Retro-fitting heated seats

[Don777]

Hi all, I've just got my first Merc and it's a E320 coupe. I am so impressed with the build quality and love the driving experience. It's got quite a few options but it doesn't have heated seats which I would love to have. I have found these on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=8016146064&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

Does anyone know if it would be possible to fit these to my car bearing in mind they have to be fitted between the leather and the foam? Is it easy to remove the leather from these seats or would I have to use a professional upholsterer?

Thanks.

 

[Bolide]

Heated seats

The elements for a W124 cost around £25 each from Mercedes and there are two per seat. It's a different element for leather & cloth seats

You'll need to replicate the wiring of the original setup. There's a circuit diagram available as a PDF and the switch is available from a dealer or from a breakers yard. If buying from a breaker I'd get the whole loom if possible. I'd expect there to be a relay or two as there are two heat settings

You won't have the cutouts in the dash (they're under the ashtray at the back of the panel that has the window switches in) so you'll need to get a suitable wood trim, mount the switches elsewhere or cut your existing trim for the switches. Aircon retrofitters cut the wooden dash to fit the 3 aircon switches so you may find an aircon shop that has a tool for doing it. Alternatively a woodworking genius with a Router might be able to do it

The covers of the seats are removeable so you should be able to remove them, fit the heaters & replace the covers yourself. If you don't fancy doing it your local car upholsterer should do it for £50 or so

I mainly drive solo so I was going to just retrofit heaters to the driver's seat and use a blank in the dash for the switch. It turns out that the "blank" has the LED for the anti-theft unit in it so I may think again

Wherever you get the parts from the job will require a fair amount of work to fit. You might as well buy the parts from a Mercedes dealer - it'll be cheaper though the heaters may not be made of "Space-Age Carbon Fibre!"


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Don777]

Thanks for the info Nick.
The elements on ebay come with their own switches which they say need to be mounted on the seat. I know it's not standard but it would be a lot easier and I'm sure I could hide them down the side or something.
With regard to the power for the elements, do you think taking a feed from the power seats would suffice? They come with their own fuses etc.
Are the seat covers quite easy to remove? Is it something you have done or seen?
Thanks again.

 

[Bolide]

Easier?

Don

My point is that it won't be easier. The majority of the work involved is the same either way you do it. Stripping the seats down & wiring are both time consuming. Using Merc bits will be cheaper & will look better, though if you've got power seats the wiring will be minimal if you use the same feed for the heaters. Using the same feed should be OK. If it's not the fuse will blow...

I've swopped seat covers. There's a number of special tools you can get for hooking & unhooking things that do make things easier. But by the time you've got the seats out and have got the covers off you'll wonder why you ever started!

There's a premium on unmolested standard cars which is another reason I'd suggest keeping it "standard"


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Don777]

But by the time you've got the seats out and have got the covers off you'll wonder why you ever started!

Yes I can see that happening!

I might seek professional help on the seat covers. Do you know if the wiring loom neccessary for the seat heaters would already be there because they are power seats or is that not neccessarily the case?