BMW i8 Seat Heater Failures: Common Fix & Error Codes

Hey there! I have some experience with cars and actually dealt with something very similar in my 2018 BMW i3. The heated seats started acting up just like yours, super frustrating during cold weather! I took it to my regular workshop and they diagnosed it as a defective heating mat in the seat. The symptoms were exactly what you're describing, either no heat or it would just quit after a few seconds. The repair ended up costing me 390 Euro, but it's been working perfectly since then. They had to replace the entire heating element in the seat. Just curious, are both front seats affected or just one side? Also, have you noticed if it happens more after the car's been sitting for a while? Would help to know if you have any other electrical issues happening at the same time. I see you have an i8, beautiful car by the way! The i3 and i8 share some similar electronic components, so this might be a comparable fix. Let me know these details and I can share more about what my repair process looked like.

Thanks for sharing your experience! My i8 has 173179 KM and was just serviced last month. In my case, it's only affecting the driver's seat, and I haven't noticed any other electrical issues. Like yours, it's completely unusual, sometimes it works for a few seconds, other times not at all. I'm honestly relieved to hear you had a similar issue that was resolved with a heating element replacement. Did you have to leave your car at the workshop for long? I'm hoping this fix won't be too complicated since everything else is running smoothly.

Hey again! Always good to hear back from a fellow BMW owner. Yeah, from what you're describing, it sounds exactly like what I went through with my i3. When I had mine fixed, the workshop kept it for about a day and a half, they needed some extra time because they had to order the specific heating element for the seat. Since you mentioned it's only the driver's side, that's actually good news. It's pretty much identical to what happened with mine, just the driver's side acting up. Makes sense since that's the seat that gets the most use, right? Your mileage is a bit higher than mine was when I had the issue (mine was around 150,000 KM), but these heating elements can wear out at any point really. The unusual working/not working thing is super typical for a failing heating element, mine did the exact same thing before I got it fixed. One thing I will mention, since you just had it serviced, maybe check if this is covered under any warranty from that service. My workshop actually found that some of these heating element failures were part of a known issue in our BMW series. Let me know how it goes when you get it fixed. Always curious to hear if others have the same experience I did with the repair!

Thanks for all that detailed info! You're right, I'll definitely check about the warranty coverage from my recent service. That's a really good point I hadn't considered. It's such a relief to know this seems to be a known issue and not something more complex. The day and a half timeline for repairs works perfectly for me actually. I can arrange to work from home those days. I just called my local BMW workshop and they can get me in next week. They quoted roughly the same price range you mentioned, which seems fair considering it's a full heating element replacement. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out with this! It's been super helpful to hear from someone who's been through the exact same thing. I'll definitely update you once I get it sorted. Really appreciate all the advice!