Ordered these a month ago and then received / installed them this week. I have the black "leatherette" vinyl seats and had not warmed up to the feel so felt it was time for the Wet Okole covers. I have a set on one of my Vettes (leather skins from factory) and really like them. Plus, the original seats look brand new under the covers after ten years so they really preserve the originals and help resale. They have pretty thick padding with the scuba suit cover material so thye really hold you in the curves and the extra padding makes the seats much more comfy. I did both the front and back seats. They're not for everyone but have always been worth it to me. I'm considering having the MINI logo embroidered in the headrests if I can find a local upholstery shop that can do it.

Some pics:

Before








Wet Okoles installed










Optional gun tote in front of drivers seat.

 

129 views and no opinions, one way or the other.

Hey, folks, it's OK to or or or or



For years, I used to duke it out about to-cover-or-not-to-cover topics with a friend on another forum who hated these based on principle alone. I don't care for leather and this "leatherette" material is even worse, but that's what came with the car so I improvised. The WO's make it much more tolerable for me and the extra padding and grip help alot. I know we hear this way too much but they actually do look much better in person than in the photos. Even my wife approves and she hates seat covers.

Anyway, the install takes one to two hours, depending on if you do the rears or not and the fit is excellent. The lower seat trim on the front had to come off to get the side straps through and the rear bench had to come out to get it's cover on. These are high-quality covers that will last a decade or more if maintained occassionally.

 

 

I think they look great, although if it were me I'd add a splash of body color, seems silly to put black over black! I find I slide down on the leatherette a lot, do you find it easier to stay snug in your driving position with the covers?

 

They do help to stay in the seat a bit better since the material is "grippier" than the leatherette. The reason I went for pure black is that is what I wanted originally for the interior anyway - all black. I did a two-tone version in my Vette and then an all-black version on my wife's that I had on her's temporarily until I redid her leathers and I really liked the all-black look much better. Here's a shot of my Vette's WO's. These are 10 years old. They don't get a ton of use as it's not a daily driver but the seats under the covers look like the day I picked the car up from the dealer in '01.

 

I've never really been one for seat covers. They always make the seat uncomfortable. My father has a set in his car and they slide all over the place. Most of the time, you're sitting half on and half off the cover.

That said, Yours look really nice. They don't look much different than the cover-less seats.

 

The WO's do not move at all as they stretch over the existing seats and the base portion you sit on uses several straps that encircle the seat bottom underneath that you tighten after placing the cover over the seat. They are well-designed and extremely durable. The backs are one piece that you put over the backs like a tight pillow cover and then there is a long velcro piece on the bottom that secures it in place. These take a while to put on because they are so tight and form-fit the seats so well. Even the headrests are stretch-fit and velcroed on and are almost impossible to move once in place.

 

They look great and if they feel as good as they look, my wife might get a set for her cabrio.

 

These WO look extremely nice.

If you have heated seats, how well does the heat transfer through?

 

What about the airbags? Will these interfere with proper airbag deployment?

 

I like the look and WO are great quality.
I got the Moss CoverKing seat covers simply on costs. The pattern of the Moss/CoverKing are different but look about like yours.
So far the Moss/CoverKing are holding up well with over 3 years and 35k of use.

I have had the some discussion about covers, both seat and car, and it seems like those who are against have never used the really good quality. The cheap covers are more trouble than they are worth.
Good seat and car covers are normally expensive and worth the costs.

 

I don't have heated seats but I don't see any reason these covers would interfere with them. In fact, one of the nice thingsw about these covers is that they make the seats feel warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer since they insulate you from the leather or vinyl material.

If you look at the picture below, you'll notice there's an opening in the side of the seat bolster area where the airbag is located. One of the many questions they ask when you order online is if you have airbags. In fact, they ask many questions to help you completely customize these to your exact preference. They take year, model, seat type, etc., everything into account before making them for you.

