Unfortunately the Mini sport seats don't work well with my anatomy - pretty uncomfortable in all the wrong places (and I'm small -- go figure). Man, I'm having a lot of bad luck with this car.

I was looking at Recaro, but was wondering what other options there are out there. The hard part is that I have the hot chocolate interior and Recaro doesn't make any of their seats in a dark brown. I suppose I could buy one and put a seat cover on it, if it came down to that, but would rather not, as it's cheaper looking.

I'm looking for a seat that strikes a decent balance between sport hold and roadworthy comfort (firm is fine -- I just need it to be shaped in a way that's comfortable for me).

Thanks,
Noah

 

i was actually interested in swapping out my front seats possibly for some recaro's as well becuase i agree with you. the sport seats start to get pretty uncomfortable, especially on long trips

 

http://www.corbeau.com/

Corbeau is very well known for sporty yet very comfortable seats...

 

The problem I have with any aftermarket seat is trying to find one you can sit in to see if it'll be any better than what you already have.

The lumbar in my '03 seats hits me wrong, and the seats in my '09 Clubby hurt my thighs.

The best factory seats I've ever found in something other than an exotic were in VW's, and they're made by Recarro from what I've been told. Those always fit me well.....but getting one to match a chocolate interior will be tough, or expensive.

 

Let me know what you end up doing, my seat is killing my back too.

Chris

 

I checked out Corbeaus today. I am likely going to buy either the GT II, A4 or the Sport. Recaro and Corbeau both have retailers throughout the country that sell their stuff so you can try them out. Both of those models are leagues more comfortable for my body than the Mini Sport seats are, and they're sports oriented, too. They might rub up a tiny bit against the center console because the Mini is so small, but I don't mind that.

I tried some Recaros and they were were comfy, too, but you can't custom upholster them. I'm sending Corbeau a head thing from one of the back seats so that they can match the leather, and they will also do white stitching to match. It's not cheap (from $1300 - 1700 for both seats, the high cost being because they'd be custom upholstered....what can ya do) but these Mini Sport seats are honestly some of the most uncomfortable seats I've personally experienced, so it'll be worth it.

For what it's worth I agree with you MINIdave and would never buy seats without trying them out first.

 

What happens with the seat weight sensor? I'm pretty sure I've read on here that not having it plugged in will trigger an airbag fault.....

 

Does any body know who we could check with to see if any BMW seats will work? I don't want to have an issue with the wt sensor. Also if you go with an after market seat, you lose the airbag. The safety of these cars is great, and I would hate sacrifice the safety for comfort.

Chris

 

Man, I didn't even think about the airbags. Well, these seats are so poor to sit in for me (as in, back starts aching only 10 minutes in, and I'm only 38 and in great shape - never have had back problems before) that I would sacrifice that...there are still airbags on the sides of the actual inside frame, and the ones in the seat are very small and don't protect the head.

If BMW seats would fit then then that might be a good option, as long as I could get them in non-electric versions.

Who the hell designed these seats? I understand that they're fine for some people, but I've honestly never sat in a car seat that just felt so wrong to me! Plus the head rest jutting too far forward, etc. I wonder where might I be able to sell them, since they're only about 3 weeks old? There's gotta be somebody who wants 'em!

 

I put the head rests on backwards, it helps with the "pushing forward of the head" problem. I am in great shape as well, and we seem to be the only ones that are this uncomfortable. I guess the seats are designed for average folks, and the national average is not in "great shape".

 

Sorry to hear about all your problems with the seats being uncomfortable. But I must ask a question.

Did any of you actually take the car for a test drive?

With what you are telling us these problems should have been apparent on a test drive. BTW I love the seats in my MINI, i can ride in it for more than 6 hours without stopping, my BMW 525 IT on the other hand causes me great back pain after sitting in it for more than an hour. Each of us has our own problems I guess.

As for Air Bags.

1. The side curtain airbags are in the roof.

2. There are NO airbags in the pillars.

3. Each front seat has airbags in them

4. Drives and Passenger sides may have heaters. (optional)

5. There is NO weight senosr in the drivers seat.

6. The passenger side DOES have a weight sensor.

7. If any of the airbags are not seen by the car you will get a Air Bag warning light and the system may not function properly.

8. If the weight sensor is not seen by the car then the system WILL NOT function properly for the passenger front airbag.

I am not telling you not to change the seat but just informing you of some of the problems you may incur.

As for other BMW seats fitting in the MINI I doubt you will find any but it may be worth a try. Just be ware the new BMW seats may not have the same type airbags or sensors in them so they may not work either.

 

BTW if you are having problems with head rests sticking out to far toward the seat you can turn them around or order 2008 head rests. the 2008 head rests are much thinner toward the front than the later 2009 and 2010 models from what I have seen.

 

Schatzy62 - I did test drive the car thoroughly and the seats felt fine at that point. It was only after driving the car for a week or so that the seats started to get to me -- I wish I could explain why that's the case, but there it is. Unfortunately you can't go for long drives, etc., when you test drive a car. Now it's at the point where my back and thighs starts to hurt about 10 minutes into any drive. If I had noticed any of this during the test drive I would have not gotten these seats.

Thanks much for the information - it's really useful. I'm definitely going to change the seats out and will need to have Mini adjust the computer so that it doesn't miss the passenger air bag weight sensor.

