I read last night on here about how I could remove the plastic rings and be able to put the headrests down all the way. I did this, and wow what a difference this morning in rear visibility on my way to work... If you haven't done this - you should. It took about two minutes to pull the rings.

 

rings? post a link to procedure please - I'll take what I can out that back porthole.

 

If you take off the headrest you will see a little "pin" take it out with like a pair of pliers then the headrest will go ALL the way down.

 

i think he means the stopper ring (assuming it's the same as it is on the hardtop). it prevents the headrest from going down all the way. if you remove the ring, the headrest can drop at least another 1-2 inches.

 

yes, the 'stopper ring'. It was a good four inches on my 2011. The headrest are essentially out of view, under the roll cage bar.

 

i was thinking about removing it myself, but thought i'd just keep it on for the safety of my rear passengers. now i'm thinking, who the heck sits in the rear seat of my car anyway? it'll be coming off soon. the rear visibility of the hardtop is an improvement over the 'vert, but it's hardly good if you ask me.

 

The headrests can still be raised to that position, they just aren't stuck in it.

 

Yeah, I take the clips off the headrests of every loaner I get when mine is in service. It is very annoying to have the headrests blocking the rear view.

 

Very first thing I did to mine when I got it home from the dealer was to remove those stupid collars and lower the headrests all the way. I put the collars in a sandwich bag and threw them in a deep dark corner of the glove compartment so I can return it to stock when I sell or trade the car later.

 

Done as soon as we brought it home!

Literally a 2 minute job, and looks nice and neat in the down position.

I suspect this was a factory afterthought once the Govt. safety goons got their hands on the car.

mj

 

I removed the headrests before I left the dealership. 6 months later I removed the stoppers and put the headrest back in place.

 

I just bought my Mini convertible last week, and having read the posts beforehand, one of the first things I did was remove those collars. WHAT A DIFFERENCE it makes. Granted, backing up is quite a challenge, even with a 12' long car, but any extra rear visibility is worth it. Removing them literally took a minute or two.

 

I don't know what you all are talking about. Maybe my dealer removed the rings as my rear headrests were down as far as they could possibly go the day I picked up my MINI.

 

What year is yours? They added the rings in 2011.

 

OH! Mine is a 2009. I guess I never had them...whatever they are. Thanks.

 

Is there a way to take them off without breaking them off?

 

Yes. Just push the silver pins out of the black collars with something pointy. They'll come apart easily.

 

I used a mini screwdriver (like for adjusting the screws on a pair of eyeglasses) and simply pushed the pin through, and then used a pliers to grab it and pull it on through. This pin held the plastic collar in the notch on the headrest, and with the pin out, you can just slide the collar off. I supposed you could use a nail or an awl, since you don't need to push it through too far before you can grab it.

 

Thank you all. Will be taking mine off as soon as take delivery.

 

Aside from the mentioned visibility aspect, they look darn stupid as viewed from the car behind you in traffic. I was looking at one just today, and wondering why the owner put the headrests up so high. Now I know.

 

Thanks to this thread it was the first thing I did. It helped the visibility a lot. Thanks all.

 

Mine removed the day I brought her home

 

Best bit of advice I've read--what a huge difference in visibility! Thanks!

 

Damn it so that is why I couldn't get it down all the way! Luckily I read this thread before I bring my car to dealer and complaint.

 

Took me about a minute to do the first one. The wife was yammering about me doing things to her new car without asking first.
One look thru the rear view bought me a little wiggle room for future mod sneaks.