DIY Heated Seats Retrofit

DIY: Non-Heated to Heated Seat Retrofit!! Lots of Pics!!! - E46Fanatics http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?
t=341242
DIY: Non-Heated to Heated Seat Retrofit!! Lots of Pics!!!
Alright it's finally put to rest Heated Seat Retrofit. So here goes my DIY with lots of pictures
documenting my process, materials/tools used and needed.
Parts Needed:
1. Heat Seat Elements Baffles - I purchased for $100 from a fellow fanatic
2. Heated Seat Accessory Panel with the Heated Seat buttons - I got lucky on this one of ebay
(I got the sunglasses console climate control version with the climate control unit, the
accessory panel, and ashtray for ~ $80
3. Wiring, Fuses, Butt-Connectors/Quick disconnects, Zip Ties and various OEM BMW specfic
connectors/pinouts - Already had so $0 for me!
4. An Upholstry Shop capable of doing car seats, I found one 5 minutes from me and charged
me $150 per seat - $300 total
So my total cost was ~ $480
Here are some pictures:
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DIY: Non-Heated to Heated Seat Retrofit!! Lots of Pics!!! - E46Fanatics http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=341242
2 of 27 20.08.2008 16:16
Tools Needed:
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Torque Wrench
T-15 Socket
T-40 Socket
T-45 Socket
10MM hex socket
17MM hex socket
Philips Head Screwdriver
FlatHead
Needle Nose Pliers
Crimping Tool
Allright lets get started:
Step 1: Disconnect your battery
Step 2: Remove/Unplug your seats from the car
Step 3: Once the seats are removed, nows the fun part! Dismantling your non-heated seat
baffles. It's actually fairly easy start by taking off the backrest portion this is only held on by 2
T-40 bolts you must pull back the leather/leatherette to gain access to them. Once these 2
bolts are removed the backrest will come free with a little bt of strength.
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02-25-2006, 05:50 PM #2
Ivegotissues666
OEM ///Member
Join Date: Jul 2004

Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 990
My Ride: 01' VW Golf 1.8T
View My Garage
Flip the seat upside down and you will notice I think they are called HOG RINGS. Well you can
use a pair of pliers to undo the ring there are 2 - 3 on each side left nright at the back of the
seat.
Now you have to remove these other 2 T-15 bolts attached to these plastic covering. This will
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give you access to pull off the bottom seat baffle. It is held on by a long plastic molding/clip
and can be easily popped up with either your fingers or a flathead screwdriver. Just work your
way pulling up that molding and you will eventally hve the bottom part of your seat free.
(Note: On the passenger side bottom protin of the seat, there is a sensor that has to do with
the airbag. It is part of the seat and shld be dealt with delicately.)
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Step 4: Take your non-heated seat baffles to an upholstry shop and have them put the heated
elements into them. In the meantime let's work on your wiring harness considering you wo't
be able to drive with no seats. haha
Step 5: I opted not to puchase the OEM BMW retofit kit simple because I wanted a challenge
first off, and second I wasn't going to pay ~ $300 for a wiring harness and button panel that I
could easily make and obtain. First lets look at Heated Seat Retrofit PDF manual, it gives
detailed information on the wirig harness. I read through i and simplified what the harness is
all about here is the way I saw it as:
To Passenger seat Side:
B1 - Seat Heating On (GN/YE) - Plug X279 Pin 25

B2 - Ground (BR) - Plug X279 Pin 24
B3 - Temperature (WT/BL) - Plug X279 Pin 23
B4 - Ground (BR) - Under Pass Side Skirt (B2 <---> B4)
To Driver seat Side:
A1 - Seat Heating On (GN/VI) - Plug X275 Pin 25

A2 - Ground (BR) - Plug X275 Pin 24
A3 - Temperature (WT/GN) - Plug X275 Pin 23
A4 - Ground (BR) - Under Driver Side Skirt (A2 <---> A4)
To Console Switch:
Passenger Side:
B1.1 - Seat Heating On (GN/YE) - X1869 Pin 1 (B1 <---> B1.1)

B3.1 - Temperature (WT/BL) - X1869 Pin 20 (B3 <---> B3.1)
Driver Side:
A1.1 - Seat Heating On (GN/VI) - X1869 Pin 13 (A1 <---> A1.1)

