Cobra Nogaros In!
Discussion
I ordered these back in November, but due to a long lead tiime and various delays due to incorrect fixings, I've managed to get them in.
I've still got wiring to sort as regards airbags, seat belt tensioners and seat belt warnings, plus heating installation, but I'm really happy with
a) how they provide support, and
b) just how fabulous they look!
Feast your eyes
I've still got wiring to sort as regards airbags, seat belt tensioners and seat belt warnings, plus heating installation, but I'm really happy with
a) how they provide support, and
b) just how fabulous they look!
Feast your eyes
Just to wrap up, I fitted the heating elements, resistors for airbags, seat belt tensioners, seatbelt warnings and passenger seat occupancy sensor bypass and got the airbag light put out by my TVR mechanic (after I had to start up with one seat out - something to note as a DO NOT DO if you have anything SRS related disconnected, even temporarily.
The seats are lovely and sit really low - so low that the centre armrest is right in the way of your elbow when changing gear. It can be left flipped up all the time but that hinders access to the large storage area behind the seats for coats and the like. I may have a look at removing that.
Wife happy that seat heating is unaffected from OEM items - something I worried about due to thickness of pads. So all good. Must stop modding now!
The seats are lovely and sit really low - so low that the centre armrest is right in the way of your elbow when changing gear. It can be left flipped up all the time but that hinders access to the large storage area behind the seats for coats and the like. I may have a look at removing that.
Wife happy that seat heating is unaffected from OEM items - something I worried about due to thickness of pads. So all good. Must stop modding now!
rigga said:
Nice seats, would like something more supportive in my R56, but would have to be tiltable, and as yours heated, can't be without that feature now.
Suit you sir. Maybe some nice red stitching? Reclining and available with heating and lumbar.
That's another thing I added retrospeciviely actually - inflatable lumbar support bags whilst putting the heating elements in and they have helped just to give the lower back a little more support.
MrC, that's two sets of different Cobras in two different 911s - good work. Which were more comfy / supportive?
I went for the Nogaros but almost went for the Misano initially as they reclined and I was worried about the lack of adjustment with the fixed bucket Nogaro. Luckily I am getting on fine with them in their most tilted back position (via the mounting holes in the side mounts). I am quite lean and the shoulder support is actually quite tight so I fear that larger-shouldered drivers may have an issue..
Both seats look really good though and fair play to Cobra for producing them.
I went for the Nogaros but almost went for the Misano initially as they reclined and I was worried about the lack of adjustment with the fixed bucket Nogaro. Luckily I am getting on fine with them in their most tilted back position (via the mounting holes in the side mounts). I am quite lean and the shoulder support is actually quite tight so I fear that larger-shouldered drivers may have an issue..
Both seats look really good though and fair play to Cobra for producing them.
Edited by GaryF on Monday 29th June 19:57
Hi there, glad you like my seats - they are fantastic 
I'll make a start at answering your questions, but please come back with any others, or if I haven't answered in enough detail for now...
My original seats were the lounge leather (in JCW black / red trim). They weighed a ton. Not literally, but sooo heavy to man-handle out compared to the Cobras, which are much lighter. Sorry I don't have exact weights. If you want to spend a packet to save weight, you can have the Cobras in carbon fibre, but that swells the cost immensely.
I originally called Lohen about the seats to ask about price for full leather and with heating. They told me it was not possible to have heating, but I already knew it was... Anyway they said they would come back but never did so I ordered them from GSM here :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/cobra-nogar...
I also ordered the side mounts :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/cobra-bmw-m...
Note, that rather than the ones in the pic, they send me ultra-low jobbies and also sent a pair of Cobra seat bases complete with sliders. So you get the benefit of being able to slide them back and forth rather than having them fixed directly to the floor with just side mounts. I'd give them a call so you get sorted with exactly what you need.
As regards seat heating, I wanted to keep my original wiring and switches so wanted the OE Mini heating pads installed. I spoke to Mark at the Cobra factory and he recommended not fitting those but rather use the ones that they source as they worked better but that would mean different switches and wiring (which was not for me). In the end they said they would be happy to install OE Mini items if I sent them (which I did - GSM gave me the details of whom to send to). However, there was a mix up and that person was on leave and my seats arrived without heating. In the end, I got the elements back and fitted them myself. If you get them done at the factory you get a slightly different cushion design and they are sew in. Mine work, but not as hot as OE seats due to the thickness of cushion and my fitting them underneath rather than within the cushions.
