HOT seat!

[DMilan]

Hello All,

 

Just picked up a new / used '05 RT.

Poor E-bay experience, got schnookered a little, but that's another story.

 

Anyway..

Thing is, the riders seat heat works too well.

TOO HOT, on low setting, in 40 degree ambient temps, while wearing long johns, jeans, and a windproof overpant.

Like to nearly burn my butt, so to speak.

 

Any thoughts or experiences?

 

Thanks

Back in the fold.

DMilan

[johnlt]

Is it a stock seat or aftermarket seat? If aftermarket, possibly they didn't put enough insulation between the heating element and the outer skin. If it is a stock seat, it may not be working properly. You'll probably need to get the dealer to check it out. Also, you may want to compare with someone else with a similar set-up and see if it feels different.

[JayW]

The heated seat settings on my own '05 RT are juuuuust right.

 

So let's hear the schnookered E-Bay purchase story (been there too). Maybe it'll keep someone else from having the same experience.

 

Jay

[DMilan]

Is it a stock seat or aftermarket seat? If aftermarket, possibly they didn't put enough insulation between the heating element and the outer skin. If it is a stock seat, it may not be working properly. You'll probably need to get the dealer to check it out. Also, you may want to compare with someone else with a similar set-up and see if it feels different.

 

 

Stock seat.

Thanks John

[Ken H.]

Report back again in February.

 

 

Kidding aside, if it turns off and on correctly, and there is a discernable difference between the high and low setting, I can't think of anything that could actually be broken that would cause too much heat.

 

[hopz]

I have an '05, and living out here in the mountain west my seat heater gets regular useage... in short it is just right for me.

 

Definite difference between high and low... high is almost too much, while the Low is just right.

 

When it is ON, what is the signal you see on the dashboard?

[tallman]

How does it compare to the GT? (Which you should've kept )

If the heat is significantly different from your GT that is odd.

I suppose it could be construction and the elements are too close, but don't think I've seen/heard of that.

[JimD]

Have you cheched the high setting? Maybe they reversed the wires between the high and low circuits, or maybe they are shorted the wires and both are comming on.

[DMilan]

The heated seat settings on my own '05 RT are juuuuust right.

 

So let's hear the schnookered E-Bay purchase story (been there too). Maybe it'll keep someone else from having the same experience.

 

Jay

 

Jay,

 

E-Bay story will have to wait for another time, but I'll post it here sometime soon.

[DMilan]

Report back again in February.

 

 

Kidding aside, if it turns off and on correctly, and there is a discernable difference between the high and low setting, I can't think of anything that could actually be broken that would cause too much heat.

 

Last Wednesday, when I was on I80 in PA at 2,250 ft my dash read 32 degrees and it was snowing. So much that I was forced to exit. Didn't need to wait for February.

Seat got so hot on low setting that I had to turn it off for 20 minutes to let it cool down. Never even tried high setting.

 

Dealer ordered a switch yesterday.

A system check on the BMW computer indicated a on-off flucuation

when the switch was on the low setting. All other electrics would stay steady on if circuit was switched ON.

 

We'll see.

 

Thanks

Dmilan

[DMilan]

I have an '05, and living out here in the mountain west my seat heater gets regular useage... in short it is just right for me.

 

Definite difference between high and low... high is almost too much, while the Low is just right.

 

When it is ON, what is the signal you see on the dashboard?

 

Thanks for the response.

Dash icons respond appropriately, in both low and high setting.

 

Dmilan

[DMilan]

How does it compare to the GT? (Which you should've kept )

If the heat is significantly different from your GT that is odd.

I suppose it could be construction and the elements are too close, but don't think I've seen/heard of that.

 

 

The GT worked properly. Don't get smart. Ha Ha

 

As my trail indicates, I've owned quite a few BMW with heated seats now. They all worked fine, 'cept this-un.

 

Thanks

Dmilan

[DMilan]

Have you cheched the high setting? Maybe they reversed the wires between the high and low circuits, or maybe they are shorted the wires and both are comming on.

 

 

Thanks all for the replies,

Tried to respond to all.

 

As of now..

 

Dealer ordered a switch yesterday.

A system check on the BMW computer indicated an on-off flucuation when the switch was on the low setting. The tech never tried it on high setting. All other electrics would stay steady on if circuit was switched ON. Off, if the circuit was switched off.

I watched the monitor, saw for myself. Screen was titled Digital Output, or something like that.

In retrospect, I should have grabbed a seat off another of the other R12RTs that were present. Could have eliminated the seat itself as a possible culprit.

 

We'll see.

 

Thanks again all.

 

[Ken H.]

A system check on the BMW computer indicated a on-off flucuation

when the switch was on the low setting.

We'll see.

 

Well this will be interesting to watch how it plays out. Because if the switch itself was going from on to off it seems to me the seat in total would be cooler not hotter. Plus the dash icon would also be fluctuating. If it the switch was fluctuating from low to high, that would cause the seat to be hotter than low, but cooler than hi, and again, the dash icon would fluctuate as the switch did.

 

So in total I'm suspicious of the diagnosis of a bad switch, but hey, stranger things have happened.

 

Keep us posted!