[MickCooperS]

Hey! I have the option to buy a set of JCW leather front seats but i have two questions I was hoping people out there might answer-

1) Is it a bit dodgy fitting the new JCW seats as they do not have side airbags i.e. removing a safety feature?? Opinions?

2) Can anyone tell me how much mikey charges for the units to fool the airbag light- (Mikey are you out there!!!??) Theres no info on his site....

Thanks!!

[MickCooperS]

Also, are the seats easy to fit? What parts do i need to make sure i get e.g. do the JCW seats fit the standard seat rails? Thanks!!

[Neil the Hat]

Very easy to fit, takes about an hour to fit each seat using your stock Mini seat runners.

DO NOT turn on your ignition with the yellow plug disconected - warning light will never go out again and you will definately have to go to the dealer to have it taken out of the system.

A 4 ohm resisitor pushed into the yellow airbag monitoring plug will work.

Many cars out there with JCW seats, up to you whether you think you can loose the seat airbags.

I personally have the side airbags so doesn't bother me.

Official JCW fitting instructions can be found here:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/attachmen...6&d=1153827482

[MickCooperS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Neil the Hat (original)

Very easy to fit, takes about an hour to fit each seat using your stock Mini seat runners.

DO NOT turn on your ignition with the yellow plug disconected - warning light will never go out again and you will definately have to go to the dealer to have it taken out of the system.

A 4 ohm resisitor pushed into the yellow airbag monitoring plug will work.

Hey Neil! Thanks for the reply!! Can i just get a 4 ohm resistor and push it into the plug? Does it need to be soldered? (And while i'm on a roll!-) Is there any side effects to this?

Also, if i use go to MINI to get the airbag light sorted out I have heard they have to get a code from BMW to turn off the airbags- are they turning off all the airbags or just the seat ones??

[Neil the Hat]

You could just push it in but I suspect it might come out again, then the light will come on etc etc trip to dealer...

I soldered the resisitors to two slightly thicker sleeved electrical wire tails so it was a tighter fit.

These have been in for the last 6 months or so without coming out so all seems good.

If you go to the dealer you will sign a waver and then they will deactivate the seat airbags only.

All told the resisitor and wire cost me (from Maplins) about 10 pence per seat!

[MickCooperS]

Thanks! Your a life saver!!! I have a electronics mate who'll take care of the resistor for me so thats that sorted! All i have to do now is get 'em in!!

One final Question- the seats I'm buying are installed in a MCS currently for sale in a garage (not BMW)- they are taking the seats out and putting back in the originals that they got with the car when they traded it in. They will then be installing the JCW seats for me. My question is- the garage will probably be fitting the original seats back into the car they have for sale using the bolts etc used to install the JCW Seats i'm buying. This will result in them having to recycle the bolts etc already used in my current stock MCS seats. Are all the bolts etc used the same??? Is there anyhing i should look out for??

[Damo]

Seats are relatively easy to fit.

As for the 4 Ohm Resister, personally think your better off paying £40 the dealer to have the computer told the airbags are not there. Warranty etc makes it safer in case you have problems with the airbags and pre-tensioners in the future.

The bolts for the JCW seats have 2 differant ones as the Seat belt latch attachs to a bracket that requires slightly longer bolts. Plus the bolts should have Nylock put on them as this will have come off if they've been put on and off again.

Seats are Mint though Had the same ones for the last 50,000 miles in 2 minis

[MickCooperS]

Cheers Damo
I'm a bit confused about the 4 Ohm resister trick- I thought the resister will either fool the computer into thinking the airbags are still there or it won't i.e it might come out and cause the warning light to come on- forcing me down the BMW deactivation route. Is there something that could happen i'm not aware of??

As regards the bolts- nice1!! I will make sure the guys installing the seats know about the bolts used to attach the seat belt latch to the bracket, and the nylock....i assume you are referring to screws "D" in the fitting instructions posted by Neil the Hat above?

[Damo]

Quote: Originally Posted by MickCooperS (original)

Cheers Damo
I'm a bit confused about the 4 Ohm resister trick- I thought the resister will either fool the computer into thinking the airbags are still there or it won't i.e it might come out and cause the warning light to come on- forcing me down the BMW deactivation route. Is there something that could happen i'm not aware of??

As regards the bolts- nice1!! I will make sure the guys installing the seats know about the bolts used to attach the seat belt latch to the bracket, and the nylock....i assume you are referring to screws "D" in the fitting instructions posted by Neil the Hat above?

Yep Screws D

[MickCooperS]

Under the seat there's two cables- yellow and blue. I assume the yellow plug is for the seat airbags but what is the blue plugs function?? Do the JCW seats have this blue plug connector?

[Neil the Hat]

Quote: Originally Posted by MickCooperS (original)

Under the seat there's two cables- yellow and blue. I assume the yellow plug is for the seat airbags but what is the blue plugs function?? Do the JCW seats have this blue plug connector?

The blue plug attaches to the seatbelt pre-tensioners.

You will use the ones that are already on your car and they just have another large torx type attachment.

You are right about the resistor, as far as the monitoring is concerned the seat airbag is still connected.

You might want to tell your insurers too that you are changing your seats as the AA wouldn't cover me and I ended up changing insurers as a result.

[MickCooperS]

Cheers!!!