Got a good chuckle out of the cold winters in California. I don't use the heated seats and steering wheel in my e53 X5, even in the single digits we get in winter, but hey, to each their own.
Hey dude! could you inform the lenght of the harness? pretty simple to make but i cant really guess the lenght of it, Ground lenght, also from panel to seat 1 + 2
Little tip, you can retrofit mismatching plugged seats (black to yellow and vice versa) by just connecting the wires with their identical colored counterparts. Just connect all the wires together (I bought a second black plug with all the wires still in it) and it'll work just fine. The logic and wiring harness is damn near identical. Only thing to keep in mind is to reuse the old seat belt tensioner, so you don't get an airbag fault
14:58 my car came with front and rear PDC and I don't have the cables from the right diagram. Now if I want to retrofit the heated seats I have to add the new wires from under the seat to the fuse F32 to the central console switch. Atleast at fuse 45 there is a terminal at the top and i have to add one more and route it to the central switch at PIN23. i'll do it let's see how it goes. thanks for the video.
Super helpful! I’m curious though: if you don’t care about adding heated seats, would this whole thing just plug & play without needing to open up the console?
13:06 The wiring probably is that long because it's supposed to run inside the dashboard behind/above the footwell to the sides and then below the flooring of the side skirts to the seat connectors, instead of just down the center console below the carpet.
I realized this after filming! While I would have preferred to follow the factory wiring route, disassembly of the entire dashboard and front carpeting sections seems unjustifiable seeing that my wiring route is equally as effective and has no tangible negative consequences.
@@E39Source I've done it when looking for a faulty wire once, you can get away with really just removing the sideskirt trim, the footrest and the driver's footwell "ceiling" and side of the center console there. But as long as you don't squeeze it with the seat rail, it's fine either way. It ain't stupid if it works :)
Does the lumbar support still work? Mini air compressor that inflates two different airbags. No chance that will ever develop an air leak. Hmmm. I gave up on mine, and bought a lumbar support thing.
Really great video Ryan! Especially the lighting made it very easy to follow. Quick question: How can I check if i need to do the right side of the diagram as well? I dont have a rear powered sunshade but i do have front and back pdc on my 2002 E39 525iA. Can I skip it if fuse 32 and fuse 45 are in?
Thanks! I think if you've got those fuses in your glovebox fuse panel, you're probably covered for the right side of the diagram. If you do the left side and the seats don't work, you may want to go through the right side of the diagram to see whats missing.
Checked and unfortunately mine doesn’t have fuse 32 or 45. proper wiring harness is ordered now. But couldn’t find any decent tutorial for the right side of the diagram besides the forum entry from BlkzhgWoG. Any tip from you where to look for that part of the job?
The wiring harness is linked in the video description. Since I did not retrofit heating pads but rather replaced the seats, I am not sure about the availability or source for the pads. I would search RealOEM for the factory retrofit kit, and see if that still exists. If not, research reproductions.
Holy crap I did not know you were in Escondido! Good to know lol. Btw, just out of curiosity, what would be your quote on a manual swap to my e39 540i? 1997, M62B44 non-TU ?
for the re-cover, did you get contour designated ones? or did you have some custom work done, I also have these in my E39 540i M sport but they need some love to look like yours, thanks in advance.
I purchased these seats through a used BMW parts seller in Latvia. It was not a pleasant transaction, and I would not recommend working with that seller.
Hi. I’m interested in doing this retrofit. So the only things needed are the module with the buttons and the wiring. Doesn’t it need pads in the seats? I’m new to these kind of things. Thanks in advance for your reply
Please review the video in greater detail, I did discuss that you need either new (heated) donor seats or to install the heating elements under the leather.
My bus connection was already made to the SZM (center console switch) because my 540i came from factory with sunshades. If you had either (or both) of the sunshade or PDC option, you'll already have the bus connection. If you have neither of those options from factory, you'll want to follow the other side of the paper that I show to make that connection. I believe it's just another wire or two that go behind the glovebox to the bus and fuse carrier.
