I am not even sure if these seat covers are the right ones for my sport seats. They're OEM, but have an odd hole on the side panel that I cannot figure out. Has anyone else installed these and have any ideas, please? Surely this hole is not for the seat adjustment lever below it?


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Just a guess, but could it be for the lumbar support adjustment some seats have?

 

What is the trick to removing the plastic seat back? My dealer wasn't any help.

 

>>What is the trick to removing the plastic seat back? My dealer wasn't any help.

Just pull the cover towards you from the top. Sit in the back seet and grab the top of the back plastic and gently pull towards you. There are three pairs of clips that will pop out, first pair near the top, the next towards the middle and at the bottom there are also clips. Then the cover can be pushed all the way down.

 

>>Just a guess, but could it be for the lumbar support adjustment some seats have?
>>
Some seats have lumbar adjustment? I did not know that. I actually went to the dealership today- they were closed- but I peered into a number of MC and MCS and could not find any with that type of lever of ****. Do you know which types of cars have them?
I will be very disappointed if the OEM MINI covers have a big hole in them for the rest of us, just because some seats have a lumbar adjustment.

 

>> Do you know which types of cars have them?

Leather seats have the lumbar support adjustment. I wonder how many leather seat owners want to cover them up with cloth.

Thanks for the installation instructions.

 

I just heard from the MINI dealer, and they only have two types of OEM covers, apparently. One type for regular seats and another for sports seats. So i guess the sport seat covers come standard from MINI with these holes for the lumbar adjustent, even if your seats don't have the adjustment *****. That sucks. So much for customized seat covers; now I'm stuck with a hole in the side of my seat cover that I don't need.. Thanks MINIUSA!!

 

We have leather sport seats in our 04 MCS in cordoba beige with black. Ours have the lumbar support adjustment **** where you describe. I found this thread because I AM interested in covering the drivers seat. Although leather cleans up more easily than cloth, it doesn't wear as well. This coupled with the high bolstering leads to early cracks and wear through abrasion when the driver gets in and out. This happened to our subaru outback sport leather in less than 70k miles and 7 years. My MG's 1959 & 1974 have the same uneven wear. We would like to think we will keep the MCS forever, like most of our other cars, especially the "little British ones". I think a cover will be a good idea for the day to day use of the driver's seat at least. It can always come off for special occasions, ... just like a condom !

 

Don't worry, just wait a few weeks and some aftermarket MINI parts dealer will offer a chrome ring or carbon fiber cover to accent and show off the unnecessary seat cover side hole!

 

There are other companies manufacturing seat covers that fit. Bloo's covers fit extraordinarily well and are very comforting. The only hole our covers have are on the side for the seat air bag deployment.

You can get info on the covers on this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=28114

 

I believe that is the location of the seat back adjustment lever on my 2003 MCS.

 

you can see the seat back adjuster several inches below the hole.

 

Yep. I found a picture of the alleged device on MINI2.

http://www.mini2.com/gallery/MINI%20...S/EPSN0014.jpg

Was it something new for 04?

 

Yep, it's for the lumbar support dial thingy (that's what BMW calls it - really!). My MCS purchase was the first time I've ever had leather seats, and I got the covers because I wanted to protect them. Then I learned about moisturizing the leather to make it last forever, and realized that it's such a pain to get the covers on and off, that I wouldn't be moisturizing them enough - so I've decided to keep them off permanently and just spend more time conditioning the leather. I worry that ten years down the road, I'll take the covers off and find dried out, cracked leather underneath. I still have the covers, just in case I ever change my mind.

-Cor.