Lookie what I got today. It's the Euro "only" JCW WORKS seat by Recaro! To get it hear took some totally aggravating PITA work, but it can be done. The driver's seat meets US regs, but the passenger's don't with out a ton of work. Just the driver's seat is fine by me 'cause that's where I sit. If you've never sat in a Recaro Sports Racing seat, you don't know what you're missing. Install is Wed. I'll be a wreck by then! LOL :lol:
The Sportster is definitely a nice throne. You have to REALLY want that side airbag to import a JCW version, though... :eek6:
Are they only available for 2nd generation MINIs? Wasn't sure if they're available for the R50/R53's.
OK, let's see if I can answer your questions, LoL. I'll try the "easy" one first. The Recaro JCW seats are available for Gen1 and Gen2, BUT you've gotta jump thru some hoops first. First you go to the European RealOem site and dig thru it till you find what your looking for. Be certain you write down the correct seat part number. Why? In my case there were two identical seats that differed only in the type of logo. For the R56 it's the old style logo (mine) or the new style done in red and white embroidery (ICK!). Different part #'s! I don't know zip about the Gen1 seats. When you've got the correct part number, the real fun can begin. WARNING: From hear on things can get hazardous to your mental health! With part # in hand, go to <schmiedmann.com> in Denmark. Navigating that site will give you an excuse to throw rocks at something. Keep at it till you see a place to enter that part # AND your VIN! Eventually a price and shipping cost estimate will show up and with a order confirmation #. That don't mean squat! Only when you see something that says OFFER w/number on it are you getting someplace. Check the info on that OFFER form very carefully!! They had the wrong part # twice for me. When you get ready to pay, stay clear of the "pay full amount in advance and avoid the card fee". I tried it and everything went bonkers. To add to the confusion you have to take into account the 7-9hr time difference. It's handy to have a Danish to English translator at hand, too. Still more. Their site has a 24/7 address, but apparently that means 8 to 4 Mon. - Fri. their time! At one point I got so frustrated I sent a scorching email to them that did get things moving and fast. There's probably still a hole in the internet from that one. BTW, I've cleaned up this scenario A LOT!! Good stuff? You bet. Schmiedmann is somehow able to get these OEM seats directly from Recaro and thus avoid the BMW parts mark up. Their price ($1360) for the seat alone beat everywhere else I checked by $400-700! You don't pay the VAT (25% in Denmark!). If you really want the seat, it's worth the aggravation. You may have noticed I haven't said anything about shipping, etc. Air freight, exchange rates, the banks cut on changing euros to dollars can vary a lot from day to day. In my case it was $300. Did any of you eagle eyes note I'm talking SEAT, not SEATS? That's right, I'm only talking about the driver's seat. The passenger's is an even bigger can of worms. All hope abandon ye who enter there! Not me, LOL. Have fun. :mad2:
A Recaro At Last!! Finally got it done! The seat is much more than I was expecting and definitely worth the work and aggravation to get it. Perfect timing, too. With some of my West Coast MINI buddies we've got a short run planned for this wknd. We leave Fri. AM from San Diego for Monterrey with only about 60mi of it on the Interstate. The Calif. Coastal Range, Big Sur and Wonderful One in a Recaro! Might not be able to handle it LOL. :lol: :smilewinkgrin:
Dwight.... Pretty cool reading about your purchase through a Danish supplier. I'm half danish on my mothers side. As a mater of fact, I grew up in Denmark, in a little town called Kollund just a few miles north of the German border. I saw on the map one of the Schmiedmann locations is probably 25 miles away from where I grew up. It's a small world we live in. So now I just need to figure out which uncle I should invite for a visit that might be able to put a couple of those in the overhead baggage. :lol::lol::lol:
MM, they might be able to figure a way to ship you a couple without all the hassle. I had a friend from Scotland get his father to do the same thing on some other items. Worth giving them a call. Jim
AARRGHH!! The DRIVER"S seat comes with guide rails. Again, I never had any intention of getting the passenger seat. These Recaro seats are NOT after market goods. They are European BMW OEM R56 parts! And before anyone comments on the front seats not matching, I don't care. My first concern is performance, not trendy looks. Besides, if the windows are up when you look at the car you might spot the different headrests. With windows down you can see the difference. So far today everybody just stares at the Recaro and don't seem to see anything else! LOL I'd think twice about having a relative/friend buy the seat(s) in Denmark. The cost will go up by 25% because they'll have to pay the VAT. If you don't already know, VAT means Value Added Tax. It's Grim. :frown2: Hey MM. I got relatives a tad farther north by Fagernes, Norway. UFF DA :beer
How is the passenger not but the driver is? Considering if you buy it from a British website where it is opposite. You can spend a lot less and get the same Recaros but they won't say JCW on them. http://www.motorsportseats.com/recaro/sportster.html
There are plenty of places that could add the logo as well. These things make me jealous of my 2 year old his Recaro was only a couple hundred bucks.
I think the big issue with not going with the factory JCW / Recaros is the absence of the air bag and the ECU work around's being somewhat difficult.