Correct me if im wrong but does the power goes to the heating elements thru one of the three cables running to the seat from center switches? Or is it rely on existing power cable that's already in the seat connector?
So it appears as though your heated seats worked without the additional ground hooked to pin 24 on both the seat connectors correct? I cut the seat connectors out of the donor e39 that had the heated seats and black interior in swapping into mine. Both connectors out of the donor vehicle had that pin 24 empty and no ground was there. So it appears to me that extra ground is completely unnecessary and I don’t need to worry about it correct? Making my own harness kit
The extra ground was indeed redundant, but I inserted the pin into the harness just to make it cleaner and avoid having a loose wire sticking out. The seats are grounded on other pin assignments.
Hi, do you know if the heated pad is stitched to the leather or if it just sits there? I want to know because my heated seat has developed a hotspot and I want to take the seat out and replace the heated pad, but that depends on how difficult a job it is and that depends on if I have to unstitch and stitch things! Thank you!
For the M5 seats, the heating elements are stitching into the leather seat covers. I am not sure if the standard E39 seats are the same way. I know that separate panels were produced years ago to retrofit the heating elements, perhaps you could find and install those and cut out the originals if they are indeed one piece.
@@carsnbikes914 If I had to do it again, I think I'd just by the seats from anyone who has them, in reasonable condition. Then have a trusted leather specialist re-cover them like mine were.
One thing I noticed, was that you added a ground to the seat connector pin 24, but the seats don’t have pin 24 on ground. What is the purpose of adding the ground at the seat?
I did realize that it would be pointless as I was doing it, but I figured it was better to have it plugged into something than just floating around under the seat.
Agreed. I just did the retrofit in my e39 but currently troubleshooting why the heated seats are not coming on, hence the question about the ground. If I hold the controller button, then key on, and let go of button all 3 green lights just flash, like I have a ground short or something
Got a good chuckle out of the cold winters in California. I don't use the heated seats and steering wheel in my e53 X5, even in the single digits we get in winter, but hey, to each their own.
MN guy here, my cold, clammy, hands would love to trade you for my stock early model m-sport wheel 🥲
Hey. That wiring was made by me! Cheers! Eduardo from Portugal!
Hi Eduardo! Thanks so much for this comment and for making these harnesses!!! You're a lifesaver.
Hey dude! could you inform the lenght of the harness? pretty simple to make but i cant really guess the lenght of it, Ground lenght, also from panel to seat 1 + 2
This is a very well done video. Very easy to understand all the steps, allowing us to be more self confident to do the job ourselves.
Excellent excellent video. Thanks so much for putting this together!
Leather on the seats looks very fresh
Beautiful. Got E38 sport contours going in project as well. Love those seats.
These instructions are so well done. Amazing.
Super! I love e39 more and more as the years go by
Beautiful work. I've done similar job with my dad in his e38 with wiring massauge function and rear sunshade. Lovely job
Comfort-sport seats - super cool!
I installed the same seats in my 2003 540i and they are much better than the ones in my E39 M5.
Little tip, you can retrofit mismatching plugged seats (black to yellow and vice versa) by just connecting the wires with their identical colored counterparts. Just connect all the wires together (I bought a second black plug with all the wires still in it) and it'll work just fine. The logic and wiring harness is damn near identical.
Only thing to keep in mind is to reuse the old seat belt tensioner, so you don't get an airbag fault
I appreciate how clean your work is, nice job 👍
Much needed dose of meticulous BMW work...... Awesome video.
14:58 my car came with front and rear PDC and I don't have the cables from the right diagram. Now if I want to retrofit the heated seats I have to add the new wires from under the seat to the fuse F32 to the central console switch. Atleast at fuse 45 there is a terminal at the top and i have to add one more and route it to the central switch at PIN23. i'll do it let's see how it goes. thanks for the video.
