capt_paul

Well, I have searched the forums and still have conflicting info between what I read here and the dealership.

I know I will need the seat heat cable assembly (A2035403005) and the switch bank (A20382128817167) for my 2005 C230 with all US options.

I looked under my seat toward the front of each-there is a square plug with a heavier gauge Brown wire and Black/Yellow wire on the driver side, and heavier gauge Brown wire and Black/Pink wire on the passenger side. From what I have been reading, I may have the heat pads in my seats?

Anyway, the parts guy said that I still also need a main body harness, and also need another major harness to connect the seat heat cable (see above) to the switch bank, and some relays. Is this guy on crack or what? I know people here have done the seat heat install by buying the switch bank and seat heat cable, in addition to seat heat pads or replacement covers with the heat pads installed.

Before I order the switch bank and cable I need to know if this is doable on my 2005 C230 Sedan.

Thanks in advance....

SUNILP

Yes, that guy is smoking crack. THere is only 1 Harness needed which connectors both seats to the fuse box, ground, and switch row. As for having seat heat pads in the seats from factory, I am not sure about this. Is there a unconnected 4 pin socket under the seat? It will be in the black socket row next to the seat control unit. IF you have an UNCONNECTED socket, then it may be the heaters. But I doubt it. No relay is necessary.

mbbodytech

It's a shame the this guy is so imcompotent....however, I think that sometimes they just don't want to deal with unusual requests (because it may cause them to actually work) and just try to scare people off!

I have been thinking about this same retrofit for my car, and the parts are no big deal. The installation is what will be the big deal. Both front carpets and the seats, and center console all need to be removed. A bit of a big job.

capt_paul

Thanx Sunman,

It would be a good time to shampoo the carpets then . I will do the harness first to get the big part out of the way, and then closer towards the fall I will do the switch bank. Do you have the WIS instructions for the cable install?

And to think that MB sends these "Techs" to school for this stuff

mbbodytech

There is a big difference between the techs and the parts guys!!!!!

Don't get the two confused.

SUNILP

I don't have the instructions on hand but once you get the harness, you will see it's pretty easy to install. One end goes to the switch row, then one to each seat, one ground point which is a factory point, and one goes to the left fuse box.

capt_paul

Sorry, you are right Parts Guys are dummer than rocks..the Tech Guys I have worked with actually fixed stuff that was broken. The guy that did my Sirius install had to troubleshoot for hours to fix my intermittent problem. He actually used his brains and found something that the MB diagnose did not cover.

In the case of the parts for the heat install, the parts guy got someone else from the back to try to figure out the parts and he told me all the BS about ordering all those other items that I don't need.

BTW..Fletcher Jones here in Las Vegas used to have an excellent parts guy that knew what he was doing, but he left

AdamVax

so are you guys saying that you can install heated seats? so does the car already have the heat pads in the seats?

tuscanraider

Why don't you pour a bowl of hot baked beans down your pants in the morning? That'll keep your azz warm on the morning commute.

I love these fools who try to add these basic options AFTER buying the car. Why don't you just wait and get the car with the xenons, htd seats, CD changers FROM THE FACTORY?

JohnCL

Now what fun would that be??? We love a challenge, but I did get heat from the factory!

Jim Banville

(1)SOME options are cheaper to add yourself.
(2) Some people ENJOY the challenge of adding options to their car.
(3) It's not nice to call others in this community "fools" (unless it's c230 617 or one of his alias's).

capt_paul

Well, this FOOL would have ordered the car from the factory, but I got a very good deal on my car off the dealer lot, so there!

I like to mod cars and I certainly don't mind getting my hands dirty once in awhile.

I had another car which I added tons of stuff to from engine to suspension.

Besides, there are some factory oem mods that you simply cannot order from MBUSA, like the convex mirrors and the fire extinguisher, and parktronic....

mbbodytech

One issue with regards to seat heaters is that they were not available on the cars with cloth seats (at least on the coupes for sure) so that is the reason I'm considering this mod for my car.

JohnCL

Ummmm, yes they were. I have factory heated cloth seats in my coupe.

Young Doc

So do the seats come with the heaters installed? Did anybody ever got to the bottom of this?

Justinius7

Two options I had to have when i bought the c320... heated seats and command... well didn't get either, so now its time to make it happen.

I looked under the seat last night, there are a few different wires. BUT WHICH WIRE EXACTLY AM I LOOKING FOR?

I noticed a bire block connector with some blanks toward the front of the seat, as well as some connectors going this way and that. Seems to be quite a few wires under there considering i have manual seats.

I imagine some are for the airbags etc., but all these wires are on the drivers seat as well. Does anyone have PICS of what i should be in search of?

JohnCL

The cars that shipped from the factory without heated seats will not have the connector for the heaters on the block under the seat. I have heated seats in mine and I can take a pic of the connector block and post on here later. If my memory serves me correctly while sitting here at my desk the drivers side with heat has 3 connectors and the passenger side will have four. I cannot answer the question of if the heat elements are there and just tucked away on the cars that did not ship with heated seats. You will also need a new dash switchrow with heated switches and the wiring harness to the seats. Again, I will post pix later.

Justinius7

Thanks JohnCL....

When i was searching the forum, i noticed some had claimed that they were going to pull apart their seats and search for the wires to the pads. And then convo's just kinda ended at that.

Has anyone actually done this? As for the switch row and wiring, that seems to be pretty forward. All else fails i can order the warmers out of the A series, correct?

Tishers

I agree, adding features that were not available in MBUSA is my kick too. Adding features (with a moderate amount of work) to a C is also really interesting to do.

That's why I ordered loaded, I don't want to waste my time and money adding something that I could have just purchased as an option. My experience is that it ends up costing me more in time, money, bloody nuckles and frustration.

There are so many non-standard ways to go. That's so exciting!

Saprissa

so that's good !!!
I'm sure there will still be quite a few options that you will have to retro-fit to your C350 that you cannot get through MBUSA.

That's been the story of my life with my 2 C's....

Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

Justinius7

IDEA!! I have an idea.....

Need someones help in this... I got to thinking about this whole heated seat thing. Supposedly some have it, but the wires are possibly tucked under the seat covers. Others do not have it at all.... Wether it was an option or not.

SO seeming that the seat warmers would have some type of metal in them, would a "electronic stud-finder" be able to dectect them? If a maybe, could someone who has heated seats try this and compare to a vehicle with out to see if the readings were the same?

Sounds like an odd idea, but hey if it works it works, if not.... we tried... Plus i really don't want to tear apart my seat just to look for a wire if i don't have to.

JohnCL

Here is the drivers siide connection block with heated seats. The heat plug is the big black one in the middle. Your passenger side will have one more connector for the airbag disable sensor.

Jim Banville

So, if there are pins in that block, your seat has the heaters?

Jim Banville

BTW, how much is the switchrow w/ seat heater buttons?

capt_paul

The switch bank is around $230 if I remember right from the quote I got a few months ago..