Rear Heated Seats Retrofit
 

Hi,

Has anyone tried putting switches in to enable rear heated seats? I know that my car has heated seats (rear) but not hooked up. I have already ordered switches and a new switch cover. Keeping my fingers crossed till the parts arrive and I open everything up to see. If somebody has done it I would appreciate some reassurance. BTW I have a 35D with Premium package and cold weather (heated front seats, heated steering wheel, front heated seats, headlight washer).

I am confused, If your car has heated rear seats why wouldn't they be hooked up? You either have the option or you don't...........right?:dunno:

All rear seats have built in heaters (atleast the leather ones). There are no separate part numbers for heated or non-heated seats. They are not hooked up at the factory as the option was not ordered. My guess is that they can be hooked up if all the other wiring is in place by ordering switches and perhaps recoding. A lot of people have done it on E53s.

I did not know that. Thanks .

Very interested in this. Good luck. I will be following this thread.

Has anyone had success with this?

that would be great.. Im sure it can be done!! Who is gonna try it?

Many people said that about my X3 as well. I figured I would buy the switches and hook them up, but before I did, I pulled the rear seat to make sure the heating elements were actually there. They weren't. The wiring harness wasn't there either. I believe the confusion came about because the parts book only shows 'with heating elements' for all vehicles. That would save them stocking double the number of parts. They essentially charge you for the elements whether you need them or not when you buy replacement covers. It doesn't mean they only built them that way though. Let us know what you find out when you open your seats, the E70 X5 could be different than the E83 X3.

I haven't pulled the rear seats off as of yet (it is too cold out to do any sort of DIY projects). I did see the part number for the wiring harness (in case I need one, not sure if it is the harness or wiring of the heating elements itself). The part numbers are as follows, if anyone is interested:


61 31 6 988 957 - switch x 2
51 16 6 963 374 - switch cover
61126975451 - wiring harness (L)
61126975454 - wiring harness (R)

Hopefully the American built E70s have the heated seats as opposed to the the Austrian built E83s. I would indeed be disappointed if I find otherwise!

It isn't a big job to check, just lift the rear seat squab, the bottom piece, straight up.

The American built E53s didn't appear to have the heaters built in, so I don't know why the E70s would. Seems like a cost that the manufacturer could avoid, and they were pretty good at trimming things out of the E70 builds to cut costs (like tools, storage area props, etc)

Ok, finally decided to check for wires. As I have the 3rd row option I couldn't simply pull up the seat. I actually just raised it up so I could take a peak inside. I did see some wires but not sure if those are for switches indicating the seats are locked in place or for the heater. Judging by the wire gauge, I think they are for the switches. Does someone have 3rd row option with heated seats who can look under the seat and perhaps take a picture? I will try to post a picture tomorrow during the day.

Is this one of those things that would require reprogramming for it to work? I only ask, because my front heated seats are controlled by iDrive and probably wouldn't switch on if it wasn't programmed at the stealership.

I do, I'll try and get a pic for you tonight when my wife gets home with the X5. When you post up the pictures, be sure and highlight what you want me to take pictures of so I get you the info you're looking for.

Cool...:popcorn: I am just about to add this option to my order (112) it would suck if there is everything you need already build in a car but the switches.

Just go to your dealer and pull up the rear seat of a vehicle without heated rear seats. Takes 30 seconds. See if the seat has the heating pads in it and the wires hanging out of the cushions. Switches are easy to add if that is all it needs. It is the heating elements that are expensive.

What would really help are pictures of the wires coming out of the cushions, ie the wires from the heating elements. Also a shot of the rear floor under the seat cushion, showing the wiring harness leading to those elements.

No problem, I'll get the photos up later tonight.

Ok here are a few pics I just took. Some are blurry, but others you can pretty much get the idea of whats going on. Let me know if you need any others.

I definitely do not have those wires. I will call the parts dept. to see what is needed to complete this project.

Most likely you will need new seat covers with heating elements in them.

As mentioned above, the factory build has heated and non-heated...but for replacement parts they just stock the heated ones.

Those passengers must be awfully valuable:D

What are the costs to do this if the wires are there (assuming they are for heat elements in seats)?

Here what I see under our rear heated seats.

any news about this project ?

Unfortunately my car does is not pre-wired nor are the heatcovers heated. Probably will have to go the after market route.

It is pretty cheap to do aftermarket, just wish I could have the factory buttons to look nice
Seat Heater for Cars and Trucks from HeatedSeatKits.com

Just curious, but living in a Cold Weather climate like you do ( I know because I have vacationed there ), why wouldn't you order/purchase your vehicle with these already ?

Rear heated seats was an option but with comfort access and 4-zone climate control which was costing another $3100. I never had a car with any heated seats so didn't actually know how good they would be so I passed on getting the comfort package. After sitting on front heated seats during -14 degree Celsius I truly understood their benefit and regretted on not getting the comfort package! Hence the need to retrofit in the rear.

I see. Yeah, once you go through the experience/pleasure of having it, you never make the mistake of NOT getting it. I got it on a vehicle that I bought in 2002. I live in Southern California, and they still come in handy !

Hey, curious how this ended up going. Did you get BMW parts to retrofit rear heated seats or did you end up getting an aftermarket kit?

I gave up on the idea as it was too demanding (parts wise). I still haven't done anything but would probably go the aftermarket route.

Bumping an old thread. Wondering if anyone has actually completed this project?

Get my X5 back tomorrow and I have comfort package w/o rear heated seats but I'm curious to see if it's pre wired. I'll check this weekend.

Pulled the 2nd row on my LCI X5 (no factory rear heat) and there aren't any visible wires. I think the entire thing needs to be retrofitted. I found a set of oyster heated rear seats on Ebay so I'm wondering if I buy those and the button panel if everything would plug in.

Does anyone know if the rear seat back is heated too? Or just the bottom cushion.

Just cushions.