H2 Remove factory seat covers?
 

We bought our '05 MCS used. It has factory seat covers. The headrest and bottom seat covers came off easy but the backrest cover has not. It seems to have straps that go behind the plastic seatback. Anybody know how to remove the cover? :confused:

I might be getting this confused with different model years, so forgive me if that's the case, but I think I read on another thread that it's not reccomended to replace the seat covers on the '05s and '06s because of a new design in the airbag sensors. Anything other than stock can interfere with the computer's calculations, resulting in a degredation in safety. :sad:

Edit: Link of the article is below.

http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/02/..._the_2005_mini

I'm not replacing the seat covers, I want to remove them so I can sit on the leather upholstry.....

I haven't received any help on removing the backrest cover. Anybody?

Did you ever receive info on this? If so I'd love to know. I have 4" of stitching in leather coming undone on driver seat back rest. Thanks

The leather seat covers are factory stitched in, no cover behind them. . An upholstery shop should be able to rear stitch that unless you want to replace the leather cover.

The Tartan Red, Panther Black, and Sheepskin ( wool ), yes they had Wool ones like the BMW's. Gen 1 factory front covers ( sport seat and non sport seat) are NLA. Tartan Red, sheepskin rear are NLA for R50/R53

*These went over the factory stitched in seats covers , leather, cloth , etc as another layer of protection. *

The rear seat protection covers in panther black MINI design are still available if you want to cover them for the Gen 1 R50/ R53.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/52300147391/

https://www.bmwpartspros.com/sfimage...Image25743.jpg


These front seats cover were only up to 1/2005 year, and where NLA due to the Occ weight sensor for the airbag that might be affected by it.


The seat cover attach the back of the seat in locations and look like this.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...02-2004-a.html

Thanks

CO- sorry for the delay. As a follow up. After pulling off the seat back cover, we pealed the leather from factory glue and foam.. At that point he painstaking sewed the seat using the exact same holes with upholstery thread.... (I have no patience for that) Not only has it held up, you can't tell it was ever done... Yay for patience! Ps- total cost $3.99

Attachment 95098

Attachment 95099

R50 front seat seam repair
 

Hi Kristen,

How difficult was it to remove the backing to get at the fabric. I just noticed a rip in the seam of my R50 2006 and want to tackle the repair. I see your before and after but haven't found any tips on how to get to that point.

Thanks,

Mark

I did a DIY for this a few years back so I googled "mini r53 diy remove recover seats" and it is the first thing that comes up. I can't post the link though, its on a site that they block here, so just google it and you'll find it.

I went ahead copied and posted it here so it will be in the "how to" section after it is approved

I am having the same issue with both of my seats on my 2006 Mini Cooper S Conv. same seat colors as well. How did you remove the leather from the seat in order to stitch the seat back up? Did you glue the leather back when you were complete?