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Stock Problems/IssuesDiscussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for MINI Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.
2005 Cooper S - passenger side outboard (by the door not the e-brake) seat lever used to do 2 things when you pressed it, to allow rear seat access:
1) It release the seat back to tilt (spring!) fwd, and 2) it released the seat bottom to sliiide fwd.
Alas now when the lever is pressed, I get the expected tilt (spring!) fwd of the seat back, but the seat bottom don't budge. I have not yet tried cave-man-size force but pretty close , to no avail.
I'm guessing that someone has seen (and fixed) this issue before? How'd u do it?
There is a cable on the bottom that attaches it to the slide, it probably came off.
That is an excellent suggestion (new (to me) information) but IF the cable were detached, would the adusting handle, the one that's accessible under the front edge of the seat that releases the seat to move fwd and back) still work? (it does). I confess I haven't checked under the seat bottom yet. Technically, the doggone thing still slides but on the driver's side it is not a 2-step (2-lever) process!). Still seeking further wisdom.
Check for change lodged in the rail. I got 800 bucks off my 03 mini because the guy on the car lot missed 3 sales due to a stuck seat. I looked at it and saw the coin and he took my offer on the car including the 800 bucks.
Even if the cable came off as JNagy said, the seat will still slide using the front lever. My cable actually snapped/frayed. I never got it fixed, but my seat still slides with the 2 step process (push lever for the seat back, then the front lever for the seat to slide forward)
Hopefully yours just came loose & you can reattach it.
The cable is located on the back left corner under passenger's seat.
If you're sitting in the back, behind the stuck seat, the cable will be above your left foot under the seat.
Last edited by Not4no1; 06-16-2010 at 01:06 PM.
Reason: left out a word . . . Oops :)
Even if the cable came off as JNagy said, the seat will still slide using the front lever. My cable actually snapped/frayed. I never got it fixed, but my seat still slides with the 2 step process (push lever for the seat back, then the front lever for the seat to slide forward)
Hopefully yours just came loose & you can reattach it.
The cable is located on the back left corner under passenger's seat.
If you're sitting in the behind the stuck seat, the cable will be above your left foot under the seat.
Thanks all - today i will at last have time (and daylight) to troubleshoot this!
Gratefully,
Tatt
That is an excellent suggestion (new (to me) information) but IF the cable were detached, would the adusting handle, the one that's accessible under the front edge of the seat that releases the seat to move fwd and back) still work? (it does). I confess I haven't checked under the seat bottom yet. Technically, the doggone thing still slides but on the driver's side it is not a 2-step (2-lever) process!). Still seeking further wisdom.
tks,
Tatt
Yes the other lever would still work if the cable is not attached, you would have to see it to understand, just unbolt the seat and have a looksey
Hopefully yours just came loose & you can reattach it. The cable is located on the back left corner under passenger's seat.
My passenger seat stopped doing the slide-when-tilting, and I tried to see if this cable was the problem. There are a lot of different parts down there and I wasn't sure what I should be looking for. Can I check the cable by just looking under with a flashlight, or do I have to pull the seat to examine it?
that cable comes on the seat tracks. (the pieces that slide back and forward. normally if that cable frays or breaks you need to replace the seat tracks
My passenger seat stopped doing the slide-when-tilting, and I tried to see if this cable was the problem. There are a lot of different parts down there and I wasn't sure what I should be looking for. Can I check the cable by just looking under with a flashlight, or do I have to pull the seat to examine it?
I never took my seat out. You should be able to see the cable with a flash light (and a neck cramp)
If you pull the front lever that slides the seat forward while looking under the seat, you should be able to see the end of the arm where the cable attaches. Also, if you press the lever to move the back of the seat, you can see the mechanism move that "should" be attached to the front lever arm by a cable...that is where mine frayed apart.
So, in summary, just wiggle the levers while looking under the seat & see what moves & see if anything is not attached that should be.
I have the same issue, but sometimes when i use the front handle to slide the seat it makes a weird noise. ( not sure if thats 'cause i don't always have it up all the way completely or what.) Also, i just went out to check to see if anything was unhooked and i couldn't even find anything that wasn't unhooked. Everything seemed fine and working except that darn lever that tilts but won't slide! Whats wrong?!
Last weekend I looked at my seat and found that the cable was broken. I saw how the mechanism works and why the cable breaks. I have some pics and will post them when I have a chance to annotate them. Unfortunately it isn't clear how to repair it, but maybe we can collectively come up with some ideas.
