Sections: R56 (Coupe) Nov 27th, 2006 
The new MINI USA configurator has verified some news we heard a few weeks back. As was the case with the previous generation MINI, the US market will be getting a different (i.e. less cool) version of the lower cushion on R56’s sport seats. Due to the US airbag sensor mandated in the front passenger seat, MINI’s had to design a simple, less contoured bottom cushion. With the previous seat design, this wasn’t a terrible loss. However with the new bottom cushion design (not to mention the English Leather seats), the change is clearly a downgrade from what is available elsewhere.
It’s worth noting that the change mostly just affects the aesthetics of the seats, not really how they grip. And yes, the US market will still be getting the $1900 “English Leather” seat option.
Very disapointing….
Wonder why mini has so little ability to design a better workable solution than the what we are seeing. While this won’t change my current or future orders it does mean that since I will be replacing the seats (again) that miniusa will not be selling that amount of additional extra’s on my R56.
I can live with the lack of that lump — given my legs it wouldn’t fit, but what’s the difference in the English Leather? I’m seriously thinking of the black with the white piping and cream color line in a PW/B or LiB/B and if they’ve messed with the the look of the non-punch leather…aaaagh!
Yet more disappointment for the US customers. With all of BMW’s engineering talet, this is the best they can do?
If I was configuring an R56 MINI today, I’d sure wonder what other suprises were in store.
Disappointing indeed. The English Leather seats look fantastic - that is a definite loss.
So much for hoping the R56 seats would be an improvement over the pathetic R53 sport seats…
:(
I think they’ll still be an improvement over the old seats, just not as much as we had hoped for. Anything other than a wooden crate would be better than the current seats.
My guess is there must be some regulation about having a certain flatness to the seat for the sensor to work well for light occupants. May not even be something in BMWs control. Maybe as time goes by the US seats will wear better and we’ll all be glad they don’t look as nice given the alternative.
So Europe ruins the nose of the car and the US ruins the seats. Too bad, those seats look really nice.
I must say,I am very disapointed.I think bmw underestimated the us byers and they came up whith that quick and cheap solution.At list lets hope they will have a monocolor choice,so they can hide the uglyness of it somehow.
So I’m guessing that means we also won’t be getting those amazing looking new JCW seats… This has finally inspired me pop the top off a sweet can of Recaro SRD for my 04 Works. No more waiting around for a decent OEM seat.
Ah yes, thank you DOT for again giving us the short end of the stick seat-wise. Sigh, I guess this means we won’t have recaros either.
Anything other than a wooden crate would be better than the current seats.
You mean like these?
I have English leather in my 06. I like the feel and look of it but I think it would be even better if the European seat bottoms were available in the states. For all the great ideas that went into making the MINI. I’m surprised this small detail couldn’t be worked out to work with our airbag laws.
Would major work be involved in replacing the seat bottoms as far as a the airbag is concerned?
No recaro JCW seats? Gabe can you verify that?
Are you sure this is indicative of their final design, and not some sort of design compromise for the configurator? Miniusa.com has pictures of both the sport seats and lounge seats featured elsewhere available in screen filling resolution (in the gallery). If they don’t plan on offering those in the USA, they really should remove them.
DOH!!!!!!! This totally sucks! I probably won’t waste my money on cloth/leather and just go for the leatherette. Who knows. Cloth may be better for the slippage factor when cornering and autoxing.
geeze. I’ve been salivating over the new seats. once again we get shafted.
Why not just do like the 350Z, where the driver’s seat and passenger’s seat are different? That could solve the problem by giving the driver more support, and not killing babies in the passenger seat.
What about Canada? For those people really, really anxious about this issue, if Canada gets the same seats as Europe, importing vehicles from Canada isn’t particularly difficult.
Timothy, Canada always seems to get the same seats as our American cousins. I doubt this time will be any different :(
Why not just do like the 350Z, where the driver’s seat and passenger’s seat are different?
AFAIK the weight sensor is in the driver’s seat as well. It allows the airbag to deploy at different rates based on the weight of the occupant. So both seats have the same problem.
So instead of sitting in the seat, we’ll be sitting on the seat?
I think Mini has tried to accommodate the average American. Mini has learned a lesson with the first generation cup holders. Lets face it it is one thing to retrofit a American sized cup holder and another to retrofit a American shaped seat.
You mean like these?
The plastic milk cartons are great because they absorb bumps and conform to yr arse!
.
As far as this, not too concerned. Sorta expected. And it doesn’t look that bad (but then I have no problem with the current sport seats, so I’m a lunatic).
What’s the deal with importing the other seats from, say, Canada? Besides expense obviously.
I think Mini has tried to accommodate the average American. Mini has learned a lesson with the first generation cup holders. Lets face it it is one thing to retrofit a American sized cup holder and another to retrofit a American shaped seat.
This change has nothing to do with the size of some Americans and has everything to do with the airbag sensor mandated on US seats.
No recaro JCW seats? Gabe can you verify that?
Don’t believe the hype. You’ll hear more soon.
I don’t understand the reasoning behind this. Why not put the US spec seats in the European cars? Now there are twice as many seat models for the assembly line. Why would you NOT want the sensors installed in the European models? Sensors are cheap, but haveing a more diverse range of parts for each market is not. Same reason we don’t have US spec hoods. If US MINIs we made in KY or TN or something, then it would make sense, but if all the cars come off the same line…
You all are too critical. All you’ve seen is an illustration. I reserve judgement until the car is sitting in front of me. I have to also say that the U.S. version of the English leather seats for the 2006’s isn’t bad at all compared to the way it looks on Euro spec cars.
