sghokie

My new to me e350's heated seat on the driver side doesn't work on the bottom correctly. The back heat works well, on the bottom it works on the sides. So I assume that the element is broken under the cover.
Does anyone have any info for a w212? In looking online it seems that most people's were covered under warranty by the dealer for w212's. Mine doesn't have a warranty.

ArcticE

i have the same problem and I believe I have read in other forums this is a common problem. The back of my seats on my 2010 heat up fine but the bottom heaters do not heat up. I will be bringing my car in under extended warranty and will let you know what they say.

As a side note, can anybody confirm that there is in fact a heater in the bottom part of our seats?

sghokie

Mine works on the sides still. the full bottom should work I would think it should. Looking at the parts diagram I am not so sure though looks like it is only the sides.

konigstiger

Yes, it is incorporated into seat cushion.

sghokie

Is it supposed to heat in the middle of the bottom or just the sides?
I checked my pass side also only heats on the sides on the bottom.

Live Oak

Don't know if this applies to your model year, but you may want to check this out (both these are actually the same LI):

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LI91.30-P-054637 – 212 up to VIN A362355 with seat heater, cable channel of seat heater visibly protruding and able to be felt replace heat mat with modified heating element routing.

LI91.30-P-054637 – 212 with seat heater (873) up to VIN A703331 lump under seat cushion cover, install modified heat mat.

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The "lump" is toward the front of the seat bottom, between your legs. Had this replaced on mine, but it's a 2011 E550.

ArcticE

Car goes in tomorrow under the extended warranty...checked both front seats and neither bottom heats up, only the back. I will reference those service bulletins when I speak to the tech. Thanks and I will let you guys know how it turns out.

AdemSenduy

Could it be just a fuse ?

sghokie

I rode on the pass side today and the bottom center part of that seat heats up. I don't think its a fuse because the entire seat should be on the same fuse.

stale-bread

I had the lump issue as well. They replaced the entire bottom seat cushion. As an added bonus, The new leather made my car smell brand new again.

Live Oak

My seats were in really good shape. I couldn't tell if the leather portion had been replaced, or if they just cleaned it up after the work.

ArcticE

After bringing my car to the dealer both seat bottoms were replaced due to the non-working heaters. About 2000 in parts covered under my extended warranty

sghokie

wow, 2 grand.
I called my dealer service adviser and explained my problem, they told me 200 for the heater parts and 3 hours of labor.
3 hours for labor seems a tad bit overboard.

ArcticE

Yeah, I think the invoice said they replaced the bottom seat cushions...I also needed a new belt tensioner and belt so maybe subtract a couple hundred for that but it still was a lot.

Airmousam

I'm in the same club, picked up my car from summer storage and drivers seat bottom no workie. Boo!

sghokie

to update my situation. tonight I pulled out the seat and pulled off the cushion. I was able to extract out the element pads. I was going to attempt to find the break but was unsuccessful. I was able to measure good resistance only like 10 ohms in the outer heater, so since that part still works that was the control. But the center part, I could not get any reading from the connector area, I was sometimes able to get a very high ohm reading by bending around the wires in the center, but wasn't really able to find anything conclusive as to the exact spot of the lack of continuity. So eventually I gave up as I had to get the seat back in so I can get to work tomorrow.

A word of caution, if you are going to take the seat out you must disconnect the battery or you will get the dreaded airbag warning.

As for my next step is to attempt to find the replacement element which is part number A212 820 2498. If I can't find that I will probably look to find an aftermarket element pad. I would prefer to find the original part as I spent enough time messing with it tonight.

sghokie

Here is a diagram of the seat assembly.
http://www.mbpartsworld.com/showAsse...sembly=1085831

I just ordered the part from ECS Tuning. They say it will ship within 3 days, cost ~150 with shipping. I estimate that with the new part in hand that to take the seat out and swap in the element will take me about an hour and a half, maybe 2 hours, definitely not 3 hours that the dealer quoted.

Airmousam

Impressive work, good luck

CarolinaBluetec

My 2008 Bluetec seat heater failed and burned a hole in the driver's seat at 65k miles, parts alone were quoted at $1300. I am now driving a 2013 E350.

sghokie

ECS posted pics of the part.
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES1846025/
I assume they didn't ever have one to take pics of until they received the one I ordered.

I notice that the wire routing looks different than mine. Maybe they updated it so it doesn't break as easy.

aeroconfigs

Mine might be broken too, I can feel it getting warm around the sides but it doesn't seem to get warm on the bottom cushion. Do you have a process figured out for removing the chair?

sghokie

Well I found this site.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...er-repair.html
It isn't quite the same as mine though.

Basically you get the seat out of the car and then unclip the wires that feed into the seat heater under neath. Pry the surround edges of the cushion off and take it off. You need to then pop loose the clips that hold the leather or pleather in my case cover to the foam, I couldn't figure out how to get loose some of the clips on one side, so I just unclipped the blue ones and was able to flip over the cover and have access to the heater element. You can then peel away the edge off and slide out the old heater. Looks like the new one has an adhesive strip to attach the edge to the seat cover. If I had the part on had when I took it apart the other day I don't think it would have taken me but like an hour and a half to do the whole job.

aeroconfigs

Thanks. And also for the links, that mb parts world site is great. I didn't know that existed. I'm a pretty big tech nerd that likes to look at all the parts and see how they all go together.

sghokie

Success.
Got the part on Saturday evening by USPS. I just finished installing it.
Was not really too difficult. The most challenging part is getting the seat cover back onto the frame. I was able to mostly get it back on, the left and right sides where the most difficult as you have to contend with the seat frame, I had put the seat all the way up to try and help with this.

screw991le

Same with mine, today is was 25 degrees out. Only the back and sides work on both of my seats. Guess that is why I have an extended warranty.