Poking around the lists, I found an earlier post about headrests angle bothering the driver's spouse.
I have a new-to-me 2010 Clubman and the headrest is bothering my wife, too.

Can anyone confirm that earlier year headrests from Coopers a) fit the 2011 Clubman and b) they will protrude less? (e.g. can I just buy an 03 Cooper headrest off of ebay and be done with it?

Alternately, I've found some VW bug headrests on ebay that are donut shaped-- anyone have a VW bug and a mini that could check to see if they can be swapped?

thanks!

 

Give me till tonight (wife has the Beetle currently) and I'll check...

- Erik

 

That'd be great-- thanks!

 

Sorry for the delay; but the VW headrests DO NOT fit as the polls that insert the seat are wider (by like ~1.5") that the Mini's.
Photos can be provided if needed to show the significant difference.

- Erik

 

Cool-- thanks for checking. No photos nec.-- that makes sense.
Thanks

 

How about the first question: what earlier year MINI headrests will fit the 2011?
Early enough so they do not have the extra thickness that started around 2009.

 

Geez, my girlfriend complained about the headrests on a long trip as well. Says it's fine around town but protrudes out too far to be comfortable for long stretches. Why are women so fussy?

 

When I first got my 2010, it annoyed me too...and my wife was very vocal about her displeasure. But, neither one of us even notice it now. I guess it's all about adaptation and time.

 

The headrests definitely protrude too far forward, I tilt my seat back a notch or two to compensate.

 

I was under the impression that you could turn the headrests 180 degrees (i.e., make the front face rear) and get a headrest that had a different (i.e., more rearward) tilt, if that was your preference...?

 

Well, all 2nd-Gen R5x platforms share the same head-rest pattern; so any from 2007 - 2012.
You could also check with the 1st-Gen owners and ask the spacing, diameter and length of their head-rest rods to see.

- Erik

 

+1

That's what I did. Made my wife happy, made me happy too -- it's free.

 

Can anyone confirm that 52-10-7-216-255 is the "old" headrest style?

This issue is bugging both me and my co-driver to no end. 8(

 

Not exactly sure what you mean by "old headrest style;" RealOEM shows that part number fitting a number of vehicles.

 

According to lore, sometime in 2009 the R55/R56 headrests changed to the more annoying shove-your-head forward style.

I'm looking to source one or a pair of the older, less annoying kind. The part number I linked is, according to RealOEM, for 2007-mid 2009, but nothing I've been able to turn up suggests whether that means it's the older physical style.

 

I bought on eBay a headrest which came from a 2004 R53. Fits my 2011 R55 just fine, and makes my wife much happier. The color doesn't exactly match, but it's not too bad.

Previous to this I found that the left-over headrest from my 2000 VW Jetta did not fit the MINI, because the spacing of the posts was much greater.

 

Have a dimension I can compare to?
I have a 2009, and the headrest seem thin.

- Erik

 

I just ordered a pair of 2002 black cloth headrests from eBay for my '09 clubman, same purpose. Crossing fingers for fit!

Thanks to everyone in this thread for the info!

With comfort addressed, my next step is aesthetic: finding a decent leather cover that will match the light brown leather & cloth seats!

 

did you try turning the headrest around backwards?

or switching the fronts and rears?

scott