Here's what I found when I was looking last week. I only looked without taking the seat out.
When the passenger seat back is folded forward, it pulls on a cable at the bottom left corner. The cable is routed under the seat and pulls on a lever that literally pushes up the seat slider handle at the front of the seat. So folding the seat should release the seat slider exactly like pulling up on the handle in front.
Here's how the cable is routed. Please excuse all the dog hair in my photos!
Here's the path of the cable highlighted. The red X marks where the cable (inside the tube) hits a corner that stresses it and causes it to break.
The cable does need to endure a lot of force when it is pulled. The design doesn't give the cable much leverage to push up the spring loaded seat slider handle, and it overcomes it by sheer force. The cable simply unclips at the end and I pulled out the broken top half of the cable. Here is the part of the cable that runs from the top to the break at the X:
Here's the problem. The plastic tubing is supposed to guide the cable smoothly into the black plastic cylinder, and it probably does when the car is new. However, where they meet is an unreinforced weak point. Through wear from usage or getting bumped by rear passengers, the tubing at the juncture gets pinched or bent, which forces the cable to negotiate a sharper corner and become stressed and frayed. In the photo below, it isn't easy to see but there's actually a crack in the tubing where it enters the cylinder (at the red arrow):
There's a spring visible inside the cylinder, but the cable simply goes in one end and out the other, passing through the middle of the spring. I pulled out the broken part of the cable from the cylinder and it can be seen sticking out loose (pointed by the yellow arrow). The rest of the cable further forward attaches to a lever mechanism that pushes the seat slider handle up. The rest of the cable is hard to get to without removing the seat. It is quite annoying that a better stress relief fitting (no more than a dollar or two) could have prevented the problem.
Someone posted on MINI2 that he made a successful repair using a bicycle brake cable: http://www.mini2.com/forum/first-gen...-poss-fix.html. He routed the new cable differently from the original path. It sounds like a possibly good way to repair it.
Originally Posted by tieak
Hi,
Had a problem with the passenger seat not sliding forward to let folks into the back of the car. Seat would fold but not move.
Was quoted £150 for new part to fix - seems the broken cable doesn't come by itself but I needed a new set of runners too...
So, I've linked a (bike brake) cable from the original fixing point at the rear of the seat...down and along to near the end of the front release handle and, looping it through a suitable slot in the base of the seat, attached the cable to the release bar (using the release handle fixing screw to grip it).
So tilting the seat back as normal pulls the cable and releases the runners as per the standard mechanism.
Seems to work very well so far
Anyone else tried this and aware of any pit falls? - The release bar sits in its normal position when the seat's in its upright position so no danger of it releasing accidentally.
I know this is an old thread, but has anyone found out if you can buy just the cable.
First I confess I have been living with the 2-step/2-lever process for back seat access from the passenger side, ever since I first asked about it.
Today (because of ur post) I called to find part numbers for the cables and the bad news is you can't just walk up to the Parts Counter and obtain just the cables. Was told that the cables are part of larger assemblies like seat back or seat bottom. (Loud "Grrrrr...").
So, it looks like if you don't take out the seat and "improvise" a solution, or have a pre-existing relationship with a sympathetic Mini Owner who also is a mechanic (which i have but we haven't discussed the seat cable as yet), currently "we" don't have an inexpensive option from the parts counter.
I won't be buying a new seat, bench, etc ($500 ish) that's for sure. Cable repair or re-attach is not out of the question at this point though (which is why I might come to appreciate Braminator's posts with awesome labeled pics).
Hope that's Helpful at least in terms of "time management", and Thanks for about 20 minutes of optimism regarding the seat issues (even though 15 of those were On Hold with Mini Parts, lol).
The parts list doesn't show the cable available separately. The cable is included with seat rails that are listed at "only" $177. That's less than I expected to repair with new OEM parts, but it is aggravating when only a cheap cable needs to be replaced.
My drives side seat now suffers from this issue. It nearly casued a crash when the seat went all the way back on my wife who is only 5'2". The draly wants $650 to fix this!! Has anyone replaced this part yet? The cheapest I have found them so far is $249.
Ok Im reviving a super old thread but I found a different solution from what people have possibly due to my mini being a 2014.
At the bottom right side of the passenger seat there is a gear looking thingy with its hooked de-attached. I was able to pry it back into place by pushing the hook back up. This was all done without removing the seat, only had to remove the back seat cover but that was easy as mine had zippers.
Posting the pictures below for future generations. Hopefully they arent lost
06-15-2010, 02:56 PM
, to no avail. 
