I don't remember the headrests on my '05 MCS seemingly blocking my rear vision. Sitting behind the wheel of my '11 JCW at the dealer's on delivery day it looked like I had 2 black haired guys in the back as I adjusted the rear view mirror. Easy solution, I immediately got out and lowered both rear seats (removed the headrests). I rarely had the seats up on my old MCS. I then noticed that the front seat headrests seem to block some of my rear vision. Solution, I removed the headrests. I realize the safety benefit of the headrests, but It really opens up rear vision and rear side vision. Anyways, just curious if others have done this "mod". Actually my first mod at the dealers was replacing the "Radio Car Control Antenna" with a Craven Speed shorty antenna. Thanks for letting me share. Nick

PS I LOVE my JCW!

 

I didn't remove the headrests, for the rear one I did remove the stop they come with that limits how far down the headrests will go. Once removed the headrests will go all the way down to the seat top.

The front headrests haven't bothered me at all.

 

Removed the rear ones on the Cabrio but just lowered on Clubman.

 

I removed the rear headrest on my 09 R56 MCS...I can see out it better now!! Much safer driving for me!

 

Yes ... removed from my '11 MC ... much better rear view mirror action.

 

Personally, I would never remove the headrest on a seat I intended to occupy with a passenger.

 

I just removed the plastic collars/stoppers that stop them from going all the way down. Saves me from having to find a place to store the headrests if I were to remove them.

With them all the way down they don't obstruct my view at all.

Now the front ones.... they are annoying. They don't obstruct my view but they stick out too far forward and can be a little uncomfortable sometimes. Still haven't figured out what to do about that.

 

i removed the entire back seats. why stop at the head rests?
(1st step towards turning him into a whippet-mobile :-))

 

My MA told me that by DOT regulation, headrests must be installed by the manufacturer to a minimum height.

Unfortunately, the Countryman doesn't use the easy-to-remove stop collars -- either the rear headrest prop rods are longer or the channels they slide into are shallower. Makes it harder to modify now. Likely this design will trickle down to all other MINI?

I had the rear seats flopped down so I could carry my bike and I'm loving that I don't lose half the rear window to headrests. What to do, what to do...?

 

How did you guys remove the headrest stoppers?

 

If you look at it closely, there's a small metal pin that holds them in place. Just push it out with a small screwdriver or something like that. Once the pin is out the collar slides right off.

 

We noticed this on the latest models too ('09 and above, I think?). If they bother you a lot, maybe you could find headrests from an '07 or '08 and swap them in?

We've been precluded from buying many different models of cars because of the "lean-forward" headrests so many manufacturers seem to install these days. Probably for safety reasons, but my parents can't stand them--Honda is particularly guilty of this.

 

Thanks for the responses. I guess at nearly 68 I remember my cars from the 50's and 60's. For a long time no seatbelts--and for a longer time no head rests. I guess a lot of us old farts were pretty lucky to have survived w/o those headrests. I also consider myself lucky to have survived my time in Viet Nam. Nick

 

The rear headrests in the back of my '11 are in my garage. Can't see a damn thing with them in.

 

Have never noticed this problem, don't see any real benefit in removal of a piece of safety equipment, why not remove the rear view mirror and free up the forward sight lines?

 

I am struggling with this very issue right now and wondering how did you remove the stops?

 

Thanks to MiamiGuitarMan for answering the question. For anyone wanting to fix the rear headrest, merely remove (push out) the metal pin that's in the plastic collar.

Thanks again MiamiGuitarMan.

 

Being of the same generation and short, I noticed years ago that my rear vision was usually totally blocked by headrests in almost every car since the 60's, that I've driven. I would remove the headrests directly behind and anywhere else that obstructed my vision. Safety being an issue, it made more sense for me, to see.
My MINI hasn't been touched. It's the first car that feels like it was built just for me.