[saxguy]

Are there shorter versions of the rear headrests available?

[jwmuscat]

You can flip them down, I do that and it works well

[saxguy]

I can do that on the convertible?

[EE60]

Originally Posted by saxguy

I can do that on the convertible?

I removed mine

There are even little plastic plugs you can get on amazon to fill the holes

[Plynth2697]

That's really good to know. Can you please provide the name of the product and/or link? Many thanks...

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by EE60

I removed mine

There are even little plastic plugs you can get on amazon to fill the holes

Are they easy to remove? I could not figure out how to get them to pull up.

[BEM-S4]

Get the dealer to remove the headrests for you, takes them 2 minutes. Then get these plugs. They are a tiny bit loose so wrap 1-2x with fabric tape before installing.

Uxcell a15050500ux0904 HP-16 Black Nylon Round Snap in Mounting Locking 5/8" Panel Hole Cover (Pack of 10) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HFUT7K..._qkA0CbNEZQB48

[Doug Hoover]

I removed mine.
Keep pushing on the ring that allows adjustments.
A bit hard but doable.

[Plynth2697]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Get the dealer to remove the headrests for you, takes them 2 minutes. Then get these plugs. They are a tiny bit loose so wrap 1-2x with fabric tape before installing.

Uxcell a15050500ux0904 HP-16 Black Nylon Round Snap in Mounting Locking 5/8" Panel Hole Cover (Pack of 10) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HFUT7K..._qkA0CbNEZQB48

Easy peasy. Thanks, Bem...You're The Man.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Plynth2697

Easy peasy. Thanks, Bem...You're The Man.

...and of course, then only carry rear passengers (if any?) whose heads don't rise above the height of the seatback!

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

...and of course, then only carry rear passengers (if any?) whose heads don't rise above the height of the seatback!

Good luck finding someone who could actually fit back there. Vert is much smaller than coupe. I use the seat for the pup which is perfect but he's all of 14 lbs.

[msej449]

There's a lot of variation in the rear headrest on the 2 Series convertible, by both geography and year. I did a video for my 2016 UK M235i below, where it's very easy to pull the headrests out. Other owners report their setup being far more difficult. Some posts report having to reveal the slider mechanism and loosen the retaining plate etc. - the setup seems to vary a lot.

One point worth noting is that in an accident, the roll-over bars will pop up with considerable force: with no or the wrong headrest, they could seriously injure your rear passengers. My understanding is that in a collision, the car doesn't necessarily have to roll over to engage the mechanism. Apart from any legal liability, I'm sure you'd not want to do that to your passengers if you could help it.

So I do remove them from time to time, but I still keep them in the boot in case I need to reinstate them for unplanned passengers.

It's a shame no one seems to have come up with a hard tonneau for the 2 Series convertible. Doing some research, it seems that you can get them for a variety of popular models, not just a Rolls Royce:



Apparently, the RR one is carbon fibre and locakable, so you can leave stuff in it. You can see that the RR has pop-up roll-over bars like my M235i and the hard cover still leaves these exposed. I even thought about commissioning a local fabricator to make something, as the 'vert has internal retention lugs for the wind break that you could use to secure any cover. But in the end I couldn't be bothered and I assume RR have done wind tunnel etc testing as well to make sure it works.

AS an aside: I tend to leave my wind break in a lot of the time, even with the top up, as it's good for obscuring anything sitting on the back seat. I'd agree that especially with the wind break lying flat in the back, the lines look cleaner without the rear headrests.

[CP911]

Never knew this was a problem. I just fold mine (in my coupe) and they are low profile enough for me to have a nice unobstructed view through the rear window.

[msej449]

Originally Posted by CP911

Never knew this was a problem. I just fold mine (in my coupe) and they are low profile enough for me to have a nice unobstructed view through the rear window.

The OP says he has a convertible, and in my and I assume his case, the rear headrests don't fold down: they only move vertically, or can be removed as in the video. Presumably, this is something to do with the pop-up roll-over bar needing clear space. The tendency is for many convertible owners to remove them completely, but this requires you to put them back if the seat is occupied. It looks like BMW have decided to make it extremely difficult to remove US model headrests (judging by a lot of posts), in order perhaps to avoid legal issues if a passenger is injured in a headrest-removed car, when the rear part of their skull is sliced-off.

[p912guy]

As I've mentioned in other posts, my rear headrests have been removed since I purchased my car. I've never had anyone in the back seat and don't expect to ever have anyone back there. If the extremely unlikely situation arises in which I'd have a back seat passenger, I carry the headrests in the rear foot-well behind the driver's seat in small bag, so they are readily available if needed. I also keep the wind break screen installed all the time, so I would need to remove it before someone could ride in the back seat too.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by p912guy

As I've mentioned in other posts, my rear headrests have been removed since I purchased my car. I've never had anyone in the back seat and don't expect to ever have anyone back there. If the extremely unlikely situation arises in which I'd have a back seat passenger, I carry the headrests in the rear foot-well behind the driver's seat in small bag, so they are readily available if needed. I also keep the wind break screen installed all the time, so I would need to remove it before someone could ride in the back seat too.

Common sense seems to be in short supply these days, pretty much universally. If you're not using your rear seats for anything, removing the headrests makes the car safer since it's easier to see out the back. If you do that, guess what... just don't let anybody sit back there unless you put the headrests back in!

The only possible cause for concern is if you lend your car to someone without saying anything to them then they have people back there, but again common sense solves the issue.

[CP911]

Originally Posted by msej449

The OP says he has a convertible, and in my and I assume his case, the rear headrests don't fold down: they only move vertically, or can be removed as in the video. Presumably, this is something to do with the pop-up roll-over bar needing clear space. The tendency is for many convertible owners to remove them completely, but this requires you to put them back if the seat is occupied. It looks like BMW have decided to make it extremely difficult to remove US model headrests (judging by a lot of posts), in order perhaps to avoid legal issues if a passenger is injured in a headrest-removed car, when the rear part of their skull is sliced-off.

Ah thanks for taking the time to explain. Didn't know the 'vert was any different, but it makes sense. Would have been nice if they engineered the pop-up bar to work around a folded headrest somehow.

[msej449]

@CP911 No problem and you'd think the designers would have made the headrest part of the seatback, not the rear shelf, thus avoiding these issues. It's like they ran out of time/money to come up with an elegant solution that would work for both coupé and 'vert. In more expensive 'verts, you get an electric integral headrest that moves up if the seat is occupied. In my other car, the headrests are manual and only slide up/down, but in the down position overlap against the seat back so have a smaller profile. I'm sure there's a better solution.

[RoundelM3]

Removed my rear headrests from my 2016 228i M-Sport convertible and plugged the holes. With the windscreen in place, nobody can sit in the rear seat anyway. And after 3 years, there's never been a need to carry rear-seat passengers. I have an M3 sedan for that.