So I picked up a pair of cheapy seat covers at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet a few weeks ago.

When I put them on seats in the MCS, I realized they weren't a snug fit because of two things:

- The bucket seat
- The seat lowering/raising mechanism.

Any idea where I can get seat covers (the cool hawaiian patterns :smile that fit well on the MCS seats?

The one I picked up were navy blue with a white hibiscus pattern.

 

I have a set of custom-made Wet Okole seat covers that I purchased a year ago for my MCS, for both the front and back seats (and have been installed on the seats since then). I had them removed recently so I could condition the leather seats underneath, but I am worried now about how the leather will hold up in cold, damp England, underneath the neoprene. If you are interested in purchasing these seat covers, reply back to this post, and then we could exchange e-mails or something.

They are the standard Wet Okole neoprene seat covers, navy blue and white hibiscus pattern. The front seat covers probably ought to be washed (they are clean but have just been sat on a lot), but the back seat covers pretty much haven't been touched, so they should be fine.

Installation of the seat covers is not an easy task, though ... the fit is VERY snug. I'd imagine you can get instructions from Wet Okole.

Caveats: I'm still not 100% sure I want to sell them, because they look *so sharp*!! And FYI, they are even more heat-retentive than the leather (which I had not thought possible). I don't know if the neoprene would cause mold problems with leather underneath over time. I can tell you that Lucy's leather seats are in really good shape after wearing the seat covers for a year. I'm guessing there's been no mold problems so far due to how hot and dry the car's interior gets here in Hawaii during the day. My understanding is that the neoprene is not 100% waterproof, and therefore there is a little bit of air circulation with the leather as well. The neoprene protects the seats from wet okoles, but not from, say, buckets of water being thrown on the seat (or torrential rain coming through an open sunroof ... but fortunately that's never happened to Lucy). :smile:

However ... the environmental conditions in England are far different from Hawaii! And Lucy is shipping out for England next week. I hate to lose the seat covers, but I don't think the leather will do well in England with neoprene covers.

Have I waffled enough yet??? Seriously ... I wanted to give as full a picture as possible. If we can agree on a decent price, you'll probably get some very nice looks-like-new Wet Okole seat covers.

Well, let me know if you are interested.

 

There are air bags imbedded in the side of the front seats that face the door. Majority of seat covers do not accomodate this safety feature. (Although, I heard that Wet Okole's have MINI specific ones that provide an opening for the air bags to deploy.)

Also, because there are air bags in the seats, you can not ship them by air.

 

Lucy is being shipped by surface transport, so exploding airbags will not be a problem.

The seat covers are custom made by Wet Okole for the MCS, so there are holes in the seat covers to allow for air bag deployment.

 

hey MINIangelD, would you mind posting a pic of them if you have one? I'm curious to see what they look like. Thanks!

 

Just in case Angel doesn't have any photos, here's mine (black instead of blue though, but you'll get the idea). I took photos of the front and back - note the airbag cut-out on the front seats. I couldn't wait for Wet Okole's scheduling so installed the covers on my own - it wasn't as hard as they make it seem.

 

I gotta say, those are pretty damn cool!

 

i'd also like to praise the wet okole's. i have'em on my fronts only, snug fit and looks great. mine are black with green "piping", which matches great with my brg mini. and we mini owners unfortunately have to get the custom cut covers for the air bag accomodation, which raises the $$$ considerably.

back in '94, i picked up a set of fronts for my nissan p/u. because they were a standard, popular size/fit, they were mass produced and were cheap, probably ~$120 for the front set. no fancy patterns, but a nice 2-tone black/charcoal grey color.

key thing i gotta recommend for longevity, since we're all paying some $$$ for these babys, is protect'em with a uv guard spray. back in the '90's it was 303. since then, they market their own brand of protectant i think. but 303 is probably cheaper and just as good. plus you can use it for protecting your dash, interior, plastic trim, etc. i sprayed it once only on my p/u's wet okoles after a year of use, and simply said it stopped the uv fading cold.

personally i haven't washed or shampooed them, although wet okole recommends it. but i cannot emphasize enuff, you gotta uv protect'em, especially with extreme sun exposure.

 

kbesto, thanks for the tip! That definitely makes sense. It would surely suck to spend that much on them only to have them fade.

 

Angel - Take the covers with you to England. I think your leather would be okay in soupy old England. Just make sure to take the covers off every 6 months or so to clean and condition the leather. Then leave the covers off for a couple days to let the leather breathe and you should be good to go.

If you don't take the covers, I believe Town MINI in London sells all sorts of covers for your seats. I think it was called Town MINI! Anyway, it is an aftermarket dealer in MINI accesories.

EDIT: Just thought about this. Try posting on MINI2.com to see what their experience has been with leather as it is a UK based board.

 

sambusik - I am using my roommate's computer, since mine is on its way to England (hopefully), so I do not have any pics to show (although I took plenty). Sorry!

Beastmaster - I will check out MINI2.com ... maybe something's already been posted about neoprene seat covers.

 

My sincere apologies sambusik, but I have decided to keep my seat covers. I truly was undecided about keeping them when I saw your post a few days ago, so it seemed like a good idea at the time to offer you the seat covers.

But the seat covers look sooo good ... I haven't had them put back in the car yet, and the interior is so drab without them.


I hope you manage to find some nice seat covers for your MINI.

 

i believe you can order over the internet at http://www.wetokole.com/ .

in fact, i think they have shops in southern cali. there are a ton of styles and options. but they are rather pricey. i believe fronts are ~$200+. but they are clearly the best-looking and best quality seatcovers around.

only thing is the neoprene can get rather hot where your low back gets a little sweaty while driving in the middle of the day. but the feel, the protection and the looks all make it worthwhile.

 

The store in California is in Costa Mesa (Orange County). It's near the Tower Records passed Triangle Square. They actually manufacture the covers at the Costa Mesa location only now so the Hawaii one is only a "sales" store.

 

MINIangelD, no worries, after checking out their site, I think I'm gonna pick up a set of these