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Given the rear seats on our cars are fairly useless, I've always wanted to do a rear seat delete. After some research, I wasn't really happy with any of the off the shelve options or price so I decided to make my own.
The concept is pretty simple. Use the existing mounting points as a base, add some hinges, and you have a nice RSD with some extra storage.
The few people that I've showed it to really loved it and that got me thinking.. Maybe there are other people out there that would like a plug and play RSD kit with storage offered at a reasonable pricepoint.
Right now I'm thinking 1/2" MFD panel that would be CNC'ed and upholstered in black/grey fabric to match the existing carpet. You can see in the pictures I went with something a little more bold and I could do the same for anyone that had a color or pattern of interest.
On the underside the exposed MFD would be vinyled with carbon fiber print and the seam covered with gaffer's tape.
Attached you can see some pictures of the renderings I put together as well as the kit I did for my car. Please note, the final version with the carbon vinyl and gaffer's taper would be showcased prior to accepting orders but hopefully the pictures illustrate the storage capability.
The final kit would come assembled so all you would need to do is remove the rear seat and the childseat mounts then install this.
Based on the cost of material and equipment needed to CNC the MDF, I'm thinking of selling price of around $150.
Would this be something you guy's would be interested in? I welcome any feedback regarding design, price, etc.
I am currently midway through installing a GP2 rsd, just need to trim cut the foam edge ends and reinstall side panels and it'll be good to go.
It was questionable if the cover would work in an R53 - although I've seen many fitted with the foam part, never with the lid too - but looks like it's gonna fly allright.
Slightly pricey, but a great option for those who like a factory look.
I didn't realize the storage was accessed from the back. I thought the cover opened from the front like in the Honda CRX.
Will you be posting a how-to thread on the retrofit?
I'll take more photos after it is complete. Just took a break and went grocery shopping, gonna eat dinner then get on to the tricky part which is trimming the edges of the foam thing so it'll fit, I want it to look decent so I'm gonna make a template first, then cut. Even when finished though there will be a slight amount of foam still visible outside of the lid cover on the edges, which I was planning to cover with carpet or something, unless I can live with the way it looks, gonna find out soon enough...
...here's some shots of them on other peoples cars installed with just the foam:
I will not be posting a how-to because I am lazy, but it is very straightforward besides the edge trim cutting on the foam.
All you need are 3 parts, and if you like the look of the foam thing alone, that's all you really need.
I bought mine at Flow Mini because they were the lowest priced...
I bought the lock thingy 4 and 5 in the above diagram because I wasn't sure if the lid cover came with them because you know how Mini loves to do their stupid bit-by-bit piece-by-piece style of supplying parts, but the lid did in fact come with them so my extras are just spares.
GP1 rsd's are very rare and expensive if ever found, the GP2 rsd is easily available and not too bad really on cost considering it's a factory piece.
Last edited by Oldboy Speedwell; Jul 1, 2020 at 02:18 PM.
It took a while to make adjustments for excessive squeaking and creaking which was driving me bonkers!
Added a good bit of felt tape which helped.
Also added OMP leather bonnet straps which are proper retro and help keep it quiet as well.
I love it.
Just need to hit the boneyard to get some spare side panels for cutting circles to fill in my holes which frankly look quite shiddy,
otherwise all aces.
Very nice to have a good storage bin for jack/pump/scanner too as previously it just rode openly in the back on top of the carpet.
So that is the R56 part that just gets trimmed to fit?
Yes.
The foam bit needs trimming to fit because it is too wide.
The cutting process is somewhat annoying because little styrofoam ***** go everywhere all static clingy, plus it's somewhat awkward to cut cleanly smooth. I used a sawzall then fine tuned with hacksaw blade.
It was squeaky when going over bumps and required further tweaking and added felt tape as well.
For a factory finished retrofit, it is the cheaper option and I'm quite happy with the end result using the GP2 version.
The R53 GP parts are still around but add up quick. I think you'd need the GP-specific side panels for it to fit properly too, but I'm not sure, maybe it'd work without them?
The crazy thing about the R53 foam piece is the outrageous coinage required! Similar to the GP intercooler, the price has risen drastically due to BMW's parts pricing policy which increases as supply dwindles, so there must not be many left and will soon be NLA forever I'd reckon.
bugout eyeballs!
The lid cover ain't exactly a bargain either:
Plus,
if you wanted the side panels you're lookin' at $300 a pop:
I love Orranje very much, but shipping from UK is so expensive --- wish they'd get a US distributor as they have a good many unique and well-made parts.
Last edited by Oldboy Speedwell; Oct 2, 2020 at 09:57 AM.
Just a heads up to everyone. I ordered the GP2 rear seat foam piece the other week. Dealer stated there were none in the US and only 3 (after mine) in Germany.
Just a heads up to everyone. I ordered the GP2 rear seat foam piece the other week. Dealer stated there were none in the US and only 3 (after mine) in Germany.
Thanks for the headsup!
Was curious about how many they might have left in stock and it looks like they're getting close to the end.
Although it pains me to admit it, I ain't too ashamed to say that I'm a complete idiot LOL earlier I mentioned a squeakiness after my install and I spent numerous attempts at adding felt tape plus sanding off areas on the bottom/edges where I thought may've caused the squeaking. More than several times I went through that process and could never eliminate the squeak. I was getting quite frustrated because I couldn't solve the problem. Well, it was a total misdiagnosis on my part LOL turned out to be the hatch latch dammit! Finally had a lightbulb moment where I grokked the real problem --- dunno if my latch has always been misadjusted or what because I never noticed that irritating squeak before, but deffo noticeable after rsd.
Made me feel pretty dumb.
I ordered a new foam piece last month because it's cheap enough and I wasn't too happy with my trimming job on the first one anyway because I ended up with some gaps which didn't please me, so I'm gonna do it better with the new one.
bugout eyeballs!
