Heated Seat Upgrade

[OliverM3]

Well Just finished the heated seats.
Man what a pain to get the wiring under the carpet.

and after all this I picked up the wrong color reupholster seats.
Perl beige not Tan beige.
Oh well they're so nice I may just switch everything else out to Perl beige.
My old seats were terrible my seat didn't go all the way back and something was broke on the right side so it leaned right.
My back would hurt any time I would drive for a long distance.

Overall it wasn’t a bad upgrade the harness plugged right in to the box under the kick panel and the console had predefined cut outs for the switches so doing a nice job cutting the switches was pretty easy.

I also did the z3 screw on antenna this weekend. I hate the power antennas on the e30.

[bigwinn]

Good job fella. Did the same a couple of years ago and concur that the wires under the carpet was a pig...

Not seen the switches placed there before, there are usually cut outs ready to be removed on the centre console where the handbrake is. But it's a decent alternative where you have put them.



Stu

[e301988325i]

That placement is a good idea, if I were to do mine again it's what I'd do. It's much clearer which switch is which seat and it's far more unlikely to accidentally move the switches! Nice job

[adit]

yes, agreed, the switches look good there.
BTW Oliver, your knob looks a funny shape

[bigwinn]

^^



Happens to the best of us Adi...

[corza1]

I agree with the others, where uv placed the switches is a lot better than original! come the glorious day will do the same myself!!! 'smart',

[George]

Good effort, looks like a decent upgrade.

[boomerm20]

Nice looking seats,love the placement of the heated seat switches.

[Topblag]

Are you far from Lancaster in PA ?

[Kieran_n22]

That is really good mate, I want to do the same thing.
But electric aeriels ftw!

[bmw9818]

those seats look nice!, i did the same with mine, spent nearly a grand for the set up after fiddling around with a coat hanger trying to manouver the wires n shit only to find out my seat didnt heat up !

[OliverM3]

Good job fella. Did the same a couple of years ago and concur that the wires under the carpet was a pig...

Not seen the switches placed there before, there are usually cut outs ready to be removed on the centre console where the handbrake is. But it's a decent alternative where you have put them.



Stu

Thanks, You know I never even looked at the console where the handbrake is. I haven't seen to many e30's so I didn't take notice where the factory location was.
I just assumed that the switches went below the power window switches.

And of course I didn't think about testing which switch controlled which seat before putting everything back together, 50/50 shot and I had it wrong I just popped off the shifter boot today and moved the plugs to the correct switch.

[OliverM3]

Are you far from Lancaster in PA ?

About 2 hours in Hatfield PA.

[OliverM3]

those seats look nice!, i did the same with mine, spent nearly a grand for the set up after fiddling around with a coat hanger trying to manouver the wires n shit only to find out my seat didnt heat up !

Man that blows did you ever sort it out?
I was able to pull on the carpet hard enough to deform it just enough to get the wires down by the shifter and come out in the center of the two vents under the seats.
I just ran the main lead up past the heater core and over the column to the connection.
Luckily everything worked when I turned them on.
I picked mine up on e-bay for $275 a piece + 50 to add the heating elements and $106 for the harness Mfg Part# 61121381721 and 2x$62.57 for the switches Mfg#: 61311381208
So $831 + shipping.

I went with a new harness and switches I just didn't want to deal with 25 year old wiring from junk yard.

The setup called for a relay but I couldn't find it and apparently didn't need it. Also the fuse was already in place I don't know why.

I have to say zoomzoomzoom-ing on e-bay really sold me some nice seats they feel like brand new seats.

[OliverM3]

yes, agreed, the switches look good there.
BTW Oliver, your knob looks a funny shape

It's on the list to replace. It is an ugly knob.
I'll probably do it when I replace the shifter and bushings.
It's so sloppy now that when I put it in reverse I have to push it so far to the left that It moves the console just to get it in reverse.

[Daryll]

Nice. As above. You've located the heated switch buttons in a perfect place using the rear window switch holes. Nice work. I always thought the centre console mounting was wierd.

[OliverM3]

Here you go the beautiful before shot.
I took the seat cover off tonight.