 

If the material is grippier, how is it for sliding in and out of the seat?

 

You notice the difference, no doubt, but not a problem. You get used to it in a day or so. My ride into work today was noticeably more comfortable. The extra padding does make a difference.

 

Very Very nice!! I need to grab some to get the water and sand away from my crappy leatherette

 

That gun tote makes ALL the difference... Oh, my...

 

Missed this thread until now...nice covers! Agreed on the Wet Okole's being totally worth it. Have had them on my Jeep for 7 years and they still look great. I sold my 06 R53 MCS with the Wet Okole's still on the seats, they still looked great after 4 years (even though the seats underneath were brand new).

OK now for my question - Did they Wet Okole cut a hole for the lumbar wheel on your covers?

I put a new set on my 2011 R56 back in Dec, but my set did not have a cutout for the Lumbar adustment wheel on the inside of the front seats.
Wet Okole told me to cut out the hole myself...which I decided against. Somhow I was supposed to cut a quarter sized hole in the neoprene and then strech that plastic wheel through the quarter sized hole? Anyway since I was not thrilled at the prospect of taking scissors to my brand new covers, I just ended up not cutting anything and covered over the lumbar adjustement wheel.

Originally I just did this as a temporary measure to quickly finish the cover install, but it's been that way now for months and both me an my wife don't really change the lumbar adjustment. So I will probably just leave it covered up. (BTW Wet Okole did offer to cut the hole if I wanted to ship my covers back to them and wait another week, but I decided it wasn't worth it)

Since I ordered my covers in Nov 2010 for the 2011 model, Wet Okole said that their Mini info was not updated for this change to the 2011 model year. I was just wondering if yours had the hole provided, and if so did you have to strech the neoprene around that lumbar wheel?

 

They look awesome. Do you have heated seats and if so does the heat come through okay, I'm assuming it does.

Love the gun tote and yes there are some gun toting conservatives in California....

 

Can you post what the part #s were for the seat covers. I have been looking at these for six months but could never make up my mind. They look amazing.

 

Patches:

How are the WO's in direct sunlight? DO they get hot like the leather? I live in FL so this is more of an issue for me than the seat warmers. I want covers to A) protect the seat from UV and B) protect my butt from burning.

 

Sorry - haven't visited this for a couple of weeks.

Jag33304
I don't have the lumbar adjustment so there was no need to cut the hole. I did cut a small stil in each bottom front cover to accomodate the boss for the front screw on the seat trim which I removed to get the WO's between the seat and trim piece. No big deal - the material is very stretchy so you just need to make sure you locat ethe hole accurately and it will fit snugly over whatever you're providing clearance for.

Cop 1406
No heated seats but the WO website offers that option for their covers (no need here in SoCal). The factory heated seats should work fine.

Germarican
Just goto the WO website Mini section ( http://wetokole.com/MINI-COOPER.html ) and custom configure your seats to your particular MY and options. Lots of options and colors to choose from.

pacemeaker,
One of the main advantages of these is they're cool in the summer and warm in the winter since they shiel you from the hot/cold vinyl or leather. These will keep your seats lookin g new for years.

 

Reviving an old thread here...

Patches, do you have any photos of the back of the seats? I'd like to see what WO did to accommodate for the release latches on the seatbacks.

I had a set of blk/charcoal WOs in my Tacoma for 4 years and couldn't have been happier (except the strong neoprene odor nearly knocked me out driving home from their store in Costa Mesa.)

I'm with you and will probably be going all black since everything inside and out of my MINI is black.

My only other question is have you compared your WOs to Coverkings and if so, how they stand up against each other?

 

I bought a set of Wet Okoles for my front seats last year when the car was new, and I would never be without them now. They keep the seat cool and clean, they are waterproof, and they look classy! Yours look terrific!

 

Trying to post the photo link....

 

Love the piping, JoanieB. really brings out the panic button. But seriously - those covers look great.