Who knows, maybe the seat will still be an improvment over the r53 seats… also… the r53 seats aren’t that bad! most cars have terrible seats, they are no where near as bolstered as the MINI seats. Also, remember not everyone is as slender as everyone else. We have alot of “bigger” clients, and they need to be comfortable too! They would rather have you be disappointed in the seat and buy the car then to eliminate a particular size of person because the seat is just TOOOOOOO uncomfortable. plus we have clients who complain that the sport seat is too confining as it is. Its all about balance… MINI will never make anyone happy.
Also, you may want to adress your complaints to your congressman or senator instead of MINIUSA. Trust me MINIUSA would rather sell one style of seat to the entire world then have to reengineer the seat for a particular market. it costs them more money and more headaches
“US mandated sensors”
so ALL new cars in the US have sensors in the seats?
seems I’ve seen recaro style seats in several new vehicles.
seems I’ve seen recaro style seats in several new vehicles.
Having “recaro” style seats doesn’t preclude them having the correct airbag sensor.
HOLD ON EVERYONE-PLACE THE BLAME WHERE IT IS DUE:
taken directly from the NHTSA website:
Does the Federal government regulate SABs?
Unlike front air bags, SABs are not required by NHTSA. Because they are not required safety equipment, the federal government does not mandate that vehicles be equipped with SABs. NHTSA has recently proposed an upgrade to the federal standard for side impact protection. The standard establishes occupant protection performance requirements, but does not mandate particular technologies to meet those requirements. Manufacturers may meet this upgraded rule with various types of innovative head, chest, and pelvis protection systems, such as SABs.
In or about 1996,The government began drawing up requirments for vehicles to be designed to withstand a 26 mph side impact WITHOUT FATAL INJURIES TO OCCUPANTS. The Government further suggested strongly better/stronger DOOR IMPACT BEAMS be utilized. It was vehicle manufactureres who had by then discovered that airbags were a great sales tool, that put forth the idea side airbags are a good thing. Head airbags, which deploy from behind the headliner and protect your noggin from a crash impact with the glass and other hard areas in the side of your car, work EXTREMELY WELL. however, dont expect that worthless litle air bladder in the side of your seat to do much, cause they dont. tHE nhtsa WOULD STILL PREFER BETTER IMPACT BEAMS IN DOORS instead of seat airbags, but the head bags do work.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ncap/airbags/pages/SABFAQs.htm#5
link to the nhtsa site with everything you ever wanted to know about airbags
It’s too bad we’re not given the option to turn off the airbag with a key as the EU versions can.
Are you guys sure it’s just that the configurator isn’t messed up? If you notice for the Cloth/Leather seats, for example, the description reads: “…the seat and headrest are Pacific Blue cloth with side supports in contrasting Carbon Black leather.” Same goes for Rooster Red. The opposite, of course, is true at least according to the corresponding config picture and the other countries sites. I wonder if it’s just coded wrong for the Leather Lounge as well. Take note of the Lightning Blue color too on the first page of the configurator - it looks like a pastel purple! I reported these observations to MINIUSA - we’ll see what they fix.
Are you guys sure it’s just that the configurator isn’t messed up?
Yes we’re sure. It was confirmed to us before we posted on it.
Thanks Scott for the link to the airbag info although I had to backtrack the link since this problem deals with the “advanced air bag system” vice SABs. I see now where all new vehicles in the US must have advanced air bags. I still don’t see why MINI can’t make the sensor work with the “cool” seats when other cars have “cool” seats and the sensors too.
“Gabe
Having “recaro†style seats doesn’t preclude them having the correct airbag sensor.”
My point exactly.
It’s obvious that no one at BMW & MINI is paying attention or they just don’t care.
Having side air bags has nothing to do at all with the seat base design. That is all down to the weight sensors used by the “Advanced Airbags.” This website has information about the advanced airbags. According to the NHTSA website “Advanced Airbags” are REQUIRED on ALL new vehicles sold in the USA after September 1 2005. Thus the difference in the seat BASE on the USA spec MINI. Again nothing to do with the SABs.
so sorry, thought this was about the side bolsters-however-
craig, I agree with, but as robbie pointed out, lots of cars meet this and have cool seats. AND if people didnt insist on putting infants and small children in the front seats, we wouldn’t have this regulation.
It isnt the governments fault we get safety equipment that isnt cool. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not much of a defender of buraucratic bs, I just work in the automotive safety field and hear too much “it’s the governments fault” when in fact, the government pretty much lets the automakers build what they want, as long as it meets the regulations.
I understood that in addition to being more effective and safer, advanced airbag sensors are used to save insurance companies (and maybe consumers) money. When a car is in a collision and is repairable, the replacement cost of airbags and their installation is a large portion. Passenger-side airbags (3 of them) firing in a minor prang at the grocery store could cost thousands more when they didn’t protect anyone.
Are you guys sure it’s just that the configurator isn’t messed up?
Gabe: Thanks for the response. MINIUSA really does, however, need to get the quality control around their website. If you click on “Shop” from the MINIUSA.com website, then “Order a Brochure”, a beautiful picture pops up of the Lounge Leather seat with the “non-USA” style cusion. The picture is even for a left-hand drive car!
But I still don’t see why the Europeans or anyone outside of North America would NOT want the advanced airbags.
If the idea is to make a safer car, shouldn’t Europeans want that too? Seems odd.
All points well taken, but I have had my GP for just over a month now and do wish I had the Recaro seats that the rest of the world got. It took NO effort on MINI’s part to find a replacement (the checkmate seat). I knew this before the car came so it wasn’t a surprise just a disappointment. They went to length to make the GP different in most ways and then threw those seats in as kind of an afterthought. If it’s not mandated, why not make it an option, I would’ve gladly paid extra for the Recaro’s but was never given the option?!
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