E70 Heated steering retrofit DIY

[klwill1192]

I completed the heated steering wheel retrofit on my 2012 X5 today. First of all, thanks to Mundo74 for the highly detailed instructions. Without those I probably would not have tried it.

I ended up going with the alternate wiring Mundo74 mentioned at the end of his instructions, and I think it may have made the task a bit easier. Here is my supplement to his instructions based on what I did.

1) I removed the center dashboard trim piece to get access to the X10170 connector on the back of the climate control. This connector uses the same socket terminal (61131393724) as the coil spring cartridge connector. I added a socket terminal and (white) wire to pin 12 of that connector.




2) For +12V, I used the F12 fuse location--the designated fuse for the steering wheel heating element. There was no fuse in that location initially, so I plugged in an add-a-circuit fuse tap with a 10A fuse in the top slot. I ran the (red) wire out the back of the fuse box, friction taped it to an existing harness and fed it into the center dashboard area. There was no need to use a 12V relay for the power connection.



3) I friction taped my +12V wire and my heating/AC wire together and fed them through to the steering column. I used a small fish tape to make running the wires very easy. Well worth the $10 investment.



4) I trimmed the wires, added terminals and plugged the +12V wire into pin 9 and the heating/AC control wire into pin 12 of the new 12-pin coil spring cartridge connector.

5) I removed the hood release handle and kick panel trim piece, then pulled back the carpet and insulation to get to one of the ground points there. I added a (black) wire with a ring terminal to the ground point, then ran the wire up to pin 7 of the new coil spring cartridge connector.



6) I added $248 to the VO in the CAS and FRM modules.

7) I changed the LHZ (steering wheel heating) code in the IHKA module from nicht_aktiv to aktiv. This step is REQUIRED if you run pin 12 to the heating/AC instead of grounding it.

8) While I had the steering wheel off, I put my multimeter across pins 4 and 6 of the X01003 connector on the steering column. Much to my delight, I saw 5VDC between those pins, confirming that my car is wired to support paddle shifters.





9) I had to reset the SRS fault code with INPA because I reconnected the battery for testing while the airbag was disconnected, which triggered a fault.

I'm now looking for a good deal on a heated Sport steering wheel with paddle shifters for the next upgrade. I'll also need a new airbag cover, but I will be able to use my existing airbag. This upgrade will be much simpler that the heated steering wheel retrofit.

Thanks again to Mundo74 for doing the initial groundwork for this retrofit.