OEM heated seat conversion

[sprung]

I'm curious what some of you think about this...I got my RT about 2 months ago and being somewhat vertically challenged as far as BMW is concerned (5'9") my requirement for purchasing the bike was a low seat. A wise decision on the dealers part was to offer the low seat they had around for the demo bike.

 

Here's where the story gets good. My RT did not come equipped with the heated seat option. However, the low seat they gave me is ready to warm my buns (there is a connector on the bottom of it). Further investigation led me to the discovery that possibly my bike is wired for a heated seat. A connector that matches the one on the seat is tied off on the left side of the bike frame and has the same color wires going to it as the ones going to the connector on the seat. I'm not positive because I don't have the wire that would connect them but I'm trying to be optimistic.

 

So here's my question, it appears that all I'm missing is the wire to connect the seat, and the switch to send it juice. I'm wondering if anyone with more experience in this area can confirm or deny my assumptions?

 

Any and all comments appreciated.

Thanks,

-Mike-

[sb955i]

ok, just looked at mine, here's a bit of information which may help..

 

Back seat:

There is a four conductor wire coming from the seat, connecting to a plastic connector attached to the mudguard on the left side of the bike just slightly aft of the shock preload brace. It has white+blue, white+yellow, white+green and brown wires. It has a label on it stating K26, KSRO, 470810 04, order 7688 147, S5235ST/d

 

Front seat:

it is wired to another connector, also mounted on the mudguard, just underneath the shock preload brace. It has purple+black, brown wires. The label on it says K26,KSRO, 470809 04, order 7688 145, S5235T.

 

Then of course there'd be the handlbar switch, which I can't help you with. I'm not a mechanic, so I wouldn't have a clue if any computer wizardy would be needed to enable any of this.

 

I guess you could always try to switch on the back seat and see if it shows up on the BC. Your BC should show a diagram in the lower right corner that looks like this _/ If you switch on the back seat, it should look like this _/: on full power.

 

If you were to somehow turn on the front seat on full as well, the BC would look like this :_/:

Good Luck!

[sprung]

Thanks for the input. Based on what you said I have the same connectors installed on my bike, they're just tied off to frame b/c my bike didn't come with heated seats. The colors of the wires and description of the connectors is the same.

 

So I wonder what would happen if I untied the wire for the driver seat and connected it to my accessory low seat which is equipped to be heated? I guess without the switch nothing would happen.

 

But...if I were able to wire that connector directly to the battery and put a switch (or better yet a rheostat) in the line, I don't see why it wouldn't send power to the heating elements in the seat?

 

Ideally, I could order the switch and be able to retrofit that to my grip assembly. There is a little plastic cover that I can take off where the switch would be now. I would have to take the whole assembly apart though to see if the wiring is there to hook the switch up. But considering that the wiring for both seats is there I give it 50% that the wiring is in the grip already too...

 

Can any engineer wanna-be's out there tell me if I'm on to something?

[sb955i]

Not an engineer, but your strategy sounds reasonable. Just a note, the rear seat is switched under the seat and not through the handlebar switch, so if you have that seat now, you can play with that first to see if it at least shows on the BC, and works with the canbus etc. I would guess that the reason the rear seat has four conductors, and the front seat only has two, would be due to that rear seat having an integral switch. Have fun!

[sprung]

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have the rear heated seat, just the front. Since I required the low seat to purchase the bike, the dealer just threw it in last minute from another bike in the showroom and didn't notice/mention/or care that it was the heated version.

 

I need to meet up with someone who has the heated seat option and try their rear seat on my bike to see if the icon shows on the display.

 

Anyone with a rear heated seat live around Alexandria, VA or work in DC?

[weshsu]

Anyone with a rear heated seat live around Alexandria, VA or work in DC?

 

I'm taking delivery of my '06 RT (with heated seats) on Saturday. I live in Ashburn but work in Reston and commute daily by bike. PM me.

 

Wes

[KiwiAdventure]

I think you will find you may have to reprogram the computer. I would ask BMW first before you spend time on what may not work.

[sprung]

Anyone with a rear heated seat live around Alexandria, VA or work in DC?