And I agree, it's as simple as people having different body shapes, etc.

 

schatzy62 - Thanks for the info. Are you sure the seats have airbags in them? I looked mine over pretty carefully and don't see the "airbag" label on them. I'll check again when I'm in the car.

I previously drove a Ford F-150 (still have it!) and I did take the Mini for a test drive. I test drove several Mini's before settling on the one I bought. The "wing pinch" for me, is not a sharp pain, that would get your attention right away, but more of a slight discomfort that just builds until it is really annoying. Then, once I notice it, it's really uncomfortable and I can't change positions enough to make it go away.

It's very much like wearing a motorcycle or flight helmet. It's hard to tell when you try it on, if the pressure points are going to turn into hot spots or not.

I've owned the car since mid-summer and didn't really figure out the seats were annoying me until after I owned it for a while. I've experimented with taking my wallet out of my back pocket (it helps) and also with adding a few washers underneath the front of the seat rails to "rock" the front of the seat up a bit (that helped too). Sitting on a small pillow fixes the problem completely for me as it raises me up enough so the wings aren't pressing on my thighs. Installing a seat cover over a bit of foam seems like the perfect solution as long as it doesn't interfere with the airbags.

For the record, there's a bunch of things I didn't notice about the car during the test drive. Unlike most of the Mini owners on this board, I pretty much bought the car like I've bought my other cars. I went to the dealer, picked one off the lot and worked a deal for it. I didn't even know about the web page and customizing until I found this forum.

Some of the things have been "easter eggs" (like the hill holding - mine's a manual) and some of the things are annoying (like the seat wings or the fact that the doors won't stay open). It's no different than my other cars. They all have pros and cons.

Of all the issues, the stereo and seats are the two things I would like to fix. I'm in the process of replacing my front speakers. I may or may not do something about the seats. It's not the end of the world, either way. It's just a car....

 

The seat wings as you called them, annoy the hell out of me too. I shift around to one side and the other, but sooner or later they really start to hurt. Seats should not hurt you, IMHO.......whether after 10 min or 10 hours of driving.

The ones in my '03 do not do this, but they have other issues - to me it feels like there's a football stuck in my lower back and no matter how I change the adjustments I can't get rid of it.

VW/Audi and Porsche seats have always fit me much better....

 

FYI, the JCW seats that are optional on Euro JCWs are made by Recaro AND have the side airbags built in.

I don't know if anyone has retrofit them into a USDM car,yet, and I know cost has been a limiting factor, but it's something you may want to look into.

 

Again soory to hear about your seat problems. And I know not all dealers will allow you to do a good test drive. My test drive was in the city of Boston and the Interstate and lasted for about 90 minutes (yes an hour and a half) Only went about 15 miles though as it was rush hour, but i did get to put it thru its paces as hiway speed for a few miles.

Switching the seats to non sport seats may work for you as then there would be no problems with the airbags etc.

Turning off the sensors would put the dealer in jepordy as it is illegal for them to modify a car so that it does not meet the specs of the year it was built so they may not be willing to do it. Also it may not be able to be done, there are some things that just can not be turned off as they are required in all countries and MINI then does not make it an option to tun it off.

Good luck in you endeavors.

 

I've mentioned this a couple of places here, but, I have been able to make my seats much more comfortable (like 6 hours at a time) by simply tilting the seat base backward a bit. I accomplished that by placing about 1/2 to 3/4 incy of stainless fender washers under the front mounting points. The mounting bolts are long enough to accomodate the addition and still fully engage all of the corresponding threads in the floor. I found that tilting the front up moved the pressure points back to the (ahem) better padded parts of my tailfeathers and took weight off of my legs.

Just a thought.

 

JCW seats work fine, but you have to repin the connector for the airbag and also add a weight sensor to the seat for the passenger in order for it to work properly. There are a few of us on here in the US (very few from reading) that have them. Price is expensive, but keeping it stock and having airbags/seat heaters was a must for me

 

How much were the Recaro JCW seats? I assume incredibly expensive what with the massive markup and all.

I guess I could look into the non-sports seats but I like being held tightly, just not at all the way the Mini seats do it. Also the lumbar is a big problem with these seats for me -- just like a football in my back as that other guy put it (very good description!).

 

I'll try that, thanks!

The other big problem is the lumbar situation. Hmmmm.

 

I paid around $1,800 for the leather/alcantara JCW Recaro from overseas WITH shipping.

Considering, thats NOT BAD! If you price out a normal Recaro Sportster CS seat (no airbag or seat heater) it costs $1,800 for the leather one bought inside the US. It was easy for me to justify spending the same amount for alcantara, with a side impact airbag and a butt warmer. The leather JCW Recaro is about 250 bucks cheaper than the alcantara

 

Huh. Is there somewhere I can see what the seats look like? Then I can go to a Recaro dealer and try the similar ones out -- is it basically a Sportster CS?

 

JCW Recaro is the Sportster CS seat with am emblem on the backing that has the John Cooper Works logo and "By Recaro" underneath it haha. The molding is exactly the same though

In leather:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/J...7/DSC01037.jpg

Alcantara:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/J...-dw/recaro.jpg

 

Those are sweet. Is that $1800 per seat or for a pair?