Seats: Description and Operation

Front Seats

All Front Seats on MINI COOPER are of a manual type and are offered in two variants:

Basic Seat -MINI COOPER (Sports seats can be ordered on these models as an option)
Sports Seat - COOPER S

Standard seating surface for all vehicles is Leatherette. Leather is an available option in all vehicles. The sport seats include lumbar support. The front seats are secured to the body by four Torx bolts.


Front Seat Operation
All MINI COOPER front seats, regardless of type (Basic or Sports), have manual adjustment only. The various adjustment capabilities are achieved as follows:

- Forward/back adjustment of the seat
By operating the lever (1), the driver or passenger can move the seat, forward or rearward, to the desired position.
- Height adjustment of the seat - drivers seat only
By operating the lever (2), the seat cushion height can be raised or lowered to the drivers desired position.
- Backrest angle adjustment
By operating the lever (3),(pulling up) the backrest position can be altered to a more upright or reclined position.
- Backrest forward tilt (easy rear seat entry).

The front seats fitted to the MINI COOPER can be regarded as having an "Intelligent" seat position memory. There are no electronics involved in seat position recognition. Once the drivers and/or passengers seat have been set to the desired position, when levers 3 or 4 are operated (pushed down) the seat backrest and cushion will move fully forward. While in this position (easy rear seat entry), the back seat occupants will enter and exit the vehicle. When the seat is returned (manually) it will return to the exact previously set position and lock into place.

Seat Backboards
Regardless of seat variant, all the front seats have a back - board fitted to them. The available variations of back - boards are:

- Basic backboard - without stowage pocket- for both left and right front seats
- Backboard - with stowage pockets (shown in illustration)

The backboards are secured to the rear face of the front seats by four trim clips and two locking tabs on the bottom. Removal is possible only after removing the tilt levers on both sides of the seat.


Side 'Thorax' Airbags
Side 'Thorax' airbags are mounted on the outboard edge of the seat backrest frame.

Seat Belt Pre-Tensioners - Pyrotechnic
Both Driver and Passenger seat belt pre-tensioners are mounted to the seat cushion frame on the inboard edge (as shown below).

Seat Heating
The seat heating is activated via the seat heating switches, which are housed in the rear center console. Activation of the seat heating is achieved by depressing the seat heating switch. Upon activation the LED in the switch will illuminate.

Lumbar Support - Optional
The lumbar support can change the contour of the backrest by the operation of a rotational hand wheel located on the inboard side of the seat backrest. The lumbar support can be adjusted accordingly to adapt the lumbar support optimally to the anatomy of the person occupying the seat. Rotating the hand wheel in either a clockwise or counter clock-wise direction will either increase or decrease the amount of lumbar support provided.

Rear Seat
The rear seat configuration on all MINI COOPER derivatives is of a one piece seat cushion and 50/50 split, folding backrests. Removal of the cushion is achieved by lifting the front edge of the seat cushion and then pressing down on the rear edge to release from the rear edge body clips.

Seat Backrest Operation
The backrests can be folded horizontally by releasing either one (50% split) or both (100% split) of the backrest release catches (1) located in the rear face of the backrest (accessed via the luggage compartment). The rear seat latch (2) is located in the seat backrest and the striker (3) is secured to the body C post.





Backrest Removal
The rear seat backrests are secured by a central and two outer brackets secured to the body floor. To remove the rear seat backrests, loosen the screw on the center bracket and then pivot the clamp upwards (forward direction). This will enable the rear seat backrest to be released from the central mounting bracket.

To remove the backrest from the outer brackets, release the backrest from its latch, and then tilt the seat backrest forward to release the outer seat fixture from the body mounted outer bracket.

Head Rests
Both the backrests incorporate, as standard, manually adjustable head restraints. These are adjustable in a vertical direction only. Adjustment is achieved by lifting the head restraint pad to the correct position. There are only two setting positions for these headrests, fully down or fully raised (locked position). Lowering of the head restraint is achieved by depressing the release button on the guide bar collar.

ISOFIX Brackets

The MINI COOPER is equipped with ISOFIX points for child seat retention. The ISOFIX brackets are accessed through trim plugs in the rear of the seat cushion. These brackets (as shown) are attached directly to the body.