Is my heated steering wheel working correctly?

[Crash513]

This question is directed at anyone who has a heated wheel on their E70. Now that I' m taking some extended trips in cold climates, I'm finally starting to use my heated wheel on longer dives. What I have noticed is that the wheel heats up quickly, and stays quite warm for some several minutes. However, after a while, the wheel seems to radiate heat at a much lower temperature. You might say it starts off almost hot, then drops down to mildly warm. If I shit it off for a few minutes, then turn it back on, the cycle repeats.

What I' m wondering is whether this is the way the heated wheel is designed to function, or if maybe mine is actually malfunctioning. Any knowledgeable insights would be much appreciated.

[dejavu]

Mine acts the same. Talked to my SA and he says it is normal. It is temperature dependent.

[cmyX6go]

The heat intensity on all my heated steering wheels has been different, but they maintained the temperature.

My '08 E70 barely heated up. My '10 X6 was really hot. Current '13 X6///M is somewhere in between.

Have it checked out the next time you're in for service.

[ard]

I think it is reacting to how you turn it off....

Originally Posted by Crash513

This question is directed at anyone who has a heated wheel on their E70. Now that I' m taking some extended trips in cold climates, I'm finally starting to use my heated wheel on longer dives. What I have noticed is that the wheel heats up quickly, and stays quite warm for some several minutes. However, after a while, the wheel seems to radiate heat at a much lower temperature. You might say it starts off almost hot, then drops down to mildly warm. If I shit it off for a few minutes, then turn it back on, the cycle repeats.

[deemer]

Me E70 steering wheel is only hot at 3 and 9 position. Rest of the wheel barely feels warm at all. My SA said it is normal. My E60 gets really hot evenly across the entire wheel. Not happy with the heated E70 steering wheel at all.

[brian5]

My steering wheel gets hot and stays hot. If I'm driving awhile, I have to turn it off.

EDIT: Was driving for a while yesterday so I checked it again. The entire wheel heated evenly. Maybe "hot" is not the right word to have used but it gets warmer than I need.

[Crash513]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I did a little more reasearch and it does seem like the wheels on different models behave a little differently. It does seem, however, that most people with E70's have wheels that heat up just the areas around the spokes (2/3 and 9/10 areas). I've also found lots of complaints about the wheels on these cars just not getting as warm as people expect (unlike Brian5). Now I'm really curious, so when I get home in a few days, I'm going to compare mine to my wifes's F10 5 seriies.

The only other information I could find is that apparenlty there was a software change in '10 to address cold starts where heated wheel, seat heaters, and defrosters all running at once pull too much current for the battery to handle. I did not find reference to what this actual change did, but my guess is that this delays the activation of the heated wheel for a short interval, even if it's switched on right at start up. I'm going to talk to my SA about this and see what he can find out. I'll post whatever I learn from this.

Thanks again all.

P.S. Ard - Good catch. From now on I will try to shut down my accessories and not shit them down.

[Thunder22]

The only other information I could find is that apparenlty there was a software change in '10 to address cold starts where heated wheel, seat heaters, and defrosters all running at once pull too much current for the battery to handle.

Once the car is started, battery draw shouldn't be a factor. If those systems are over-drawing I would assume they would pop a fuse or over tax the alternator, not the battery.

[Crash513]

Technically, I suppose it actually is the alternator that's being overtaxed once the engine is running, not the battery. In any event, I'm hoping BMW would consider that there are maniacs like me that actually turn everyting on all at once to get the car warm (both defrosters, all 4 seats, and the wheel).

Maybe this is one reason Audi is announcing the effort (again) to bring 36 or 48v based power to market as a new standard in the next few years.

[jeremym]

Originally Posted by brian5

My steering wheel gets hot and stays hot. If I'm driving awhile, I have to turn it off.

+1