2nd Gen JCW Most liked posts in thread: Recaro Seats

Well.... sometimes the dealer brings in a sales staff from.... like.... I don't know.... THE VW SIDE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION..... You know.... Young "Hipster Sprouts" that know everything.... Obviously, they were thinking "Lumber" and not "Lumbar"......:mad2:

 

True that, lol is that how they say it? The guy we had when we looked at the CM, told us he was selling Ferrari's last week! Oh that's nice, NOT, didn't help that he didn't know jack about the CM.

Those seats look very comfy!

 

You don't need it, they are Recaros.

 

Correct, they are Recaros, not really needed. However, according to this thread they do come with the adjustable lumbar support. You can see the knob in the first photo.

Recaro Seats - North American Motoring

 

^^^ in the photo you can (barely) see the knob for the lumbar adjustment next to the armrest.

and here's the official word from Recaro themselves: RECARO: Mini (Mini R56, Cabrio R57, Coupé R58, Roadster R59)

 

I bet the dealer has got confused between the very new optional factory-fit Recaros, shown above, and the dealer-fit accessory JCW Recaro seats that they will have sold for a long time, shown below. The JCW accessory seats don't have lumbar adjustment and the only height adjustment is a choice of two or three different mounting bolt holes.



The Recaro web page linked above says the new seats have height and tilt adjustment, which is the first time I've heard that. But then maybe it just means that the height adjustment also changes the tilt, like it does in all the Mini seats.

I want to get these Recaros but am currently struggling to find some to view - they are a bit pricey to buy just from a photograph, particularly as they look to have a bit less lateral support than the JCW seats.

 

Those JCW Recaro's were not available in the US from MINI, one had to source them out of Europe. They don't have the side air bags all the US OEM seats have.

Now MINI has made them an option for the US. The first ones were in March 2012 delivery cars.

 

I didn't realise Mini didn't sell them in the US - apologies for pointless information!

 

I believe the old non-US Recaros DID have side airbags. I think you can see the 'box' on the far right of the picture. That's not to say that side airbags couldn't be the reason they didn't sell them here, but I believe they do physically have them.

 

What they didn't have is the passenger side airbag seat sensor. This is the key for us in the US. Some have retrofitted these into the Recaros. I'm interested in upgrading my 2006 R53 leatherette sport seats to these.

 

There's a post on NAM saying that the Recaro option is being pulled for the Coupé and Roadster models: Recaro Option not Available on R58,R59 models - North American Motoring

 

The MINI Configurator still has them listed.

I'd like to see more than one post saying they are pulled before making it official.

 

Wow, those are going to be insanely rare, then, if they're really cancelled now. I wonder what the issue is?

 

Ford cornered the market on them for the new Mustang (see other thread), so there are not enough available for BMW. :lol::lol::lol:

Jim

 

Well that's no fun. Could certainly be true, happens to all manufacturers. Suppliers can't deliver or there are production issues, or with companies supplying components to suppliers (i.e. RECARO). They might be available at a latter date also if issues get sorted and demand is still high.

 

What's weird is that it's certain models only. If it were simply a supply issue, you'd think it would be across the board. That makes me think it's more of a safety/regulations type issue, but that's just speculation on my part. For instance, maybe they're just barely taller than a direct line between the top of the windscreen and the roll protection, for instance.

 

Well now I'm curious. opcorn:

 

I suspect it has something to do with the side airbags. The convertible doesn't have head curtain airbags, and as a result its side airbags are different from the hardtop. When the Recaro seats were introduced, the R57 convertible and Countryman were excluded. However, the Coupé and Roadster are based on the convertible. I think someone at MINI messed up on this.