 

I'm taking delivery of my '06 RT (with heated seats) on Saturday. I live in Ashburn but work in Reston and commute daily by bike. PM me.

 

Wes

 

Congrats on the new bike Wes! I'm pretty new to the BMW bike world myself, I picked up my RT in March. I'm mostly used to it now but still trying to figure things out as you can tell. I'll send you a PM and maybe we can meet up sometime, I'd like to check out your bike and compare notes as you get to know her.

 

Thanks,

-Mike-

[velomoto]

So here's my question, it appears that all I'm missing is the wire to connect the seat, and the switch to send it juice. I'm wondering if anyone with more experience in this area can confirm or deny my assumptions?

 

Any and all comments appreciated.

Thanks,

-Mike-

 

Mike, when I was shopping for my 12RT there was an '05 demo without heated seats (a must-have requirement). The dealer price to retrofit heated seats made the bike more expensive than to order an '06 from the factory. I didn't get a detailed breakout for all the parts, but this did include a new throttle unit with the heater switches.

 

Perhaps the BMW heated seat would work with another aftermarket control? For example could one purchase the Corbin heated seat controller and use with this saddle by changing out the electrical connector?

 

Not sure anyone will be surprised by this, purchasing the Corbin heated saddles would be far less expensive than the quote I was given for a BMW retrofit. I've never sat on a Corbin saddle and have seen varying reviews of Corbin saddles, but would have far greater confidence in one of these being comfortable than my RT's stock saddle!

 

Good luck with which ever path you decide to pursue!

Greg

[weshsu]

I didn't get a detailed breakout for all the parts, but this did include a new throttle unit with the heater switches.

 

I was shocked when I heard the same thing. Here's a price list that my dealer gave me:

 

Heated Seat Switch (w/o OBC): $264.05 installed

Heated Seat Switch (w/ OBC): $279.35 installed

 

Heated Driver Seat: $247.85 installed

Heated Passenger Seat: $268.55 installed.

 

Needless to say, I bought one with heated seats.

 

Wes Hsu

[sprung]

Thanks for the details guys. What your's saying makes a lot of sense and is along the same lines as what I was thinking.

 

The Gerbings temp controller I have on my other bike for my heated jacket liner and gloves is completely variable from 0% to 100%. I think it only cost like $75.

 

Getting the OEM switch with the bike is one thing, but at this point I don't see any reason to get a $279 part that only has settings for; off, 50%, & 100%.

 

I actually need to get one for my heated clothes by winter anyway, maybe I'll get the dual knob unit and hook up one for the seat and the other for the clothes...

 

I'll keep you all posted in case anyone cares to know.

 

Thanks again,

-Mike-

[mouster203]

I am presently purchasing 06 R1200RT. I wanted the heated seat option but could not find a bike which included such with the options I was looking for. I had really wanted heat for the comfort of any passengers as I figured if outfitted with proper gear I would be comfortable enough with heated grips alone I had inquired about adding heat for both though.The wiring harness has all the correct connectors in place. The mechanic stated that the front seat needs to be programmed into, and recognized by the computer The rear seat is apparently plug and play as it has its own switching and control source. I don't think you'll be able to actuate the front without extensive work and expense Keep us posted though, if you figure a way to work it out.

[weshsu]

The mechanic stated that the front seat needs to be programmed into, and recognized by the computer The rear seat is apparently plug and play as it has its own switching and control source. I don't think you'll be able to actuate the front without extensive work and expense.

 

I just took delivery of my '06 RT today. I did a very quick scan of the manual, and I noticed that both the front and rear seat heat settings show up in the OBC. That leads me to believe that the rear isn't as plug and play as your mechanic is saying that it is. Well, maybe it is from a purely "does it turn on" standpoint since, as you stated, it has its own power switch, but not from a fully integrated standpoint with the OBC. I'm probably wrong, since he's the mechanic and I'm not.

 

It seems like the best thing to do is get some aftermarket heated seats. You might possibly save some money, while also getting seats that will be more comfortable and you won't have to worry about integrating it into the bike's computer.

 

Wes Hsu