Hello! Anyone out there know where I can order or how I can obtain a 3 person backseat for our 2008 mini? We have 3 kids and don't want to give up our car- any advice? We heard UK mini's seat 5 but can't seem to find further info on ordering a seat from there or an aftermarket seat for our car here. Thanks!

 

I'm kind of thinking putting 3 kids in the back of A MINI, would lead to a child abuse charge.

 

Hum no way only room for 2 . Looking for a 3 seat you need another car to buy !

 

There was a lot of discussion about this when the Clubman was released, and now again for the Countryman SUV. For whatever reason, MINI's Euro rear seats for 3 don't meet U.S. regulations. MINIUSA claims the car is not wide enough but there are other cars as narrow as the MINI that are U.S. legal with seating for 5 (Yaris and Fit, among others). It should have been possible if MINI made it an original goal to meet U.S. seating requirements for 5, but they simply didn't approach it that way. It's more than just the seat; the seat/shoulder belts and crash tests must meet requirements.

 

And place two kids in the back, one in the front (I'm not sure on airbag sensitivity), and have your significant other drive in the second car (or MINI) .

 

About 6 years ago I had 5 of my friends in my MINI, we were only going less than a mile to a friend's house from school though. It was not a comfortable experience, but we still talk about it as being a fun one.

 

Were all 6 of you attending a clown school?

 

Mark you deserve 20 lashes with a wet noodle. I just hate it when my beloved brother refers to my lil guy as the "clown car" Actually I liked your prior comment saying dad takes the kids, and mom follows in another car

Keep up the good work, every MINI owner seems to have a really good sense of humor.

 

Why? Thats why you get a bigger car or you wait till the Countryman. But the only other way is order one from Europe and at that price you might as well get the Countryman

 

Isn't the countryman also only going to be a 4 seater in the US?

 

is grey market importation of parts. And if you do go this way, check out how the seat belts anchor to the body shell. You may need to do some work here.

Matt

 

Not sure about the coop but in Europe the Clubman can have a 3 seat rear option. The center seat belt is a shoulder harness type and the shoulder harness mounts to the roof just off the center line of the car.

This would mean to buy the parts it would require the following: (as a minimum)

1. New seat bottom

2. New seat back

3. Shoulder harness mount

4. Lap belt harness mounts. ( I do not remember seeing these mounting points when I had mine apart)

5. Center Seat belt.

6. New Headliner

7. Possibly other parts I have not researched

This would be a VERY expensive project.

 

Look around the forums, there is a guy who did this by having a bar welded across the back of his car behind the back seat, and then installed three 5 point harnesses across the back for his kids. I saw it about a year ago somewhere here...

 

My fiancee sells Minis, Marlon at Universal City (small plug- he is absolutely the best...all his customers can attest to this). He would love the idea of me following in another car- a Mini, of course. I know he's mentioned all the new Mini's coming out soon but they will all be 4 seaters. I thought I might prove him wrong by finding a way to get the seat I wanted but so far no luck . By the way, he mentioned after discussing this issue with the factory rep. we can't get the 3 seater rear seat partially because Americans are just too big. I think I'll just keep looking. Thanks!

 

Put one in the trunk.

 

It can probably be done you just have to order the parts from a European dealer or from one of the few places here in the US that will order European parts.

But it is very expensive to do all that and also very time consuming to put all the parts in the car.