Hey everyone, (I'm sure this has probably been covered...)

Just wanted to share this quick mod for increased rear visibility for any new 2011+ MINI owners out there. For safety reasons MINI has restricted the height adjustability of the rear headrests. Unfortunately, as you can see, this greatly hinders visibility for the driver thru the rear view mirror.

No worries. All that is restricting the headrests from fully retracting are these plastic collars (one on each set of headrest posts). Simple fix. Take a small screwdriver (like eyeglass screwdriver) or anything slim and rigid enough, poke the metal rod through the plastic collar enough for you to take some pliers and then pull them out. Place headrests back onto rear seats and retract fully down. Visibility increased!

This was one of the first things I noticed when taking my test drive. Funny that my dealer told me there was no way to fully retract the headrests.

Pictures. Enjoy!

Before:




After:

 

I did this shortly after getting my car. The visibility didn't bother me since I don't use the back window much except for giving dirty looks to tailgaters. I just hated the look of the rear headrests sitting 4" in the air when nobody has ever sat in the back seats. It just looks much better with the headrests tucked into the seats.

 

at my MA's suggestion it was my first mod... much better

 

Thanks.

 

I took mine off, and dropped the seats, only putting them back up if someone is riding in the back. Lots of cargo room, that way! Nice mod!

 

Good job! I will keep this in mind for future reference!

 

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did this the first day. couldnt stand how high they sat

 

First mod here too. Me and my dad both bought mini's today and I just got done doing this to both.

 

I just removed the headrests all together. I don't plan on anyone using those seats anyway

 

Great info. That's the first mod that I did when I bought the car.

 

I did this on my wife's 2012 Clubman S in the dealer's parking lot before she drove off.

 

Same here. It was a major pain flipping the rear seats down b/c the headrests would get hung up on the front seats. Easy fix though!

I also like how you can flip that latch down to adjust the angle of the rear seat backs when they're upright to give you a little more cargo room behind the seats! Clever.

 

Do I need to pull the headrests out of the car to do this? or can I just pop the black collars off in 30 seconds while reaching in from the rear hatch?

 

you don't have to remove that part to lower the headrests all the way

if you look on the plastic base opposite to the side with the release button you will see a little flush pushbutton on the outside

press it with a small screwdriver or other appropriate tool, press the headrest release button and the headrest will go all the way down

i will post pics tomorrow

scott

 

Yeah, ya do. The collar prevents putting the headrests all the way down.

Now, there's a good reason to keep them up, as an adult passenger in the rear seats would benefit from the higher headrest in the event of an accident. Which is probably why the put the collars there in the first place. Just remember to raise the headrest if/when you have someone tall enough back there to need it.