>>Price doesn't seem so bad. About $1100-$1200 a seat for full leather. I am not so concerned about the airbag. I may have to buy these. I can get them shipped to my European address, and then from there, I can ship them back to the US. I may try this. Will cost some in shipping, but they would be unique.

So, are they $1100 each or $2200 each? Does anybody know? I've asked my dealer, but have yet to get a response.

>>If you really want performance seats why would you want these? They are not significantly lighter. They are covered in leather so you can slide around instead of sticking like you want to.

1) I would get them in Leatherette. Nice and grippy.
2) I considered aftermarket, until I found out I would lose tilt/slide. Although I'm the main driver, my kid is often in the back seat. No tilt/slide would suck.

-Rob

 

>>>>Price doesn't seem so bad. About $1100-$1200 a seat for full leather. I am not so concerned about the airbag. I may have to buy these. I can get them shipped to my European address, and then from there, I can ship them back to the US. I may try this. Will cost some in shipping, but they would be unique.
>>
>>So, are they $1100 each or $2200 each? Does anybody know? I've asked my dealer, but have yet to get a response.
>>
>>>>If you really want performance seats why would you want these? They are not significantly lighter. They are covered in leather so you can slide around instead of sticking like you want to.
>>
>>1) I would get them in Leatherette. Nice and grippy.
>>2) I considered aftermarket, until I found out I would lose tilt/slide. Although I'm the main driver, my kid is often in the back seat. No tilt/slide would suck.
>>
>>-Rob
>>


Rob,
If you were to buy these from JCW, they are about 590 pounds each in leather which is about $1100 each or $2200 for a pair. Obviously the exchange rate will cause some variations. You would not lose the tilt/slide option with aftermarket. The JCW seats are Sparco Milano's, it even says so on the seat, recovered with BMW leather (color of your choice), JCW logo and the ability to retain your heated function.

 

You would not lose the tilt/slide option with aftermarket.

Really? I asked the question once before:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mp;topic=21999

But didn't get much of a response. I just emailed Helix (but on their site, it only says the seats flip forward).

I assumed that since you are using an aftermarket seat bracket, you would end up losing the slide feature.

-Rob

 

>>You would not lose the tilt/slide option with aftermarket.
>>
>>Really? I asked the question once before:
>>https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mp;topic=21999
>>
>>But didn't get much of a response. I just emailed Helix (but on their site, it only says the seats flip forward).
>>
>>I assumed that since you are using an aftermarket seat bracket, you would end up losing the slide feature.
>>
>>-Rob

Rob,

Check with Sparco. They appear to carry sliders for their seats http://www.sparcousa.com/pseats_acc.asp?id=359

The Milano's will recline, tilt forward and slide, so they should be good. The only thing you lose is the height adjustment, but I don't think many of us play with that much anyway.

 

Sparco Milano/Torino's offer tilt forward and seat back adjustments. With seat sliders in addition to getting the seat base, the seat will slide forward and back.

The tilt feature doesn't tilt the seat as far forward as the stock MINI seats, so yes, it'll be a tighter squeeze into the back seat unless you first slide the seat forward. But with my regular driving position, someone can still fairly squeeze to the back seat.

 

Well ... let me tell you what I did today: I ordered a set of Cobra Daytona seats in black leather -w- silver leather inserts. (My original seats are black -w- lapis blue ... I think black - silver will look OK.) These are touring - street seats ... not serious racing seats.

I did a lot soul-searching and seat-sitting (I'm 6'8", 225 lbs and a 38" waist.) I sat in the Sparco Milanos, Cobra Misanos & Sidewinders, the Corbeau CR1s, TRSs and Legacys, along with the Cobra Daytonas.

While the Corbeaus seem to be good value for money (and they also come in "wide" versions) the over-all build quality was not the same as the Sparcos and Cobras. (It seems that with seats .... "you get what you pay for ....&quot. Actually, the Cobras were twice the price.

The Milanos, Misanos and Sidewinders are all top notch seats .... any one of them one would be a real winner .... except for the fact that I really couldn't fit in any of them! Think about it, if you are gong to spend some serious $$ on new seats, they better be a major improvement over the factory seats. Because of my size, the only seats that felt REALLY GOOD to me were the Daytonas. They were not the most expensive, but the ones that felt the best and gave me the most support in the right places.

