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Subject: Front heated seats installation Author: davidc (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 10074 posts Posted on: 2003-12-27 23:01:14

It's not quite done yet, but since I've had quite a few requests I thought I'd go ahead and post a few pics of the installation. So far, I've gotten the retrofit kit installed for front driver's seat and I think the results are darn good.


Note the new button on the front left side of the seat for activating the heat (it has a small LED to indicate when it's turned on).


This is the underside of the switch assembly. A hole had to be drilled into the plastic in order to mount the switch.


The heating element for the seat bottom has a sticky-tape backing that you simply peel off and apply to the foam cushion. A small piece of the seat cushion had to be cut out to allow the wiring connections to sit flush with the surface so that you won't feel a bump when sitting on it.


Application of the heating pad to the seat backrest, over the rubberized horsehair. You can see the wiring harness dangling at the bottom. That gets punched through the bottom of the cushion instead of going under it so that it won't get pinched during seat movement.

Power for the seat was routed under the carpet, along the side under the plastic door trim, and under the backseat to the passenger side where it follows the battery mains running through a rubber grommet into the trunk. I couldn't find an easy route into the front fusebox under the hood, so I'm going to run power for all four (two front seats, two rear seats) seats to the trunk fusebox (7.5A per seat, same as factory). I'll post more pics of the rest of the process along with the other seats tomorrow.

I think this installation looks very "factory" and it will operate safely and comfortably.

www.e38.org has links for everything about your BMW E38 7-series automobile

• Front heated seats installation (pic) - davidc 2003-12-27 23:01:14 (28824 views)
  • more details (url) - davidc 2003-12-27 23:05:44 (4297 views)