E30 Zone

Hi guys, I have recently bought a very nice black leather recaro interior for my cab.. connected the live feed from the 12v cigar lighter. . Power is going to seats.. but they are not heating up? On futher investigation, I removed the rear seat covers and discovered that the elements are in a bad state and actually broken at some joints???

Any idea what I action I should take to repair/replace these??


Thanks in advance

Stressed!!!!!

25 year old heated seat elements are crap! You need to replace them, and original BMW is the best way. Buy new from BMW.

If you dont have the necessary cabling and switching I have the kits at £95 btw

Thanks for the replies!

I have the correct switching, the factory loom etc.. plug and play..

What exactly do I get with your kit?

I live in Sheffield and don't want to attempt this repair myself. ..

Has anyone local to me carried out this replacement of elements?

If you have the loom and switches, then thats all you need. You only needs the elements from BMW, Cotswold on here might be the cheapest for you. Fitting is either diy or a trimmers job.

Cheers pal

For a start, if you have the correct looms then I doubt you should getting the power from the fag lighter?

diable wrote:

B7 wrote:For a start, if you have the correct looms then I doubt you should getting the power from the fag lighter?

It should plug in to the accessory socket.

Dedicated wire from fuse 16 to the socket, and fed from unloader relay K5.
I've seen a few cars where this wire is not fitted. If there is no metal bucket for the fuse leg visible in the outer socket for fuse 16, your car is one of these.
Short circuit protection is inadequate if fed from the cigarette lighter.

Now I am confused. ..

So what your saying is that, I should use fuse 16 for supply power?

The guy I bought them off told me to connect to the 12v, and fuse it down to 15a.. lol

Anyone know of a competent person in or around Sheffield who can do this for me the right way? ?

Last thing I want is a fire..

Also where is this accessory socket located? ?

Also where is this accessory socket located? ?

m3beast wrote:
The guy I bought them off told me to connect to the 12v, and fuse it down to 15a.. lol

Unfortunately, the 30A fuse for the cigarette lighter also feeds the windows and roof with a front door open, so is likely to pop a 15A fuse, especially if the heated seats are on.

Your loom should look like this :

Looks exactly like that!

Im going to pop into bmw tomorrow and inquire about the new elements. . Hopefully won't be too expensive

m3beast wrote:Looks exactly like that!

Im going to pop into bmw tomorrow and inquire about the new elements. . Hopefully won't be too expensive

Ask cotswold on here, discount and free delivery too.

How do I contact him?

Do you have his number please?

Cotswold BMW dealers

They have a thread on here or just google them

Thanks pal

m3beast wrote:How do I contact him?

Do you have his number please?

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... forum&f=39

Just click on new topic and ask away!

diable wrote:

m3beast wrote: Im going to pop into bmw tomorrow and inquire about the new elements. . Hopefully won't be too expensive

ha ha ha ha

£50 for the base element, eight years ago.

Lol I think you've already been there pal??

Lol

Im going to attempt this diy job! Hopefully it'll catch fire with mrs in the car lol

Killing two birds with one stone..

I've done this a few times. It's not difficult but it is time-consuming and fiddly.

Is the repair all carried out from behind the seat?

Do I have to remove any of the leather?

Any special tools needed?

Thanks

The seats will need breaking down,leathers stripped off and a pair of hog ring pliers and a bag of new hog rings.

What!!!!! No way??? This is beyond my capabilities!

Anyone around Yorkshire who can do this for me?

Are these genuine Recaros or sports seats, alot of people get them confused

Definitely sports seats. .