I have a 2006 R52 S that is my fun summer car. I really like everything about it, except the slippery leather seats. I've honestly never been a fan of leather (dead cow, slippery when cornering cold in winter, hot in summer, etc), but I found this car, it had it, that's fine.
But the driver's seat in particular is showing some wear, the bottom seat stitching is starting to release and show - so maybe it's time for a little refresh.



I can replace seat skins myself, I've stripped and replaced them installing aftermarket heated seat pads for other cars. This MINI came with them so I haven't taken these off yet.

I'm looking for options on where to buy replacement seat skins.

I'd be fine replacing these with exact replacements, or ideally, I'd love somewhere that lets me customize some to add some grippier centers. I'd replicate the factory color/stitching scheme here, except I'd do faux-suede (alcantara) or cloth centers.
Or was there any factory version that came with the faux-suede seat centers that would fit the color scheme of mine? Are those available to order from somewhere?
Anyone change/upgrade their seat upholstery? Where did you source your skins?

I'm torn on refreshing just the front seat upholstery vs all four, I'm leaving towards "just fronts" as long as they match (particularly the seat backs to the rear seats).

All help is appreciated, thanks!

 

The same here a few years back. An upholstery outfit up in the big city did a super job near identical to OEM. Our solution to future wear and temperature comfort is sheepskin seat covers. A company out of Vancouver has great ones.

 

the heating elements are glued to the foam. i tried to get the seams on my leather seats restitched, but i botched everything in trying to remove them. ultimately, i decided to just get some used cloth seats from a JY and swap them in.

 

https://www.lseat.com/search.php?sea...cooper&Search=

 

I just completed this exact job with the R52 I'm building. I used Katzkin. If you're going to do it, go with Katzkin, best in the industry and you have almost unlimited options for color, fabric, stitch options, etc. and their kits fit like OEM. I've used other kits and nobody can match Katzkins quality, fit and materials. The factory "leather" was in horrible shape and just like you experienced, slippery, firm, which made the seats really uncomfortable. I haven't put the new seats back in the car yet, but they turned out really good. I did both front and the rear seats. I went with matching gray leather (the flash makes the seat look lighter than it is) and pipping to keep the nostalgia of this build.

It does take a lot of work though. For starters, this was a time when Mini felt it was a good idea to glue the material to the foam, so you'll have to cut the original material from the foam. I used a razor blade and just take your time. It's time consuming, but it comes off. You'll also have to widen the seams in the foam, so the material lays smooth. You also won't be able to save the original heated seats, so option for the heated seat kit. I'm still trying to figure out how to utilize the factory heated seat buttons.

Ping me if you want to build a Katzkin kit and explore all the options. I also have a bunch of pictures of the tear down, install, and can give you some pointers. They actually feel like leather seats now.

Here's the before and after (Katzkin on the left)




As an example of what you can do, here is the kit I'm installing in my R56 this summer. I went for diamond stitching and suede inserts. Yes, the car is yellow

 

Thanks for the tips on that -

I can say this - heating elements are pretty simple things. I also would want to use my factory controls.
I'd use a multi-meter to run some tests, cut the wires near where they go into the heated seat elements, and measure the resistance of the heating elements themselves and/or the voltage of the factory controls vs temporarily connecting the new control **** up to the battery and measure the voltage. I'd bet they are similar and you can just wire the factory wiring right to the new seat heating elements, bypassing the controls the new covers came with. Heating elements are pretty simple things, so I'd be surprised if that weren't the case.

These are great tips - I haven't encountered any seat covers that were glued on, that will be tricky to work around. I guess I'll have to cut the stitching and peel the panels off to preserve the foam? Is that essentially how you got them off?

I love those with the suede centers. I will have to Email them and get some color samples from them. Something like that is exactly what I'd love in my car. The diamond stitching would be pretty cool there too.
Thanks!

 

Got the seats back in the car. As much as I wanted to use the factory Heated Seats buttons, the wiring wasn't going to match up, so I installed the aftermarket buttons in the factory location. I was able to utilize the heated seat circuit in the fuse box with add-a-circuit and works like a charm. Color matches better than the original leather.