Newbie - retro fitted heated seats

M

MichaelPorter80

Member
 Winchester Hamphire
HI everyone, newbie to the forum and to BMW!!!

I have just picked up a Z4 57 plate roadster from Sytner BMW High Wycombe, and before i got it i had cruise control and heated seats retrofitted. I am contacting the dealer on this but just want to make sure i'm not going to make a fool of myself by missing something obvious.

They have a switch on the side of the seat which has 3 settings on a roller switch
bottom down = on warm
middle = off
top down = on hot
there is also what looks like a light on the switch as well but i haven't seen it come on (another reason why i think there may be something wrong)

Now i don't know if anyone else has these seats, but and i am worried i am missing something. I can't tell if they are heating i have sat in both seats and waited and waited and nothing seems to happen but sometimes when driving with the top down, i feel like they are heating fine.

Is there another switch somewhere, are they affected by the temp setting on the climate control, or are they just not working.

Any help would be great even if it is to tell me that i am an idiot and they are just not working.
Is the light supposed to come on?
are these seats BMW standard?
does the car have to be in a certain setting for them to work?

thanks for any advice

80
 
Hi and welcome, doesnt sound as if OEM heated seat function has been retrofitted as the switch would be in the centre console.

With the OEM heated seats it is very obvious if they are working or not even on the lowest of the three settings.

Looks as if you need to take it back to the supplying dealer. :cry:
 
My switches are in the centre console. 3 settings ranging from "warm" to "feel like I have wet myself" - you can't miss the sensation, so it sounds like a trip back to Sytner is required.

I got my 2.5 from them a month ago - good crowd, they will sort it for you.

Being incredibly nosey - how much did they charge for the cruise control?

Welcome to the forum!

Cheers

Martin
 
You can retrofit CC yourself for around £80 for the stork and wiring loom required for 04 cars onwards, BMW will normally want around £300 to install IIRC, but this will vary if you asked for it be installed when buying the car as you can negociate.
 
Interesting retro fit - would be good to see some pics, since as per Steve - this is not OEM.

Welcome! :)

Jamie
 
Switch on the side of the seat??? Weird! Have they disconnected the electric movement buttons and turned them into heating buttons?! :lol:

God knows :?
 
I had heated seats retro fitted and they have switches like you describe. They are made by (I think) Waco who I am told are the people who supply BMW. I was able to choose where the switches went (I have them in the removable panel above where the normal switches would be). On the warm setting they are very good. On the hot setting they are so hot that only sausages or my wife can stand it! There is no light comes on but there is no doubt that the seats are working.

Incidentally this version of heated seats cost a fraction of what the BMW ones do but they seem to do the job well.
 
Welcome

You should feel a definate, distinct heat from ANY type of heated seat - even the lowest setting on the BMW ones is enough to feel. I'm sure mine feel warmer/heat up faster with the engine running though, not sure if anyone else notices this, but might be worth you trying that if you haven't already?

Certainly sounds like yours aren't OEM/BMW ones - OEM switches are in the panel where the roof controls and DSC button are. Also, you should check which parts of the seat heat up: should be the base AND the lower part of the back section.
 
jamiez said:
Interesting retro fit - would be good to see some pics, since as per Steve - this is not OEM.

Welcome! :)

Jamie
Click to expand...

+1 on the pics! Also, are they electrically operated as well?

And yes, welcome to the forum :thumbsup:
 
:D
Wow guys thats a great response to my first post!!! I'll put some pictures on as soon as i figure out how to do it! (help appreciated)

I have called Sytner and they are on the case (will report back) I think i have established that they are definitely not working at the moment, may be a fuse or something but I'm not going to have a look myself as i might as well stare at the boot lid for half a hour for all the good it would do me (I'm technically inept).

Glad someone else has the same fitting, and i'm not a guinea pig! my seats are manual sport seats so the switch goes in between the 2nd and 3rd adjustment lever and is very convenient (if the bloody things worked!)

I'm not precious on costs friends. :)
Heated seats cost me a round £586.33 inc VAT
Cruise Control was £361.70
 
:roll:

I figured I was paying for the best car i've ever had, that was the spec i wanted so hey ho you only live once!! They told me they discounted it off the value of the car but I'm no idiot so i asked for it all split out, i did get a few other things thrown in so mustn't Grumble eh!!

Thanks for the picture link i will take some tonight!

M
 
hey as long as you are happy :thumbsup:

before owning this car I would not have dreamt of doing half the stuff I have done so far (cruise included - albeit a simpler job on mine than it wouldve been on yours). I insisted the car had a CD changer added when I bought mine, which the dealer fitted at a cost of £500 which was actually taken off the price cos Id seen the price of the car before agreeing that.

They are great cars :D
 
I'm in love with it, bit rattlier than i expected at times but hey i just turn up the music!

I have figured the pictures out! have a signature and everything!

IMG_2093-1.jpg

Exhibition polish and Autoglym valeted at the weekend!
 
Hmm nice and shiny!

£361 for the CC - mmmm. Not sure if I am confident enough to fiddle with loom on mine - being a mechanical numpty and all!

Surprising how much I miss CC - especially in roadworks with average speed cameras!
 
i think i would attempt the CC myself for that price. luckily mine came with it. and your seats are definitely not working - i cant put mine on hot - makes the seats too hot to sit on. but your dealer should fix em up for free
 
****Update*****

As soon as Synter High Wycombe were aware the company rang me straight away (i have been very impressed by them so far. bob Clark in sales seems like a good egg.)

Seats were fitted by Trim Technik, it seems there is a problem, and they aren't working as there should be a LED light showing on the switch when on, amber when on warm and red when on hot, the techy guy started to tell me all the places to look for problems in the electrics, and i responded by saying it would be better if you looked!

They are coming to have a shufty next thursday so i reckon problem will be solved! thanks again for the help, photos will follow when i get around to it!

Thanks

Mike
 
So problem solved! it appears when he fitted the seats he wired it too close to one of the manual adjustment handles so when i moved the seat to adjust it all the wiring was ripped out of the switch... DOH!!!

so new switch and re-wired both seats and Viola! warm seats as planned!

thanks for all your help everyone! photos will follow! apologies

Mike
 
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