A3.1 - Temperature (WT/GN) - X1869 Pin 21 (A3 <---> A3.1)
To Fuse Panel:
C - K-bus (WT/RD/YE) Fuse Box Joint Connector X10116 (Trigger/Accessory Wire) Pin 23 -
Console Switch
D - Terminal 30 (RD/VI) Fuse Holder A46 slot No. F42 (30 amp) Pin 7 - Console Switch
E - Terminal R (VI/BL) Fuse Holder A47 slot No. F12 (7.5 amp) Pin 22 - on Console Switch
As you can see I simpilfied it or at least to me it seems that way. Anyways lets start wiring.
Step 6: Removing Glove Box and Driver side steering column panel, both are held in by
philips head screws. Now lets start making your wiring harness. Starting with the drivers side
you need 3 wires (1 for Ground, 1 for Temperature, and 1 for Power (Heating On function) I
didnt have the multicolored wires like BMW so I just made do with what I had. I tried to match
the wire colors up as best I could for instance if the OEM wire was White/Green I would make
my wire White etc..
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Drivers Side:
16 Gauge wire: (The Green Wire should have been 14 Guage but I didn't have any available
and the 16 Gauge should be fine)
White - 9 ft (Temperature Wire) - Pin 23 at the Drivers Seat Plug

Green - 9 ft (Heating On Wire) - Pin 25 at the Drivers Seat Plug
Brown - 3 ft (Ground Wire) - Pin 24 at the Drivers Seat Plug
9 of 27 20.08.2008 16:16
02-25-2006, 05:51 PM #3
Ivegotissues666
OEM ///Member
Join Date: Jul 2004

Posts: 990
View My Garage
I routed the wires under the foot trims and behind the steering column panel to the consle
area where the accessory panel with the heated seat buttons will be located. The Ground wire
is connected in a Stock Grounding point underneath the carpet. You need to pull the carpet up
a little bit in order to access it and there are a few empty slots (Note: You will need a OEM pin
connector to get it to secure correctly you will need to crimp or solder this connector to the
Brown wire in order to supply a Ground connection to the seat)
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Passengers Side:
It is the same method as the Drivers side in terms of routing the wires. The Grounding point
will be bend the carpet, and youwill rute the wires behind the fuse panel to the console area
where the heated seat buttons are located. The wire colors I used for the Passenger side are:
Blue - 9 ft (Temperature Wire) - Pin 23 at the Passengers Seat Plug

Yellow - 9 ft (Heating On Wire) - Pin 25 at the Passengers Seat Plug
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Brown - 3 ft (Ground Wire) - Pin 24 at the Passengers Seat Plug
Fuse Panel:
The fuse panel is suspended by 2 plastic knobs, you must open the fuse panel and then push
the fuse panel up in order to release the panel from it's mounting points. Once this is
accomplished the fuse panel will drop down and give you more room to access and play
around with.
Now running wires into the fuse panel is a little tricky yet still doable. You will need an
additional 3 wires plus some OEM BMW connectors:
1 - 12 Gauge Wire ~ 7 ft - Red (Run this wire from fuse #42 - 30 AMP Fuse to the center
console area, this s what supplies most of your power to your heated seats
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2 - 16 Gauge Wires ~ 7 ft each

- Red/Yellow (Run this wire from the comb connector that has all the Red/White/Yellow Wires
on the fuse panel to the center console area. This is basically turn on Lead for the Heated
Seats)
02-25-2006, 05:52 PM #4
Ivegotissues666 - Blue (Run this wire from fuse #12 - 7.5 AMP Fuse to the center console area)
OEM ///Member
14 of 27 20.08.2008 16:16
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Join Date: Jul 2004

Posts: 990
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Step 7:
Now working at the center console area with the 23 pin plug connector. You just ran 7 wires
to the console area. Those being:
1. White
2. Green
3. Blue
4. Yellow
5. Red
6. Red/Yellow
7. Blue
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These connect to the 23 pin plug at the center console area in the following order. You must
crimp or solder the connections and put them into the 23 pin plug connector.
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1. White - Pin 21
2. Green - Pin 13
3. Blue - Pin 20
4. Yellow - Pin 1
5. Red - Pin 7
6. Red/Yellow - Pin 23
7. Blue - Pin 22
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Note: There is also a little 3 pin connector on the backside of the accessory panel you can plug
n your DSC (4 pin) connector to this the new panel uses one less wire which I think is 12v
Constant because it is now being supplied from the fuse panel.
Step 8:
Now go back to other the Drivers and Passengers side harness that are found underneath the
seats. You must unlock the connectors first. Once you have done this now locate on the:
Drivers Side: Pins 23-25 Crimp or solder the pinout connectors as follows:
Pin 23 - White
Pin 24 - Brown
Pin 25 - Green
18 of 27 20.08.2008 16:16
02-25-2006, 05:53 PM #5
Ivegotissues666 Passenger Side: Pins 23-25 Crimp or solder the pinout connectors as follows:
OEM ///Member
Join Date: Jul 2004

