printerman

I have a 2004 545I Dinan 5. My driver's side heated seat has small dime size size brown spot on the left leg between the hip & knee that gets really hot and is burning...so I don't use it anymore. I took to the dealer and they said sorry... but the car is out of warranty and it would cost $ 1,700 to fix. I'm like no way. I called BMW NA and they basically said that there was not a recall on my car for this problem - I said but there was a recall for this same problem - and they said yes, just not on my car and they could do nothing - I'm frankly disappointed in BMW.

I've searched this forum for all related heated set problems but can't seem to find anything that tells me how to do this myself. I've been to realoem.com and even talked to the folks at ECU Tuning and they tell me that I have to purchase the entire seat bottom at a cost of $ 1,073.00.

This just seem crazy to me.

Can anyone help or am I just out another $ 1,000.

Thanks,
Robert

gmcc

A few years ago I had a Volvo with a similar problem. I went to a local custom car upholstery shop and he fixed it so it didn't burn you any more, but I left the spot there (hey, the car probably had 200,000 miles on it by then). It was a pretty cheap fix but the Volvo seats were probably a lot easier to get out.

Ian

Printerman, My second heated seat failure happened in December. The first was replaced under warranty and the second was out of warranty but BMW UK agreed to pay for the parts if I paid for the labour. BMW replace the whole seat base and re-attach the rear of the seat. When I queried this, they said it's effectively all one part and you cannot replace the heater element alone. A leather seat base over here is ?400+, then 15% tax on top!

Ian.

Ricracing

There are some things you need to think about before buying a used car dear printerman.

BMW is not always the faulty one, especially for a 5 yo car.

The Dinan5 tells that the car is tuned and a tuned car has no BMW warranty.

UTVol545i

Wow, well I have an 04 545i and had the same thing happen, although mine was burning up on seat back on the left "kidney/lowerback" portion of the seat. I guess it was on the lower left 'wing' of the sport seat. I just got the car in October and had it replaced in November.

Mine was part of the recall so it was fixed. BMWNA told me mine had actually already been serviced for the recall once... whatever, but anyhow they sent me to the dealer to have it checked out. It was promptly replaced, and after some haggling, they even threw in a new leather seat cover for the seat bottom to match the new cover for the seat back.

It certainly sounds like the same problem, albeit different area of the seat... Hard to believe they won't file that under the recall. It's a safety hazard if nothing else.

pennetta

Wrong, unless he installed Dinan high performance seat heater software.
edited- I just noticed you're from Finland which I don't know the laws about, but in the US and Asheville, NC you still have a warranty.

printerman

Thanks for the info - I've done the same thing on other vehicles - just thought this one should have been fixed under warranty.

printerman

Thanks Ian - seems like you could just purchased the heat element. I just recently found out that you can't and have to purchase the entire seat bottom at a cost of $ 1,075. Guess that's what I'll do.
Take Care,
printerman

printerman

Well Mr. Ice Doctor - thanks for your help. By they way, I know what Dinan stands for - I had everything installed myself after I purchased the car with 30M miles on it. Noting wrong with purchasing a used car - especially with full warranty and extended warranty.

Seems to me when BMW recalled the heated seat that would apply to every seat. This just tells me that they did not test this heated matte/seat well enough before it hit the market and they don't want to stand behind their recall.

By they way - here in the USA Dinan is a fully warranted upgrade authorized and warranted by BMW - has nothing to do with the heated seat.

printerman

Thanks for your input 'pennetta' - still working on this issue but looks like I'll have to cover the cost myself.