If you do go with OE heating, order the R56 JCW bucket elements rather than the standard Mini elements to make sure they are narrow enough to fit - I had to trim mine slighty (hold up against window and draw around the elements and then cut).
I have no warning lights as I fitted resisters for seat airbags, seat belt tensioners and seat belt chime / warning light. You also need a passenger seat occupancy sensor bypass. Or, you can I believe have most of this coded out instead.
I can dig out links to all the bits you need should you go ahead. I also have a helpful diagram that I had the Cobra factory send on.
One thing - I recommend you go for adjustable lumbar support. I didn't and found I wanted a little support right at the base of my spine so I ordered a pair of inflatable lumbar supports off the GSM site as a retro-fit and they work really well :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/real-race-s...
Cobra also supplied their own rather small and neat seat belt clips so I could ditch the large Mini ones, including the seat belt tensioners.
If you need any more info, please ask.
I'll make a start at answering your questions, but please come back with any others, or if I haven't answered in enough detail for now...
My original seats were the lounge leather (in JCW black / red trim). They weighed a ton. Not literally, but sooo heavy to man-handle out compared to the Cobras, which are much lighter. Sorry I don't have exact weights. If you want to spend a packet to save weight, you can have the Cobras in carbon fibre, but that swells the cost immensely.
I originally called Lohen about the seats to ask about price for full leather and with heating. They told me it was not possible to have heating, but I already knew it was... Anyway they said they would come back but never did so I ordered them from GSM here :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/cobra-nogar...
I also ordered the side mounts :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/cobra-bmw-m...
Note, that rather than the ones in the pic, they send me ultra-low jobbies and also sent a pair of Cobra seat bases complete with sliders. So you get the benefit of being able to slide them back and forth rather than having them fixed directly to the floor with just side mounts. I'd give them a call so you get sorted with exactly what you need.
As regards seat heating, I wanted to keep my original wiring and switches so wanted the OE Mini heating pads installed. I spoke to Mark at the Cobra factory and he recommended not fitting those but rather use the ones that they source as they worked better but that would mean different switches and wiring (which was not for me). In the end they said they would be happy to install OE Mini items if I sent them (which I did - GSM gave me the details of whom to send to). However, there was a mix up and that person was on leave and my seats arrived without heating. In the end, I got the elements back and fitted them myself. If you get them done at the factory you get a slightly different cushion design and they are sew in. Mine work, but not as hot as OE seats due to the thickness of cushion and my fitting them underneath rather than within the cushions.
If you do go with OE heating, order the R56 JCW bucket elements rather than the standard Mini elements to make sure they are narrow enough to fit - I had to trim mine slighty (hold up against window and draw around the elements and then cut).
I have no warning lights as I fitted resisters for seat airbags, seat belt tensioners and seat belt chime / warning light. You also need a passenger seat occupancy sensor bypass. Or, you can I believe have most of this coded out instead.
I can dig out links to all the bits you need should you go ahead. I also have a helpful diagram that I had the Cobra factory send on.
One thing - I recommend you go for adjustable lumbar support. I didn't and found I wanted a little support right at the base of my spine so I ordered a pair of inflatable lumbar supports off the GSM site as a retro-fit and they work really well :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/real-race-s...
Cobra also supplied their own rather small and neat seat belt clips so I could ditch the large Mini ones, including the seat belt tensioners.
If you need any more info, please ask.
Hi Christopher,
I would get in touch with GSM (aka Sportseats4u) and ask about Orange stitching / no Cobra logo. They will get in contact with Cobra to confirm if necessary - it will be possible, based on my reading up on customisation.
When speaking with GSM ask them to ensure you get the following:-
- Pair of Cobra Nogaros (either street or circuit) to your specification (fabric/leather/colour(s)/painted back/carbon/GRP and stitching colour / logo /no logo)
- Pair of seat bases
- Two pairs of ultra-low side mounts
- Two pairs of runners
- Pair of Cobra seat belt clips
- All required fixings
- Installation diagram
- Agree on whether you are sending heating pads to Cobra for install
The heating elements that I used are OE MIni from the dealer (I did not strip my seats). Make sure you get the JWC bucket elements as I believe these will be narrower and are the ones I used.
My side mounts are steel.
If you are not coding out the errors for seat airbags, pre-tensioners, passenger seat occupancy, seatbelt warning then you will need the following :-
- 2 x Seatbelt Chime and warning light stoppers/resistors: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chime-and-warning-light...
- 4 x resistors for seat airbags and pre-tensioners: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-9-OHMS-SRS-AIRBAG-RES...
