love it but beyond my budget....:(

 

How long will you be there? I would like to check these out in person

 

Wow, very nice . Well for me I can get a new(ish) road bike or seats. Hmmm what to do

 

You have GOT to promise that you'll look me up when you get to Charlotte. I REALLY like those seats.

Except I want them in color. (yellow)



Mark

 

Just coming back from MINI United 2009 in Silverstone, UK, so many people had these seats that it pissed me off that I couldn't get them. They look so freakin good in the car. Now, I have renewed interest in getting them, but are you all sure that the genuinemini website is good? I really want to do this sometime in the next couple months. I'll post photos of examples later when I get off from work.

 

BTW, I've read on other forums that the R53 seats are no longer available but many are preferring to install the R56 seats into R53's instead. While the front seats seem to be relatively compatible minus a few tweaks, does anybody know about how the R56 rears will fit into the R53????

 

The R53 Sparco Milano 2-based seats are still available... they just had a few different versions of them, and some of the versions have been discontinued.

It used to be that you could order them in 4 versions:

1. with seat heating
2. with adjustable thigh support
3. with both seat heating and adjustable thigh support
4. with neither

...they discontinued versions 1, 2 & 4 above. Now you have to get the ones with both.

I should know, I just ordered a set. Genuinemini can get the R53 ones (I asked them), but I ended up ordering them from another source instead.

Oh, and for the rear seats... why buy the R56 version? Buy the R53 one instead. That way they match. Yes, they're still available.

Here are the RealOEM.com pages on the R53 version:

RealOEM.com - BMW R53 Cooper S Sports seat John Cooper Works
RealOEM.com - BMW R53 Cooper S Rear seat John Cooper Works

The part numbers I used for my order were:

52100305610 - Front seat, Left
52100305611 - Front seat, Right
52200306149 - Rear seat bench

(I wanted leather, not Alcantara)

Note that they also have a rear seat for the cabrio - different part number though. The one above is for the coupe.

orangecrush - the pic of the red ones you posted is of the R53 Sparco ones, just like the ones I'm getting, only in blue.

Here are some photos of what mine will look like, only that the seat holes won't be carbon fiber:

 

That's true. We have them installed for about 3 weeks and we don't want to miss them.








Greets from Austria

 

Let me make sure we're on the same page. You're installing the blue Recaro's in your R56, right? What are you doing about weight sensor, heated seats and airbags?

Thanks,

Mark

 

So how was MINI United? I heard the turnout was amazing! I had planned to go(had the tickets) but ended up making an unexpected trip to Florida. I'm still looking through all the pictures and videos! As far as the GenuineMINIUK site they're great I recieved the Recaros in a week and have a bunch more goodies on order from them.

 

I know you didn't get your seats in and install them without letting me know, DID YOU????



Seriously, did you get them installed?? I'd love to see them.

Mark

 

Nope still sitting in my garage in DC. I had planned to go up there this weekend since the disco potato kit for my spare motor came in the mail Tuesday but it's looking iffy as I might have to head back to Ocoee. Once I get them installed I'll be sure to stop by your shop since I'm over at the Extreme Ice center a few times a week for my little sister's classes anyway.

 

No, not the same page.

I have an R53, and I'm getting the Lapis Blue Sparco-based JCWs (the ones officially for the R50/R53) for it. The new seats come with heating elements, so that's not an issue. The weight sensor & airbags are the real challenge... and I have several avenues to tackle it.

I realize this thread is in the 2nd Gen section, but I spoke up because PlayPlay has an R53 and was asking about the R53 vs. R56 JCW seat options.You must have ordered one of the "main" color options (black, red or something like that) that is kept in stock. My seats are going to take 6-8 weeks to be custom made! That's what happens when you get one of the other "made to order" colors.

(6-8 weeks to arrive at my UK vendor... even longer than that to actually get to me!)

EDIT: I realize now that the 2nd Gen JCW seats (Recaro-based) don't come in a variety of colors. They come in one basic design. The options are:

• old JCW logo or the new JCW logo
• Leather or Alcantara
• Left side & Right side

...for a total of 8 combinations, all listed here:

RealOEM.com - BMW R56 Cooper S JCW Sports seat Recaro

Seems there are no official matching JCW rear seats for the back, but the Recaro ones do come with airbags.

Also shown on the official JCW site.

 

Mark, how are your seats going?

 

Ric,

I'm waiting to see a few member's seats when they get it installed before I pull the trigger. Also, I'm waiting for an upholstery shop to let me know if they can come close to duplicating to the stock "waving flag" material in yellow because whether I replace the seats with the Recaro seats or not, I'll at least have an upholstery shop install yellow panels. (and as a very laaaaast resort, I'll buy a set of wet okoles.)

In the meantime, Wednesday my R55 spoiler is coming in. 400 bucks for a spoiler just to cut it up. I'm going to make my own GP style spoiler for my R56.

Mark

 

You are crazy bro! Can't wait to see the finished product though

 

mark, or chad. or anyone for that matter......

does anyone know a good way to disable the passenger airbag light if I were to NOT put in jcw seats? =]

 

Shy of programming it out (which I can't see the dealer doing it for liability and legal reasons) I don't know how the guys that don't have airbags do it.

Sorry, not much help.

Mark

 

Check these two threads out. Same concept with the 2nd gen just a different wiring setup. I'm still in the process of studying the wiring diagrams.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post2595360
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post2665361

 

Yo Edge, so did you find a source that has better deals?
Care to share where? Is there any stateside, so I don't have to pay fo shipping?

 

The source I am buying my seats from does not normally sell seats, but I have done a good amount of business with them before (i.e. bought a bunch of other stuff from them), so they are "hooking me up" by doing this. They are based in the UK, not stateside. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a direct source for the JCW seats here in the USA, since they are not MINIUSA-approved.

Once I get my seats (hopefully without any unforeseen issues), I will ask the source if they are OK with passing along their name for this sort of thing. Since it isn't their core business, I'm not sure if it's something they will repeat for others, or if it's a "one time" deal. I have a good customer relationship with them and I want to keep it, so I can't tell you who it is just yet!

Their prices were significantly cheaper than what I was quoted from GenuineMini though... the difference in price was £173.94 for each of the front seats, and £167.94 for the rear bench... that's a total price difference of £515.82 (which is over US$800)! Nothing to sneeze at.

I'll also be saving money on shipping as I'm going to have my source use a shipping pallet & sea freight. GenuineMini wanted to use DHL Air Express shipping which came out to £493.28, or £548.28 with insurance. I don't know how much my shipping will cost yet (we're handling it in a separate transaction after the seats come in), but I expect it will be significantly cheaper than that.

 

Just priced a set of Alcantara seats - over $4k shipped Come on vendors - time to start selling them here - shipping is nearly $1k on its own through overseas sources.

 

From the GenuineMINIUK site I paid $3200 shipped. Yeah the price is still steep(the exchange rate sucks right now) but they pay 4.4% plus an exchange and fixed fee to Paypal. Not the best choice in transaction methods but I guess it works for them. I doubt any vendors are gonna step up to the plate with the weight sensor issue.

 

 

You might feel that way if you missed the GBP low, but it's still very good compared to where it's been for the past several years. I've bought things from the UK when the GBP was way up there.