seat heating question

[Incantation]

hey my e34 didn't come with heated seats, being sold to original owner in arizona, usa (hot climate). can anyone tell me if they may still have heaters in the seats but just not have the switches wired? and, if not, is it possible to install heating into existing seats or do i have to replace?
thanks

[ljarseneau]

My guess is that if you do not have heated seats, there just plain old regular seats. If you want to get heated seats, your gonna have to find some at a yard. GL

[Tyannt]

Curious...are the seats in a 535 same as a 91-525?

[autobahnjim]

IPD, the volvo go fast guys sell a heating element with the thermostat/control unit. installation is as eay as removing the seat skin and wiring in a 12v power source.

heres a link:

http://www.ipdusa.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=2926&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1

[David325e]

All E34 seats are interchangeable for bolting in. Sport models had sport seats, 95 striper models had vinyl. Later cars have memory seats, swapping these into an early car can be done but takes work. E32 seats will also work, however the wiring for memory seats is different and the seats are slightly wider. Aka won't move as far forward and no clearance between them and console. If you want to get heated seats find a pair from a donor car that are heated, no memory. Bolt them in, removal/install is well documented here, and there should be an unused blue plug under your seat to plug to the heated seat. If no pull up the carpet and look along the wire bundle connected to the exposed seat plugs.

[tim eh]

PITA!!!!

it's possible tho

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/135542

ugh I can't believe I actually did that - you can use zipties to replace the hog rings when you reattach the leather to the runners.

http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5992&stc=1&d=1222892296

car should be prewired in the same plug that already runs to the seat motors.

[kalevera]

You can buy factory replacement heater elements that are fairly easy to install if you are comfortable dismantling a seat. Hog rings are easy to do (easier than zip ties) if you have a good pair of hog ring pliers. Then just source factory switches, plug and play. I remember you having a '90 535, so you'll need the early style ('90 and earlier) heat switch, '91 and later won't work...

[David325e]

To those in the know, would zip ties stand up to the heat of seat elements?

[Incantation]

thanks guys.. looks like i will just build em myself. david325e i don't know their physical limit with regards to temperature, but i've used zip ties on my motorcyce as a supplementary brace for the radiator.. and they've not melted so that's something to gauge with

[Tron5]

As stated above, BMW sells complete retrofit kits, but almost all of them are NLA. I was lucky enough to get one from BMW last year. It was cheap too, 150 EUR, compared to buying them in single pieces. This included the 4 heating pads, 2 switches, and the wiring looms(my seats are manual) and some small bits.

My view on retrofitting heated seats is get the proper tools, hog rings and pliers.
Although zip ties might hold, the hog rings will definitely hold.
More likely the foam will have loosened the metal string inside the seat, meaning the hog rings will not push the seat cover tight against the foam.

It might seem daunting at first, but this job is not difficult, but more time consuming.

heres another tread with pictures:
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39604&highlight=heated+seats