Anyone found a child rear booster seat that works well in an R57? We had one with a back but that's too tall to fit. That and the rear seatback is somewhat concave (and narrow) making for a tough fit for car seats. A Britax is just a bit too wide at the bottom and tends to crease the seat bolsters.

Likewise, what about seat covers for the rear? The two being related, trying to keep the light gray seats in decent shape in spite of kids being back there.

 

Can't help much since I have an R55 (Recaro Young Sport fits fine). BUT.

Go to a jo-an fabrics store and get a few yards of Marine grade vinyl. It comes in a ton of colors, cuts with scissors, can be stitched, folded, etc. Its easy to toss in the washer, 100% water proof.. uh... "W A T E R"... lol.. Mildew proof, etc. The back is a fabric, the top side looks like pleather.. comes in every color you could want.

My son is six now. I've had the same piece of cut since the day he was born in several cars. It goes up over the seat back, down, holes cut for belts, down into the foot well.

It's caught everything from from puke, milkshakes, muddy feet, snow, chips, juice, stickers, etc..

Far far better and cheaper than ANY other thing I've ever seen sold at Babies-R-Us..etc..

 

I use a generic floor mat under the kid's car seat, rubber side up and fabric side down. Does a great job protecting leather seats.

 

Right, the pad is the easy part. The challenge is finding a LATCH-capable booster with a narrow enough seat to fit in-between the bolsters of the Mini's back seat.

 

I checked using a floor model from a local ToysRUS and the Graco Affix booster does seem to fit, at least width-wise. But their LATCH connectors are a pain in the butt to use. They're the old metal spring kind, not ones with pushbutton releases. That and they just feel 'cheap'. Yeah, at some point I'll have to give up, but I'm still hoping to find something that'll work without seeming like a piece of junk.

 

Lots of MINI folks really like the Diono Radian carseats as well. Based on advice on this board I picked one up, and it fits in the back seat, no problem. It's also convertible, so as the kiddo grows, you can remove the back and use it as a stand alone booster.

They're expensive, but very well made, and among the most trim/slender seats out there. Be forewarned that it's a heavy seat though - thanks to its full steel frame. (Safe, but heavy.) Not an issue unless you plan to harry it around a lot. I think I picked mine up for a shade under $200, so there are deals to be had.

 

What's the seat depth, from the back to front? Some reviews seem to indicate they're a bit short in the seat length. And how well padded is the seat?

I've seen some that are pretty lame, and my boy's commented how bad a Graco felt compared to the Britax in our other vehicle.

 

Total seat depth at the base is 16" - as for the seat cushion depth, that's tougher to measure, since the back is padded, but it looks like 13-14". The seat and back are fairly padded, the side bolsters, less so, but about the same as our other carseats. In regards to width, it fits easily between the rear seat bolsters in the r57. Given its design - I think it allows a kid as much legroom as possible while being in a high-back booster. (Not sure if it's worth the price, but it does fit well.)

FWIW, my daughter LOVES the seat. However, I think that has more to do with the fact that it's in the Mini, and is less constricting than her other carseat (Safety First Complete Air 70).

One other note, overall I like the seat, and my wife says it's a lot easier to use than our other seats. (The harness tighten-loosen adjuster is far better designed than the Safety First seat.) One quibble - the over-the-back anchor design is poorly thought out at best. Rather than a single strap coming from the top of the seat, the strap is attached to a yoke that is attached to the carseat further down, which means it doesn't really pull the carseat into the seat in any meaningful way as you tighten it. I can't imagine why it is designed this way, unless it is meant specifically to prevent parents from securing the top of the seat too tightly. Perhaps there's a benefit to the seat pivoting a few inches in a crash, to prevent whiplash?

 

Another vote for the Radian. We've used various Britax over the years, but they were all too big for the MINI. The seat length at the bottom may be short for other cars, but is the only way to get a decent fit in this car. It is a very heavy seat, but considering that the 'vert might be considered to be less safe than a hardtop, the extra heft is worthwhile. The Radian also seems to leave less of an imprint on the seat than what we've experienced in our other cars. Though could be the cloth in the R57 vs the leather in the other cars?

 

Oh, one more important point. The size of the car makes it difficult to have a cup holder-equipped seat, or at least a cupholder on the side of the carseat towards the side of the vehicle (as in, on the right side of the car seat if mounted on the left side of the back seat.) With the Radian you can mount a few extra cupholders, such as two on one side. Very beneficial if your kid(s) are like mine and need one cupholder for a drink and another for random junk or snacks.