Very well produced video giving grate step by step guide. Thanks
Looks lovely, nice matt finish
Super helpful! I’m curious though: if you don’t care about adding heated seats, would this whole thing just plug & play without needing to open up the console?
Yes, the rest of the seat was indeed plug and play.
13:06 The wiring probably is that long because it's supposed to run inside the dashboard behind/above the footwell to the sides and then below the flooring of the side skirts to the seat connectors, instead of just down the center console below the carpet.
I realized this after filming! While I would have preferred to follow the factory wiring route, disassembly of the entire dashboard and front carpeting sections seems unjustifiable seeing that my wiring route is equally as effective and has no tangible negative consequences.
@@E39Source I've done it when looking for a faulty wire once, you can get away with really just removing the sideskirt trim, the footrest and the driver's footwell "ceiling" and side of the center console there. But as long as you don't squeeze it with the seat rail, it's fine either way. It ain't stupid if it works :)
I fabricate the wirings using factory wiring routes. Cheers
Does the lumbar support still work? Mini air compressor that inflates two different airbags. No chance that will ever develop an air leak. Hmmm.
I gave up on mine, and bought a lumbar support thing.
Yes, lumbar works fine on both seats. I've never seen it fail on an E39 seat.
Another quality video Ryan! Many thanks for uploading
Thanks!
Good job, Next time hope you can put a vedio for how to activate seatbelts alarm with wiring diagram, it wasn't an option in my country that time
The seat belt warning? It's an annoying feature that I disable on my cars.
Really great video Ryan! Especially the lighting made it very easy to follow. Quick question: How can I check if i need to do the right side of the diagram as well? I dont have a rear powered sunshade but i do have front and back pdc on my 2002 E39 525iA. Can I skip it if fuse 32 and fuse 45 are in?
Thanks! I think if you've got those fuses in your glovebox fuse panel, you're probably covered for the right side of the diagram. If you do the left side and the seats don't work, you may want to go through the right side of the diagram to see whats missing.
Checked and unfortunately mine doesn’t have fuse 32 or 45. proper wiring harness is ordered now. But couldn’t find any decent tutorial for the right side of the diagram besides the forum entry from BlkzhgWoG. Any tip from you where to look for that part of the job?
@@YannikSchreckenberger I'd just supplement the diagram with resources from BMW TIS and work through it wire by wire.
Great video. Where can I buy the wire harness and heat elements for my sport seats (2002 530i) that did not come factory with heat? Thanks Ryan.
The wiring harness is linked in the video description. Since I did not retrofit heating pads but rather replaced the seats, I am not sure about the availability or source for the pads. I would search RealOEM for the factory retrofit kit, and see if that still exists. If not, research reproductions.
Holy crap I did not know you were in Escondido! Good to know lol. Btw, just out of curiosity, what would be your quote on a manual swap to my e39 540i? 1997, M62B44 non-TU ?
Yes sir, since 2018 now! Please email me at ryan@e39source.com for an estimate.
for the re-cover, did you get contour designated ones? or did you have some custom work done, I also have these in my E39 540i M sport but they need some love to look like yours, thanks in advance.
I bought these seats already refurbished by someone in Eastern Europe; I'm not sure how he went about the refurbishing.
Love the interior. Whee did you purchase the seats? Can you forward me the link?
I purchased these seats through a used BMW parts seller in Latvia. It was not a pleasant transaction, and I would not recommend working with that seller.
Dear Ryan, love the videos. any chance you can show a detail seat twisted fix video please
I guess I haven't done that yet, huh. I'll do my best to get to that, time permitting. We're slammed right now.
Hi. I’m interested in doing this retrofit. So the only things needed are the module with the buttons and the wiring. Doesn’t it need pads in the seats? I’m new to these kind of things. Thanks in advance for your reply
Please review the video in greater detail, I did discuss that you need either new (heated) donor seats or to install the heating elements under the leather.
