Are the R56 seats a lot more comfortable than the ones from the R53? The reason why I ask if because I feel like my R53 seats are not very comfortable. I came from BMW E30 sports seats and I can sit in them for long trips. Heck I can even sit in a Recaro SPG for hours but I just can't with the R53. I would be a nice upgrade if the R56 are better. I would go for a brown set if I can find one!

 

In my opinion they are a lot more comfortable. Also bring the interior of the first gen more up to date. Makes the interior feel new again

 

Alright I got this exact set in a parts car R56 I just picked up. What I am wanting to do is swap the 2007 r56 seats to my r53 2003 and then install the r53 into the r56 ! . Anyone try this ? I assume the r56 fits the r53 then the r53 would fit the r56

 

No reason why it wouldn't work. You just need to swap the plugs. The bolt/seat pattern is identical as the greater chassis is the same.

 

I got the r56 seats into the r53 no problem.

What I have now is the r53 seats with the airbag connector clipped. I'm gonna post pics here shortly because I'm pretty sure it is much harder than install of r56 into r53

 

I need to do this! I believe my 06 MCS has the weight sensors, will that be an issue?

 

Yes, its a cool mod. I remember seeing this back in 2007 done and the r56 seat match well to the R50-r53 design

 

I will be testing out the R56 seat within the week - see how it feels. I'm in a Countryman loaner at the moment.

 

I just got a low miles jcw and am going to attempt to install the R 56 seats. I was looking at the wires. I don't think my 05 has the seat occupancy sensor. It does not have the airbag light in the headliner. Just the map lights. All the wires seem to be the same too. Blue plug for seatbelt tensioner, black plug for seatbelt, yellow for airbag, and a flat black plug with 3 wires for heated seats?.

 

Very helpful...if someone else needs to do the same thing in the future...

Thanks for sharing!

 

Ok.

Old post but have a question:

Is it possible to cut two airbag wires from R56 and conect with two airbag wires on R53 ?

If it's possible, what colors to match ?

Thanks in advance and sorry for my poor English.

 

I honestly can't remember, either go by the shape of the plugs to align the wires or look at a wiring diagram. It's been too long now.

 

Brown to brown, yellow to yellow. For airbag. The seatbelt plugs will still connect together since you mount the r53 seatbelt bracket to the r56 seat. If you have late facelift r53 you have to sort out the occupancy sensor. The r56 sensor I think is different but I don't no for sure as I don't have it in my car. I have early facelift.

 

I'm considering this in my 2005 R52 and didn't see the occupancy sensor light that I had in my 2006 R53. Does mini skip the occupancy sensor in the convertible?

 

In product 1/2005+ MINI Convertibles had it. So some early 2005 R52 dont have it like mine.

 

Mine is late 2004 build, so looks like I dodged the bullet. Mini is now covering this repair free of charge, so it's a good opportunity for a free lower seat replacement if you need one fixed. I'm glad I won't have to mess with it I replace the with R56 seats.

 

Welcome.

 

I just picked up some clean r56 seats with heaters for $80 to drop into my r53 with heater also . Can't wait to see how it fits

 

Reading quite a few threads on this, I keep seeing conflicting results as to weather the heated seats end up working or not. Please chime back in when you get them installed!

 

I never document mods I do on any vehicle but maybe I'll do it for the seats . In any case I only drive the Cooper in the summer so if the seats end up not working for some reason it won't be a big deal I guess

 

I got the seat heaters working on mine.

If you look at the wiring, it all makes sense. On the R53, the control unit for the seat heaters is in the switch panel, but on the R56, it is under each seat.
You'll see the wires going into the R56 control unit are the same color as the R53 seat heater wires. You'll just need to use the wiring from your R53 seats and solder into the wires for R56 seats for it all to work, bypassing the R56 heated seat control unit.

There's a chance the control units are calibrated differently between the models, but it seemed to work normally for me and the seats got plenty toasty.

 

I highly recommend going and finding a set to sit in before researching and installing these. While most people seem to prefer the R56 seats and the build quality overall is nicer, seating is a very personal thing.

I recently did this mod and am actually finding it hard to get used to the R56 sports seat with lumbar adjustment coming from the R50 non-sport seats I've sat in for so many years. The R56 seats are a little bigger and ride a little higher at their lowest setting, and I can't seem to find a comfortable spot between seat height and backrest angle. I just got them in a few days ago, so giving it some time before I decide to go back...

 

Here's a summary of some of the differences of these to R53 seats I've noticed:

• The front seats are slightly bigger all around. The seat cushions are larger. I haven't measured, but there is definitely less room for back passengers.
• These sit just a little higher on their lowest setting than R53 seats.
• I like the back seat access handle at the top back of the front seats - much more convenient location.
• The bolsters hold you in pretty well for fast corning.
• The leatherette they used is a lot softer and just higher quality feeling than what is in R53s.
• The build quality in general feels nicer than R53 seats.

 

Thanks for great post. If I have 09 clubmanwith no heat vinyl seats . WIil these same leather seats you have (08-14 with heat) swap out with no wires or connectors to change? Basically plug right in? Thanks? I'm told the heater plug is seperate and just be left unused?

Thanks!

 

Yes, that will be a direct swap. If I remember correctly, all of the plugs are housed in a single large connector on 2nd gens, so you probably won't even notice the seat heater wires aren't plugged into anything.

Just make sure you disconnect the battery before unplugging anything, and you'll be good to go.