I know that some of you have issues with the Sport seats, and others are interested in putting in a different seat altogether for aesthetic reasons.
Here is the install on the driver side seat. It is important to note that with this modification, you will lose your seat installed airbag - a potential safety implication.

Tools required:
#30 torx
#50 torx
seat hardware kit or an Ace close by
13mm socket
4 ohm resistor and small gauge wire
soldering gun
electrical tape
zip ties

Time required:
About 45 minutes

1. Turn the key off and remove it from the car. You don't want the seat airbag going off, and as long as the car is off, it won't.

2. Slide the seat completely rearward.



3. Remove the two forward #30 torx bolts, one on each side.



4. Slide the seat all the way forward.

5. Remove the two rear #30 torx bolts, one on each side.



6. There are three wire bundles under the seat. The yellow is for the airbag, and the other two are for the seatbelt. These have a quick-release tab that is pushed, and then the bundles will pull apart. The best access to these is from the front.



7. The yellow bundle left in the car is a two female connector. To prevent the airbag light from coming on, you can trick the system. Using a 4 ohm resistor (available at any Radio Shack), create a jumper wire with two males and the resistor in the thin gauge wire. It is very important to use a soldering gun so as not to create any more resistance than the resistor itself creates. Plug the two males into the females in the car.



Note: You can also sign a waiver with your BMW dealer and have the driver side seat airbag removed from the loop. They will have you sign it, the dealer will send it to BMW, and BMW will send a specific access code for the dealer to use to disable the light.

Here's what the car looks like once you have the seat out:



The seat we used for this install was the Sparco. It is a very nice seat, that still allows access to the rear seat, along with full rake and slider adjustments.



Here's the stock seat in comparison to the Sparco:



8. The Sparco comes with a rail system. You may or may not have to buy your own hardware, depending on the package you receive. This set did not include hardware, so we used an assortment of 8mm (shaft -13mm head) bolts in both hex head and allens. Here is the hardware the seat came with:



You will be installing the rails into four holes already part of the seat on the bottom.



It will take some sliding to reach the mounting holes on the front and rear. Just start these bolts, as you will want some play when mounting them to the base.



9. Once you have all four in, mount the rails to the base.



It will take some more sliding - watch your fingers!



Once you have all of the bolts in, line the base up with the rails so that they slide relatively freely.

10. Now tighten everything. You can also install the handle for fore and aft adjustment - it just pushes into place and is held with spring tensioners. Make sure the angle is slightly down so there is room to pull it up without the seat bottom interfering (it is angled slightly from the factory).



11. Remove the seatbelt anchor from the factory seat using a #50 torx.





12. You will also need to fish the two seatbelt wires out from under the seat. Cut the factory zip ties that hold the harnesses in place. You may need to remove the plastic side piece to get the harnesses all the way out - it just pops off and on.

13. Install the seatbelt anchor on the new seat - there is a provision for it on the base. The anchor itself is pushed onto an exact fit bushing (make sure the paint is scraped off before pushing the anchor onto the base, or it won't go on). You will need to use an 8mm (13mm head) hex with a washer large enough to prevent the anchor from being able to move. Once you have it attached, thread the wire bundles back under the seat and zip tie them into place on the base.



14. Install the seat into the car. You will need slightly shorter 13mm head hex bolts.

15. Reattach the wiring harnesses for the seat belt by simply pushing them together.

You now have a comfy seat of your own choosing!



If you turned the car on at any point before you finished, the airbag light will be on and not go out. Disconnect the battery for 20 minutes or so, and the light should go off.

Remember that this will disable your side airbag. Webb Motorsports can take no responsibility for any consequences of this or any other how-to.
Let me know if you have any questions.

Randy
720-841-1002
randy@webbmotorsports.com


_________________

Click It!

 

Wow Randy your How-To's are A+ work. Personally I don't care for the whole sport seat switch. I do care for custom trim work however. in my opinion I think it looks better when people replace the trim on the seats rather than the whole seat itself.

 

Is it possible to swap out the heating elements from the stock heated seats into a sport seat?
I would really like to install the Sparcos or Recaros, but hate to give up those nice heated seats.

 

Randy,
As usual, great walk through on an install. What type harness are you using?
What do you think of the ones that attach to the rear belt?
How much are you selling that seat for and color ops? Comparative weights?
Once removed is the circuit broken to the other air bags or is there an individual
sensor for each.....this I think there is but figured I'd ask if some one had concerns.
Muchos gracias!!
2.....

 

Does anyone know of a racing seat that has heating elements. This would be nice since we package #3 people wouldn't want to loose the warm buns.

 

If I'm not mistaken, Recaro has heated seats for VW's and Audi's. My dealer told me to give it a year and you'll start seeing seatmakers address MINI specific customizations. I have the regular seats and was looking to get OE sport seats from the dealer - their response was no can do...

 

Very well done Randy. You're a great resource for this ccommunity.

 

To answer the couple of questions regarding the heated elemt - unfortunately, unless the new seat comes with heat, you will lose the heat .

2minis,

We weighed the seats, but the customer has those numbers. There is a weight savings, as those factory seats with the airbag are hefty. I'll check on the numbers.

We had a harness from Sparco, but it used bolt-in anchors, and the customer didn't want holes in the unibody, so they were returned. With this particular seat, you can use the three point with no problem. The rear seat belt anchored belts are iffy, but they would be fine for the street or autocrossing. They aren't accepted in SCCA racing.

