Heated seats and alternators...

Mon Apr 14, 2014 8:25 am

Hello, did e30's with heated seats as standard come bit bigger alternators?

If so what amps were they or does anyone know a good upgrade todo?

Cheers

Neil

Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:16 am

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... Alternator

Mon Apr 14, 2014 10:13 am

Grrrmachine wrote:http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... Alternator

Wiki error alert! A higher rated alternator takes no more power to drive it than a smaller one, for a given load. It only takes more power IF you are using the extra power that the bigger unit is capable of generating.

Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:42 am

Cool, thanks... I'll have good read later. Which models had the 95amp alternator? If from an M20 could I fit this to an M42?

Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:44 pm

I fitted heated seats to my 325i still on the standard alternator no problem at all

Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:46 pm

I don't know the exact rating of E30 heated seats, but the fuse (#16) is rated at 15A, so the consumption with be a little less than this.
It's highly unlikely you'll run into any problems using a 80A alternator.
If you're thinking of fitting heated seats, check that there is a bucket for a fuse in the outer side of fuse #16's socket. On some cars the wire from here to the accessories socket isn't fitted.

Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:02 am

heathy325 wrote:I fitted heated seats to my 325i still on the standard alternator no problem at all

Maybe thats because you started with a 325i? .... Better alternator to start off with?

I've already fitted heated seats last year. My battery always goes flat... like within 2 days I think my alternators excite must always be on or something... Since I did an M42 engine swap and a bit of wiring needed to be done with not a fat lot of time and information, but it worked and its been that way ever since! I have a new loom to fit just have no time, but its fine so long you drive it daily which I do, most of the time.

Anyway this isn’t why I ask... it’s because when the car is idling and I have everything on i.e. heated seats, heated windscreen, headlights, music and blower etc with a multi meter you can watch the battery voltage start to drop and then eventually the radio starts cutting out and bad things happen. This happens sometimes when driving at night, Dash goes all dim and yeah it’s not good. Just turn things off and keep driving.

Basically it can't cope. It's only a 65A and probably not working too well.

Does anyone know if an M20 80A alternator would fit to an M42?