Quote:
Originally Posted by peterp65
Hi there,
I have the same problem with my 535. Dealer quoted me about $3,000 CDN to replace the bottom portion of the seat. They said the heating element comes attached to the seat cover.
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Although I haven't approached this fix in an F10, if the seat heater element is being energized properly, then the element must be defective.
So, if someone has already tested that power is arriving at the element, then replacing the element is likely your only course of action.
It should be clarified that the element is most likely in the leather seat
COVER, not the "bottom portion of the seat". It certainly should not be $3000.
In my E39 days, I've removed seats and brought them to the basement or worked in the garage to remove the leather covering for various reasons, usually to replace seat foam and restore the seating contour to like-new, or to replace the seat occupancy sensor mat in the passenger seat. In the late 90s the heating elements were stitched into the lining as well - this isn't a new thing. I would imagine that the F10 process would be similar but, like the rest of the car, more complicated than 20 years ago.
The expense is either because they quoted you a whole seat bottom, rather than a cover. Or it's just good old dealer labor rates kicking you in the butt.
I've been puzzled by the relatively low amount of DIY information in the F10 community. The earliest F10s are 8 years old now, with potentially hundreds of thousands of miles on them. As I've owned cars over the years it's the usual pattern - in the early full warranty/low mileage years everyone's just talking about tint, wheels and audio systems. But by the time warranties are expiring, the DIY talk starts up.
E36, E39, E46, E90 - all the same pattern. Every time a new model is introduced, even 20 years ago, everyone is up in arms that the new model is soooooo complicated and we'll never be able to do anything ourselves. Then owners figure out that a couple of new electronic tools or PDFs leaked out of the factory are required and life carries on. Give it 5 more years and suddenly the previously scary new model is "the good old days" when things were easy, and now the newest chassis is scary and we'll "never be able to do anything ourselves".
For whatever reason, it feels like the F10 community has never gone over the hump into DIY territory, or I'm reading the wrong forums.
Anyways - to the OP, it's a recent CPO purchase - go hassle the dealer as a pre-existing condition that they missed when they sold you the car.