@@E39SourceMy bad thanks🙏🏻
After watching this…I don’t think it’s worth the effort just for a warm butt 😂
Nice Video. But how do you managed the canbus connection ?
My bus connection was already made to the SZM (center console switch) because my 540i came from factory with sunshades. If you had either (or both) of the sunshade or PDC option, you'll already have the bus connection. If you have neither of those options from factory, you'll want to follow the other side of the paper that I show to make that connection. I believe it's just another wire or two that go behind the glovebox to the bus and fuse carrier.
@@E39Source thank you
Correct me if im wrong but does the power goes to the heating elements thru one of the three cables running to the seat from center switches? Or is it rely on existing power cable that's already in the seat connector?
I did not study the circuit diagram for this, but it may indeed go through the center console switch panel.
E38 sport seats are the best seats offered from BMW in that era. Where did you find those seats? They look brand new!
Latvia!
@@E39Source Those must have been quite costly?
@@purplecty740 Absolutely, especially with shipping.
@@E39Source well they look spectacular!
So it appears as though your heated seats worked without the additional ground hooked to pin 24 on both the seat connectors correct? I cut the seat connectors out of the donor e39 that had the heated seats and black interior in swapping into mine. Both connectors out of the donor vehicle had that pin 24 empty and no ground was there. So it appears to me that extra ground is completely unnecessary and I don’t need to worry about it correct? Making my own harness kit
The extra ground was indeed redundant, but I inserted the pin into the harness just to make it cleaner and avoid having a loose wire sticking out. The seats are grounded on other pin assignments.
Aren't there 3 screws under the handbrake lever, one right under the boot? 😅
could you make tutorial for cruise control retrofit? I dont know if 2002 bmw came prewired for it and needs programming or if it needs wiring work.
I'd need a Euro car without cruise to be able to do the DIY. I think all E39s here in the States came with cruise control.
Hi, do you know if the heated pad is stitched to the leather or if it just sits there? I want to know because my heated seat has developed a hotspot and I want to take the seat out and replace the heated pad, but that depends on how difficult a job it is and that depends on if I have to unstitch and stitch things! Thank you!
For the M5 seats, the heating elements are stitching into the leather seat covers. I am not sure if the standard E39 seats are the same way. I know that separate panels were produced years ago to retrofit the heating elements, perhaps you could find and install those and cut out the originals if they are indeed one piece.
@@E39Source Thank you very much for the info...much appreciated!
E39❤
Question for the channel, if the seat bolt is cross threaded how do i remove it?
You'll have to force it out and repair the threads.
Can the E53 seat be installed on the E39 car?
The rails and wiring are different. You can use E38 7-series seats though, and I still have my old black comfort seats for sale!
@@E39Source thank you👍
How long did this take you?
I think maybe 4-5 hours taking my time.
Who did you buy the seats from?
A Facebook seller I unfortunately wouldn't work with again.
@@E39Source Dang sorry to hear that. Is there anyone you can point me in the direction to?
@@carsnbikes914 If I had to do it again, I think I'd just by the seats from anyone who has them, in reasonable condition. Then have a trusted leather specialist re-cover them like mine were.
MURAD form Toronto 🇨🇦👋👌🤘🏻
finally😭😭
One thing I noticed, was that you added a ground to the seat connector pin 24, but the seats don’t have pin 24 on ground. What is the purpose of adding the ground at the seat?
I did realize that it would be pointless as I was doing it, but I figured it was better to have it plugged into something than just floating around under the seat.
Agreed. I just did the retrofit in my e39 but currently troubleshooting why the heated seats are not coming on, hence the question about the ground. If I hold the controller button, then key on, and let go of button all 3 green lights just flash, like I have a ground short or something
Very weird, you might have a short somewhere. Check all wiring and grounds, you'll find the issue. @@ClaytonChildree