[Lady Leah]

Hello

Please be nice, I'm quite new

Both the front seats in my Mini Cooper seem to be broke They only fully recline now so its really uncomfortable to drive or even be a passenger.

Can anyone help me!!

Thank you

[Tonyt3]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady Leah (original)

Hello

Please be nice, I'm quite new

Both the front seats in my Mini Cooper seem to be broke They only fully recline now so its really uncomfortable to drive or even be a passenger.

Can anyone help me!!

Thank you

Hello Leah,
I'm guessing you have bought a second hand car....? Perhaps a couple of years old....? If so, the earlier cars had levers for adjusting the angle which were a little bit of a pain to use....

Basically, the lever has a different function whether you push it down or pull it back - you should be able to adjust the amount of angle by using the lever slightly differnetly than you are currently - give it a try - its not just a single function. I know this sounds confusing, but pretty sure its the cause of your problem - its unlikly that the seats are actually broken.

Never adjust the seat whilst driving either - this can be dangerous in the Mini.

If your car is brand new, then i'm not sure what the issue is......

Tony


ps tell us a bit more about you and your car :-)

[BarryS]

I have an early mini and the seats go into this "broken reclined" mode from time to time.
As the previous post says, you just have to perservere with the lever, move it up, move it down, keep fiddling with the backrest position and the lever position and eventually it should settle back into normal operation.

[Restyle]

The very early MINIs (2001) suffered from a design fault with the seat mechanisms.
You dont say whether you`ve had the car for years, or just bought it.
If there`s any warranty with it, then I`d get them to fix it.
If not you may have to struggle a bit with the lever, & really think about ever using the recline mechanism again for all the trouble it gives.

[*Vikki*]

yes our 2001 cooper had this, and was fixed by BMW.

[miniredcooper]

Hey folks - I've had this problem with some second hand seats I bought for the MINI. There is an easy fix - but you have to be quite brave to go for it.
Basically you have to force the seat back beyond the standard stop.
(Push against the seat back very firmly and it will let out a resonably loud click/bang - you'll feel the seat back go back by about a half inch over it's regular stopping point - it all happens quickly and wil no doubt terrify you and make you think you've broken your seat.)
After this the seat reclines as normal again - you'll feel the notches of the mechanism working again.
I think the seat just pops out of alignment within the mechanism and by forcing the back you simply realign something.

[Hazewood12]

Had the same problem with 2001 cooper I have just acquired. If you lean against the seat and wait for the click/bang the mechanism aligns and the seat seems to be ok. Thanks, good piece of advice.

[terrapin71]

Fantastic piece of advice, thanks. Had this reclined seat problem with our mini and were facing a £300 repair bill. Just popped outside, tried this and the seat is fixed!!!

[miniredcooper]

Quote: Originally Posted by terrapin71 (original)

Fantastic piece of advice, thanks. Had this reclined seat problem with our mini and were facing a £300 repair bill. Just popped outside, tried this and the seat is fixed!!!

£300 - I ownder if they would have just done the same thing?.....

Presume that figure would have been for a new seat frame or something.

Anyway glad you got it sorted (and saved some cash into the bargain)....

[zimzaf]

I want to thank you guys for this fantastic repair method... I could not afford to get bmw to fix it (they were saying that its the frame mechanism and it was big $$$$)

So I used the repair idea of slamming the seat back ... and yes it worked like a treat .

[david keohane]

I would like to thank miniredcooper I had the same problem and really appreciate the knowledge you are a hereo!!!!!!!!!!!

[miniredcooper]

Guys - really pleased it worked out for you - although I can't lay claim to being the inventor of this method - as it was passed on by another user.

[ATRoberto]

RIGHT THEN!!!!! I am also going to give this a try and see if it works! BMW quoted a HUGE amount of money to fix - like other users here! *Rob goes to put his brave hands on* lol.

WIll let you know how i get on!

P.S. Does it make a difference the fact that the reclining mechanism seems to be jammed in this car? The seat is in an upright position. You can tilt it forwards, just now recline it further back.....so in effect, its stuck in a mid-way position.

Quote: Originally Posted by miniredcooper (original)

Hey folks - I've had this problem with some second hand seats I bought for the MINI. There is an easy fix - but you have to be quite brave to go for it.
Basically you have to force the seat back beyond the standard stop.
(Push against the seat back very firmly and it will let out a resonably loud click/bang - you'll feel the seat back go back by about a half inch over it's regular stopping point - it all happens quickly and wil no doubt terrify you and make you think you've broken your seat.)
After this the seat reclines as normal again - you'll feel the notches of the mechanism working again.
I think the seat just pops out of alignment within the mechanism and by forcing the back you simply realign something.

[miniredcooper]

P.S. Does it make a difference the fact that the reclining mechanism seems to be jammed in this car? The seat is in an upright position. You can tilt it forwards, just now recline it further back.....so in effect, its stuck in a mid-way position.[/quote]

Hi - I'm not sure about in this position. with my seats they simply flapped forwards or backwards - they didn't seem to be catching on the mechanism at all. So spent all the time in the full recline position.

I wouldn't like to recommend the same solution for your seats if they are sitting in the upright position as it doen't sound like quite the same problem and may damge the seat?

I presume you have tried waggling both the levers either side several times in all directions to free them. (not very technical I know)

[Darthbladerni]

Yeah that is the same with my passenger seat. 2001 model also.

Push it right back then use the adjuster on it to get it to sit right.

I think i posted that in another thread on here how to do it as well.

Hope it works for all of you instead of having to pay some nasty BMW bill

[powder72]

Thanks all for the posting on the broken seat. As soon as I read you just need to push back the seat, I went outside and tried his. Of course it work and this make me so happy. Thanks guys...

[REDSHARKINTAMPICO]

I´ll try suggested solution with the passenger seat in my Mini '02 model. I have the same problem & I'm worried about paying high bill to bmw fr getting it fixed. Actually I've spent good money in fixing my Mini which engine and other parts went broken due to flood August last year. Now after waiting fr 8 months to get it back & less than 2 weeks driving it, the clutch got broken & I'm expecting replacement parts fr fixing it.

[cooperSMark]

i've just tried this method but it didn't work for me is there a special knack to it? i tried pusing it back firmly, slamming it back and then pushing it back even more firmly. nothing happened i suppose i'm a bit worried about slamming it too hard but i've just given it a really good bashing!

Should be covered by warranty, right?

[cooperSMark]

just tried it again and it worked straight away.. My seat would fold forward as it should but would only go from fully forward to fully reclined with nothing inbetween.

(This is taken from a jammed passenger seat point of view)

1. Made sure seat was in it's fully reclined position and not close enough to rear seat to be resting on it.

2. Knelt on seat base, facing drivers seat.

3. grabbed lever nearest handbrake with my left hand & applied upward pressure (not much, just enough to feel some resistance)

4. put my right elbow/lower arm on seat back.

5. Rocked left to right a couple of times (left is towards front of car, right towards rear).

Result : mechanism clicked and now works perfectly Rocking rather than slamming or heaving on it, seemed to be bit less extreme and didn't make it feel like i was going to end up with the seat in 2 parts! possibly looked a bit odd to the nosey neighbour but it worked!

[Darthbladerni]

I worked it out a while ago because i got annoyed with it and punched it back into place and it worked so I tried to break it again and see how to fix it lol.

Only happens when someone doesnt slide the seat forward enough but noone is ever in the back of my car anyway.