Pin 23 - Blue
Location: Boston, MA Pin 24 - Brown
Posts: 990 Pin 25 - Yellow
View My Garage
Now lastly resecure the connectors and you are done with the wiring portion.
Step 9:
Pick up your seats from the Upholstry shop if you don't have them already and begin to
reassemble your seats. Installation is the reverse of removal only difference is that you must
swap out the seat belts that come with the additional wiring for heated and power seats. Using
your T-45 socket undo the seatbealt and trace the wiring undoing the plastic clips that secure
the wiring harness and remove the old connector. Installation of the new seatbelt and wirng
harness is the reverse of the process youjust used to remove the old one. Also there is a 2-3
pin male and female connector that connect both the backrest of the seat and the bottom part
of the seat make sure it is connected or else the heating elements will not work.
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22 of 27 20.08.2008 16:16
02-25-2006, 05:53 PM #6
Ivegotissues666
OEM ///Member
Join Date: Jul 2004

Posts: 990
View My Garage
23 of 27 20.08.2008 16:16
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Step 10:
Once the seats are reassembled, put them back into your car and bolt them down torquing
everything to spec. Plug in the 25 pin female plug connector under the seats to the new male
wiring harness attached to the seats.
Now working at the center console area plug in the 23 pin plug connector to the back of the
accessory panel and the also the 4 pin plug connector if applicable.
Step 11:
Reconnect your battery, and start your car. And.... there you have it, heated seats!!! Push the
button once and all 3 lights on the button should light up. Push it a second time and only 2
will light up, this is part of the temperature setting to set at a certain temperature.
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Once Everything is working correctly reinstall everything (Foot Sills, Covers, GolveBox
everything is reverse of removal) Just a quick note: the wire colors I used are for my
reference only because those are the colors I chose to use they are not the BMW OEM Wire
colors as found in the retrofit PDF file. Also if anyone wants the retrofit pdf file just PM me
with your email and I will gladly send it to you, unless someone would be kind enough to host
it for me and everyone on the forum.
Well I have to say this retrofit wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd say it took me 6
hours total from running the wiring neatly to reassembling the seats, besides the couple days
of downtime of waiting for my seats at the Upholstry shop. I never ran into any issues with
wiring snce I've wired my (Foglights, Angel Eyes, and Footwell Lightng, Heated Steering
Wheel) driecty from the fuse panel so I really didn't expect to have an issue with this.
I hope this write up comes in handy for those who want to attempt this or are in the process
of doing it. I so far after only one day of having heated seats hae not one regret about doing
this retrofit and yet the heated seats compliment my Heated Steerng wheel as well.
27 of 27 20.08.2008 16:16

DIY Heated Seats Retrofit

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DIY: Non-Heated to Heated Seat Retrofit!! Lots of Pics!!! - E46Fanatics http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?

DIY: Non-Heated to Heated Seat Retrofit!! Lots of Pics!!!

So my total cost was ~ $480

Here are some pictures:

Allright lets get started:

Step 1: Disconnect your battery

Step 2: Remove/Unplug your seats from the car

Join Date: Jul 2004

To Passenger seat Side:

B1 - Seat Heating On (GN/YE) - Plug X279 Pin 25

To Driver seat Side:

A1 - Seat Heating On (GN/VI) - Plug X275 Pin 25

B1.1 - Seat Heating On (GN/YE) - X1869 Pin 1 (B1 <---> B1.1)

A1.1 - Seat Heating On (GN/VI) - X1869 Pin 13 (A1 <---> A1.1)

White - 9 ft (Temperature Wire) - Pin 23 at the Drivers Seat Plug

Brown - 3 ft (Ground Wire) - Pin 24 at the Drivers Seat Plug

Join Date: Jul 2004

Blue - 9 ft (Temperature Wire) - Pin 23 at the Passengers Seat Plug

Brown - 3 ft (Ground Wire) - Pin 24 at the Passengers Seat Plug

2 - 16 Gauge Wires ~ 7 ft each

Join Date: Jul 2004

Join Date: Jul 2004

Join Date: Jul 2004

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