BMW i5 Electric Seat System: Controls & Profile Issues

Hey there! I have some experience with EVs and faced something very similar with my 2022 BMW i4 (also had an iX in the family). Had exactly the same symptoms, seats being unresponsive and profiles acting up. Turned out my battery was heavily discharged, which affected all the auxiliary systems including seats. Took it to my regular workshop and they diagnosed it properly. The repair including labor cost me 290 Euro to fix, and it's been working perfectly since then. Before you head to a workshop though, could you share: Does this happen consistently or intermittently? Have you noticed any other electrical issues? What's your typical charging routine? Might help pinpoint if you're dealing with the same problem I had. Battery issues can be tricky in EVs, and they often show up in unexpected ways like seat malfunctions.

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience! Mine's doing this pretty consistently for the past week or so. I've got 103225 KM on the clock, and everything was fine during my last service just two months ago. The issue seems to be getting worse, now the passenger seat is completely unresponsive even after the car's fully started. No other electrical gremlins that I've noticed, and my charging routine is pretty normal, I usually plug in when I hit 30% and charge up to 80% every time. I'm thinking of booking it in at the workshop, but wanted to check here first to see if there might be an easier fix. Did your battery issues show any warning messages on the display before the seats started acting up?

Hey again! Yeah, reading your latest update definitely sounds familiar, especially that bit about the passenger seat being completely unresponsive now. When I had this issue with my i4, it actually started the exact same way. At first, it was just delayed responses during startup, but then the passenger side went completely dead. Interesting that you're not seeing any other electrical issues though, that's different from my case. Before my seats went wonky, I actually had some subtle warning signs like occasional flickering on the infotainment screen, but nothing major enough to ring alarm bells at the time. Your mileage and charging habits sound pretty similar to what mine were when this happened. I was also doing the 30-80% routine, and my car had about 98000 KM when the problems started. The weird thing is, I didn't get any specific battery warnings on the display either, the seat issues were literally the first obvious sign something was up. Given how similar this sounds to what I experienced, I'd honestly recommend getting it checked sooner rather than later. When I waited around trying to figure it out myself, it only got worse and ended up being more of a headache. The good news is that if it is the same battery issue I had, it's a relatively straightforward fix for the workshop. Mind giving the voltage check in your diagnostics menu a look? That might give us a clearer picture if we're dealing with the same gremlin here.

Thanks for all the detailed info! Just checked the voltage in the diagnostics menu like you suggested, and you might be onto something here. The readings do seem a bit off, though I'm not entirely sure what normal values should look like. You've convinced me to stop trying to figure this out myself. I'll book it in at the workshop tomorrow, no point risking making things worse by waiting. Your experience with the progressive failure pattern sounds way too similar to what I'm dealing with. Really don't want to end up with more electrical issues popping up. It's actually a relief to hear someone else went through the same thing and got it sorted without too much drama. I was worried it might be something major with the car's main systems. The repair cost you mentioned sounds reasonable too, definitely better than what I was imagining! Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience. It's really helped me make a decision on how to handle this. I'll probably update the forum once I get it sorted, in case anyone else runs into similar issues with their i5.