?)

I have an R56 and in my opinion there is no room for real people to sit in the back seats so I am going to remove them completely.

Coming back years later to thank folks for this tip. All of the previews of my custom MINI showed the “European Model,” and I wondered how they were different - the headrest position is pretty obviously different now that I look at it.

Pulled the pin today (day two of ownership, already flipping the bird to US regulations), but my Very Knowledgeable Dad warned me that this might stop the head rests from doing their job in the event of a rollover. I looked at the pins and thought, there’s *no way* those little pins would do anything to hold the car up in a rollover where the whole car is sitting on them, upside down.
Is my dad just being cautious because his fully adult daughter bought a fast zoom zoom? Or is there truth to what he’s warning?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...43224e0334.png
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...0fb5313de0.png
The pins don't lock the headrest positions. The release button and internal locks in the seat that clamp into the notches in the headrest posts do. The pins simply keep the headrests from traveling lower into the seat to maintain US height mandates. Removing them allows the headrest to have a greater range of positioning.

The headrests don't provide protection in a rollover—there are two metal bars that eject upward when a rollover is detected and provide this protection. These are located in the oval compartments at the rear edges of the back seat. The headrests can be completely removed, further demonstrating no role in rollover protection.

The headrests do provide protection during front/rear crashes. If no one is in the seat, lowering the headrest will have no impact on safety. If someone is sitting in the back seats, the headrests should be in place and positioned correctly.

Pics from my owners manual below.

Yep, what thunderball said!

Thanks!
I’m keeping those headrests low then! There’s no way my friends will be sitting back there, and even if they do, they’ll need to adjust the head rest anyway.
I should have known that the MINI has the same pop up safety pillars as my dad’s old BMW (and HE should have too). Looks like I should take a skim over the manual.

Yes, it the regulation they have in the USA. On the R52 they were stationary. R57+ got the pop ups as people were complaining they could not see out the back of the R52 Convertible so MINI changed the design.
They also added standard PDC on convertible MINIs in the USA as when the tops up its hard to see.

I'm actually looking for a pair of this particular seat rest.. looking to buy17 car
 

Thats where we come in. :)

If you cant find it on our site. Use realoem with VIN and copy/paste 11 digit part number into our site search.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=52_4200


Leather 'Lounge/satellite-gray'

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Sit...h/52207939738/



https://i0.wp.com/www.car-revs-daily...47&h=564&ssl=1