I haven't set up anything yet to carry these seats, but I'll check on it.

The airbags are all separate, so you don't lose the other side or the front airbags - this I know for sure. I have heard conflicting reports on whether you lose the rear curtains.

Let me know if there are any other questions, and I'll check on the distributorship and the weights.

Randy

 

>>I know that some of you have issues with the Sport seats, and others are interested in putting in a different seat altogether for aesthetic reasons.
>>
>>Here is the install on the driver side seat. It is important to note that with this modification, you will lose your seat installed airbag - a potential safety implication.
>>
>>Tools required:
>>

<edited for reply>

Very nice Randy. So, might the owner want to sell that shabby, old, broken-down stock sport seat that no one in their right mind would want in their car? I just might know someone foolish enough to take it off their hands.


_________________
cosmos black, premium, 16" wheels.

 

Nuvolari,

I'll check - ficcion, are you listening?

 

>>If I'm not mistaken, Recaro has heated seats for VW's and Audi's. My dealer told me to give it a year and you'll start seeing seatmakers address MINI specific customizations. I have the regular seats and was looking to get OE sport seats from the dealer - their response was no can do...

dandp,
Tell your dealer to read page 118 Grassroots Motorspors Magazine(2/03) and they can see how easy it is to do the swap. The weight of the sport seats is 47...standard 45lbs. according to GRM. I wouldn't buy from the dealer though...I'd be surprised if you didn't see some popping up on ebay soon.

 

2minis,

Thanks for posting the stock weights- you got to it before I could.

Here are the weights on the Torino and Milano: 35lbs

I can now take orders for those as well, here are the prices (and I would go lower, but Sparco won't let me - the margin is very low as it is anyway).

Sparco Milano:

Suede $880
Leather $1249

Sparco Torino:

Fabric $599

Hope that helps!

Randy

 

2minis,
Thanx...I had read that and wondered why it would be so problematic. They actually said they couldn't even ORDER them. That I don't believe. eBay is good idea, thanks again.

 

>>If I'm not mistaken, Recaro has heated seats for VW's and Audi's. My dealer told me to give it a year and you'll start seeing seatmakers address MINI specific customizations. I have the regular seats and was looking to get OE sport seats from the dealer - their response was no can do...

My dealer was willing to do it, but the price was over $1200...per seat. They recommended Recaro or e-bay.



_________________
cosmos black, premium, 16" wheels.

 

So, are the airbag wire hook-ups the same for the sport and non-sport seats? Could someone swap their non-sport seats with a pair leftover from someone doing this switch, and just wire the new airbags/seatbelts into the system (presumably with assistance from BMW)? I'm not messing with my seats, I'm just curious.

 

The weight as quoted above for the Sparco Torino is 35lbs.

The stock sport seat in leatherette is 47lbs. as quoted above.

The weight savings is going to be minimal if not nullified because of the heavy Mini Cooper specific mounting bracket that is used for the Sparco.

That bracket with sliders comes in around 10lbs. if memory serves correctly.


HOWEVER, this seat feels sooooo much better than the stock offering!! (IMHO)
I simply cannot believe the difference! My back feels much better supported. The "hold" in a tight corner would make you think the sport stock offering is your grandpa's worn out old Lazyboy!

 

ficcion,

i wanna get the torino too but hk sparco dealer told me that sparco doesn't make rails for MCS.

do you mind telling me the part no. of the rail?

tks. tks.

michael.

 

You simply need:

1. Sparco seat slide

2. Sparco bracket for 02 MINI-Cooper

These two items are in the current Sparco catalog. I don't know the specific part #'s but they should be readily available to any distributor.

The bracket can be difficult to obtain because it is so new. Not many places stock it. The seat slide is just one of their standard slides and is not specific to the MINI from what I understand.


Good luck! :smile:

 

tks ficcion,

i'll ck with the sparco dealer again.

i wonder if the universal bracket will fit our mcs.

 

>>tks ficcion,
>>
>>i'll ck with the sparco dealer again.
>>
>>i wonder if the universal bracket will fit our mcs.

If you have a dealer who doesn't know what he is talking about
maybe you should talk to Randy. I refuse to do business with
people who don't know what they are talking about.....for me a
persons knowledge of an item is part of the sale price. I walked
out of a Toyota dealership(my wifes car) after the salesman
couldn't answer a simple question and referred me to the GM
who couldn't answer the question. I was looking at an MR2 and
my wife was completing the sale on an Echo.
If I have to go get info. a
salesperson can't answer...they lose the sale. Just happened to
a Nextel salesperson....couldn't answer my question about a phone
so I found out myself and I'm buying the phone online. Sorry for
venting but if you don't know what you are selling perhaps you
should find another job??

 

2minis, i agree but it is hard to know all the answers to all the questions about everything someone sells....to me it isn't if they can answer it on the spot...but are willing to do to research themselves and find it out for me if they are hit with a question they don't know offhand. I would much rather they say I don't know, let me get back to you then the famous making up crap that alot of places do.

 

that's one of the biggest problems in my country.....they only sell what they hv in stock and they don't know nothing about what that is and what it'll do.

thats why i came up here to learn more and spend wisely.

 

Randy,

I'm impressed with the thoroughness of your install walkthrough! I'll seriously consider upgrading my driver's seat for those long distance drives

 

Thanks Yucca!

 

any comment on the headroom with the replacement seats?

I use my stock sport seats at the lowest positon. Looks like the replacements only slide and tilt (no lift): is the tilt adjustable?