- 1 x passenger seat occupancy mat sensor bypass: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airbag-passenger-seat-o... NB. If you buy this one, it includes one free seatbelt chime and warning stopper/resistor so you only need to order one separate one instead of two.
My gear knob and handbrake (emergency brake to you) handle are from Doug Whalen from your side of the pond - have a look at my post here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... They are fantastic quality and the the weight of the know makes the shift much better and it looses the 'rubberiness' of standard. Doug was a pleasure to deal with.
Good luck!
I would get in touch with GSM (aka Sportseats4u) and ask about Orange stitching / no Cobra logo. They will get in contact with Cobra to confirm if necessary - it will be possible, based on my reading up on customisation.
When speaking with GSM ask them to ensure you get the following:-
- Pair of Cobra Nogaros (either street or circuit) to your specification (fabric/leather/colour(s)/painted back/carbon/GRP and stitching colour / logo /no logo)
- Pair of seat bases
- Two pairs of ultra-low side mounts
- Two pairs of runners
- Pair of Cobra seat belt clips
- All required fixings
- Installation diagram
- Agree on whether you are sending heating pads to Cobra for install
The heating elements that I used are OE MIni from the dealer (I did not strip my seats). Make sure you get the JWC bucket elements as I believe these will be narrower and are the ones I used.
My side mounts are steel.
If you are not coding out the errors for seat airbags, pre-tensioners, passenger seat occupancy, seatbelt warning then you will need the following :-
- 2 x Seatbelt Chime and warning light stoppers/resistors: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chime-and-warning-light...
- 4 x resistors for seat airbags and pre-tensioners: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-9-OHMS-SRS-AIRBAG-RES...
- 1 x passenger seat occupancy mat sensor bypass: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airbag-passenger-seat-o... NB. If you buy this one, it includes one free seatbelt chime and warning stopper/resistor so you only need to order one separate one instead of two.
My gear knob and handbrake (emergency brake to you) handle are from Doug Whalen from your side of the pond - have a look at my post here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... They are fantastic quality and the the weight of the know makes the shift much better and it looses the 'rubberiness' of standard. Doug was a pleasure to deal with.
Good luck!
Hi Christopher,
Got your email - you won't have any issue with seat travel on the runners as they give just as much movement as the OE seats forward and back.
I ordered my seat heating elements (two per seat) from my local Mini dealer and shipped them over to Cobra (only to have them sent back again, though to be fair, Cobra offered immediately to take my seats back to be reworked to add the heating pads but I elected to fit the myself). I suppose you could ring up a Mini dealer near to them and order / pay over the phone and either get the dealer to deliver / post them, or for Cobra to collect them. I presume the US fit items are exactly the same as the UK...
Please share pics when you get them.
What's the latest on availability of orange stitching and no logo (though I actually like the Cobra logo, so wanted to have that myself!). Also, are you going 'Street' or 'Circuit' and what about carbon fibre, or having the seatbacks painted Spice Orange?...
Got your email - you won't have any issue with seat travel on the runners as they give just as much movement as the OE seats forward and back.
I ordered my seat heating elements (two per seat) from my local Mini dealer and shipped them over to Cobra (only to have them sent back again, though to be fair, Cobra offered immediately to take my seats back to be reworked to add the heating pads but I elected to fit the myself). I suppose you could ring up a Mini dealer near to them and order / pay over the phone and either get the dealer to deliver / post them, or for Cobra to collect them. I presume the US fit items are exactly the same as the UK...
Please share pics when you get them.
What's the latest on availability of orange stitching and no logo (though I actually like the Cobra logo, so wanted to have that myself!). Also, are you going 'Street' or 'Circuit' and what about carbon fibre, or having the seatbacks painted Spice Orange?...
Hi Christopher,
Here are the side mounts that I ordered from GSM :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/cobra-bmw-m...
However, that is not what came in the box from Cobra... They sent the ultra-low varients that you can see in my pics and also the bases and runners to match (even though I had not specifically ordered bases or runners!).
It became a little complex in that the runners they sent, well, I struggled with my own sanity thinking I was stupid as I could not get them to fit. It transpired that they sent narrow gauge runners as opposed to wide, so they did not allow for the width of the seats.
When I sent them a pic of me crying into my Nogaros, they realised what was wrong and dispatched a wider set (essentially the bar that goes between the runners to allow you to move the seats back and forth is longer and hence the runners are pushed further apart to allow the side mounts to encapsulate the seat base and the runners to line up with the holes in the metal bases).