The moral of the story: You can't buy seats by looking at pictures or seating/measurement charts. You've got to spend some quality time with your rear end firmly planted in the seat.

Because these are being done in custom leather, they will take about 2 weeks (or so they promise) and as soon as they are installed, I'll post some pics.

In the mean time .... it that a 3 ohm resistor that I need to trick the seat airbag light?

ftbt

2002 Works Cooper S, Sn. 1165, DS/W; Sport + Premium + Alta CAI + H Sport Springs, Competition Front & Rear Sway Bars, Rear Camber Control Arms + 17" Team Dynamics Pro Race 1's; 215-45-17 Kumho MX's + AP Racing Formula Big Brakes, X Drilled + Slotted Rotors, Goodridge SS Lines + Clear Bra + Schroth Harness and a full tank of 100 octane ... life is good!

2002 CVT Cooper LY/W + Sport + 17" S Lites & Pirelii Euforias + Clear Bra

 

>>
>>Another reason why the JCW kit is a waste of Money.
>>

Is NOT.......

 

$4400 for the JCW seats...seems reasonable & appropriate compared to the price value for the JCW kit......LOL !

 

Whoever is propagating this $4,400 price tag is wrong. The price is 590 pounds (for the leather JCW seat). So about $1100 - $1200 a seat based on the daily exchange rate. This is the same price for a set of leather Sparco's, which is the same seat that the JCW is. This is reasonable, but not offered in the States. I am still debating on purchasing them in Europe and bringing them in. Might as well get the JCW logo and in Lapis Blue if I am going to buy the Sparco's anyway.

 

 

>>Whoever is propagating this $4,400 price tag is wrong. The price is 590 pounds (for the leather JCW seat). So about $1100 - $1200 a seat based on the daily exchange rate. This is the same price for a set of leather Sparco's, which is the same seat that the JCW is. This is reasonable, but not offered in the States. I am still debating on purchasing them in Europe and bringing them in. Might as well get the JCW logo and in Lapis Blue if I am going to buy the Sparco's anyway.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well said....they’re no where near that expensive

I sat in a JCW Seat today for the first time and it's definitely a recovered Milano. They're much more comfortable than the Standard Sport seats and the leather seems much better quality than on the Mini Seats. In the UK a Full Leather Seat Costs £500 inc VAT - which at current exchange rates equates to $915.557, so that's $1,831.114 for the PAIR. Obviously cost will vary slightly in the USA.

Fact - No Side Airbag - It gets disabled when fitted
Fact - There is a Heated Seat Option – Cost about £140 extra per seat ~ $256
Fact - No Height Adjuster - The only option you have is to insert a spacer when fitting that heightens the chair slightly.

I was very impressed by them and the JCW Logo in the centre looks very cool.

My only grip and it's a slight one is that the seat doesn't move forward when you tilt it. The seat also barely tilts due to the side bolsters so in order for people to get into the back you have to move the seat forward first. But this is a problem on all race seats.

Here's a link with some pictures of someone that's have a set fitted: -

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...ge=1&pp=15

 

John Cooper now offers several seats. Check them out here.

 

>>My only grip and it's a slight one is that the seat doesn't move forward when you
>>tilt it. The seat also barely tilts due to the side bolsters so in order for people to
>> get into the back you have to move the seat forward first. But this is a problem
>> on all race seats.


Well, that seals it for me. Only reason I considered them is so I wouldn't lose the sliding feature when I tilted the seats forward. Oh well......

-Rob

 

I've been investigating availability and pricing of the JCW sport seats for several months. These seats are made by Sparco (in Italy) for BMW/Mini. Latest word (Apr 04) from reliable source in the know that I've been in contact with (and who's involved in the manufacture/distribution process of this seat) is that BMW has decided NOT to import these seats to the US. Reason: too expensive to install air bag, and BMW doesn't want to have negative effect on its great crash test rating by providing seats without the side air bag.

You could still order the Sparco Milano seat (on which the JCW seat is based) and do your own thing.

 

>>...BMW has decided NOT to import these seats to the US. Reason: too expensive to install air bag, and BMW doesn't want to have negative effect on its great crash test rating by providing seats without the side air bag.

That's the exact information I have. All because US is a sue-happy nation.