R56 - Retrofit armrest instructions

[zoofish]

Hey,

I'm wondering if anybody has found a set of installation instructions for the R56 retrofit armrest? The only ones I have found are for the 1st gen MINI.

Cheers,
Trevor.

[ripkord]

It would appear to be exactly the same!

http://www.outmotoring.com/images/ho...mrest_gen2.pdf

[zoofish]

Hi ripkord,

Thanks for that. Sadly that is not the armrest I have. Mine is the sliding arm rest. Much appreciated though. I'll have a stab at it this weekend and then post some pics and steps along the way .

Cheers,
Trevor.

[ripkord]

Oh is that the american one? I seen instructions for that somewhere else, cant remember where though!

[zoofish]

Hi ripkord (and everyone else who may stumble across this),

This past weekend, I decided to tackle installing the armrest that I purchase from Chris at Woodman BMW/MINI (Thanks for all your help Chris - Great as always. To our surprise, this took about 50 mins to install and it was much simpler than we thought, as we're not really uber technical. I'd say the install is probably a 2 out of 5 in difficulty. Here are the basic steps to install the following armrest (MINI Cooper Armrest with Sliding Storage) - I didn't purchase the armrest from Out Motoring, as Chris at Woodman gave me a blindingly great price, including shipping to this corner of the earth for the retrofit armrest kit.

1. Remove the torx screw from the rear cup holder and also the front 2 cup holders (3 in total);
2. Unclip the cover/boot around the handbrake (This was the most diffcult stage in the whole process, but we found it easier to start on the sides and then work your way around);
3. Grab the long plastic cover that runs from the from the rear cupholder to the front cupholders and lightlypull the sides apart near the handbrake - you'll hear the cover clip off ever-so-lightly;
4. Feed loose handbrake cover/boot through the plastic cover, as you remove it - PLEASE NOTE: Right next to the handbrake, you'll see a thin yellow and blue wire that is connected to the underside of the long plastic cover - Use a pair of pliers to unclip the plastic clip that holds it in place (it easily snaps out);
5. Twist cover (as the cigarette lighter wire is stilled joined) parallel to the dashboard;
6. Remove the 3 torx nuts from the old base plate that is now exposed and remove it over the handbrake;
7. Insert supplied foam padding over the silver module in front of the handbrake (it is the one that carries the airbag warning on it);
8. Insert the new, longer base plate and reattach using the same 3 torx nuts that were removed in step 6;
9. Insert armrest into the base plate and secure with 3 torx screws (supplied in retro fit kit) - REMEMBER to reattach the plastic clip that holds the yellow and blue wire in place into the bottom of the base plate;
10. Reinstall the long plastic cover that runs from the front cupholders to the rear cupholder - make sure you hear it clip into place on each side of the handbrake - Reinstall the 2 torx screws that were removed in step 1 for the front cupholders;
11. Install new rear cupholder and the 1 torx screw removed in step 1;
12. Install the 2 rear covers to the base of the armrest - they go in the small gap between the base of the armrest and the base of the rear seat. The 2 covers interlock with each other in the middle and each have a torx screw that is attached on the side of each (2 torx screws in total);
13. Insert tray into armrest;
14. Clip on the rear small cover at the back of the tray;
15. Clip on the sliding lid;
16. And your done!

I was honestly shocked at how easy that was. Next stop black OEM spot/driving lights. According to what I've read here, they look quite simple to install and require no coding to work (Mental note: Email Chris for an amazing price).

Thanks for reading - I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Trevor.

[ripkord]

Cool nice guide, I think I'm gonna miss the armrest I have on my C30 - so maye have to use this in the future!

[Whitesheep]

Hi Zoofish,

Thanks for the information, it helped along with the factory information. What is the wire that is clipped to the base plate for? It wasn't connected to anything and no issues have shown up. A search of the shop manual didn't help.

Whitesheep

[joec]

Think we will be going down the armrest route as well, what and where gives the best price at the moment?