I was rather pleased with the whole setup as I'd originally expected to have to fix the side mounts directly to the floor allowing no seat movement, but this is much better.
There are so many applications and nuances, that I'm sure it's a bit tricky to get this 100% right, but hopefully Cobra will recall what they needed to ship to make sure you have what you need to complete your little jigsaw puzzle
Here are the side mounts that I ordered from GSM :-
https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/product/cobra-bmw-m...
However, that is not what came in the box from Cobra... They sent the ultra-low varients that you can see in my pics and also the bases and runners to match (even though I had not specifically ordered bases or runners!).
It became a little complex in that the runners they sent, well, I struggled with my own sanity thinking I was stupid as I could not get them to fit. It transpired that they sent narrow gauge runners as opposed to wide, so they did not allow for the width of the seats.
When I sent them a pic of me crying into my Nogaros, they realised what was wrong and dispatched a wider set (essentially the bar that goes between the runners to allow you to move the seats back and forth is longer and hence the runners are pushed further apart to allow the side mounts to encapsulate the seat base and the runners to line up with the holes in the metal bases).
I was rather pleased with the whole setup as I'd originally expected to have to fix the side mounts directly to the floor allowing no seat movement, but this is much better.
There are so many applications and nuances, that I'm sure it's a bit tricky to get this 100% right, but hopefully Cobra will recall what they needed to ship to make sure you have what you need to complete your little jigsaw puzzle
Here is a close-up pic of one of my side mounts. Note, the two holes at the rear and two slots at the front to give a little adjustment. As you can see, I have gone for the most reclined position (bottom hole at the back, top slot at the front).
Hopefully that will help GSM/Cobra confirm the type that you need.
Hopefully that will help GSM/Cobra confirm the type that you need.
You do need all of the items I mentioned in prev post inc. runners :-
When speaking with GSM ask them to ensure you get the following:-
- Pair of Cobra Nogaros (either street or circuit) to your specification (fabric/leather/colour(s)/painted back/carbon/GRP and stitching colour / logo /no logo)
- Pair of seat bases
- Two pairs of ultra-low side mounts
- Two pairs of runners
- Pair of Cobra seat belt clips
- All required fixings
- Installation diagram
- Agree on whether you are sending heating pads to Cobra for install
When speaking with GSM ask them to ensure you get the following:-
- Pair of Cobra Nogaros (either street or circuit) to your specification (fabric/leather/colour(s)/painted back/carbon/GRP and stitching colour / logo /no logo)
- Pair of seat bases
- Two pairs of ultra-low side mounts
- Two pairs of runners
- Pair of Cobra seat belt clips
- All required fixings
- Installation diagram
- Agree on whether you are sending heating pads to Cobra for install
Hi, some further clarification...
- Seat bases bolt directly to the floor (they are fabricated square metal fixings about an inch high)
- Runners/sliders bolt to the top of the seat bases
- Side mounts bolt to the top (moving part of the runners/sliders)
- Seat bolts to the side mounts
Hi again, if you look at the seat bases in my diagram, the look exactly like the ones Cobra supplied and they have a "FRM-07" reference for these in the table.
The GSM pic is not of the same type of base that I have, but as you note this could just be a generic pic. I think GSM should be able to now sort this with Cobra for you so you get the right items - they have done ot for me, though I did step in and contact Cobra direct when I could not complete my build due to incorrect runners. They were very helpful, dredged up that diagram and sent on the correct runners.
Keep the chin up
The GSM pic is not of the same type of base that I have, but as you note this could just be a generic pic. I think GSM should be able to now sort this with Cobra for you so you get the right items - they have done ot for me, though I did step in and contact Cobra direct when I could not complete my build due to incorrect runners. They were very helpful, dredged up that diagram and sent on the correct runners.
Keep the chin up
Did you get the OEM Mini heating elements from the JCW buckets (rather than standard seats) sourced and installed ok within the seat cushions?
The wait is probably getting to you now. I hope thy manage to get all the right fixings out to you first time too! I still am loving my Cobras and look forward to seeing your pics post install.
The wait is probably getting to you now. I hope thy manage to get all the right fixings out to you first time too! I still am loving my Cobras and look forward to seeing your pics post install.
Hi all, just wanted to alert you to my car now being in the classifieds here :-
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13107967
It truly is exeptional, but I only have room for two. I know I will likely regret this, so be quick
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13107967
It truly is exeptional, but I only have room for two. I know I will likely regret this, so be quick
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