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Purchase my 2012 W221 S550 4Matic February of this year. Noticed that the drivers side lower seat cushion that was not get hot. These seat are fan cooled and heated. Contacted my dealership's parts department and ordered a new lower cushion cover. This cover has the heating element woven into this cover. After checking there were 3 available in the US and 9 overseas. Get them while they last! My cover is beige and naturally I did not check inventory for any other colors. New cover cost was $660.00, nothing is cheap to purchase on these cars! I did not plug my charging unit into the OBD port before I disconnected the electrical plugs located beneath the seat. This would has avoided the air bag code that will appear on your gauge cluster once the seat is reinstalled.
I removed the four bolts holding the seat to the floor/side rail. Disconnected electrical connectors and pneumatic tubing. Be careful the plastic trim tend to get brittle and some did require repair with Locktite adhesive before reinstallation. This product is highly recommended, do not get it on your fingers. Placed blankets and towels throughout the interior before set removal to protect the interior from damage. I removed the lower rear seat cushion which will make seat removal a lot easier. My brother helped me remove the seat but I used a third person on reinstallation which made the job a lot easier. The seat has to weigh 40 to 50 lbs. another suggestion would be to plug the active end of the pneumatic tubing remaining under the seat. I noticed with the drivers door open that the tubing was still pumping air. I eventually inserted a plug into the open end of this tube. A golf tee looks like it would work fine to utilize as a plug. Once I had the seat out and on a work bench you need to start removing the plastic trim surrounding the lower perimeter of the lower bench. Again, take your time this is almost 11 year old plastic. Plastic pry tools are required and there are a lot of tabs that need to be depressed to release this trim. Once you get the plastic trim off you need to start releasing the seat cushion from the metal seat bottom. There is a male/female attaching system on all four sides of the seat bottom attaching the cushion to the metal seat bottom. Using a flat headed screwdriver you need to start releasing the male from the female attachment system. There are four points on either side of the rear of the cushion located in the cloth portions of the cover. There are holes in the fabric hooked over metal clips on the metal seat bottom. A flat heated screwdriver worked well to release the cloth and a lifesaver for reinstallation. Once the cushion is removed from the metal bottom there are four metal wires running through cloth tubes woven into the seat cover. This wires give the seat the tufted look at where the leather is stitched together. These wires are held through the cover and down through the foam utilizing a metal clip fastening system. Pushing down with a screwdriver you can release these clips from the wires which releases the cover from the foam. You will need to remove these wires to reinstall into your new cover. Electrical wire for heating element needs to be pulled out of the foam to remove your old cover. Now your ready to reinstall your new seat cover. Reinstallation would be the reverse procedure from what a I just described. Again to get the four holes in the fabric attached to the metal seat bottom get a flat headed screwdriver through the hole in the fabric and pry it over the metal male clips on the metal seat bottom, now you can slide the holes in the cloth over the metal clips. Now you need to reinstall the wires into the cloth tubes on the rear side of your new set bottom. Put the new cover over the foam and reattach metal clips over and through wires inserted into the cloth tubes by pushing down on the clips and clipping them over the wires. Once this is done you now have to reattach the male/female attachment system along the for corners of the metal seat bottom. This is not easy to get started and someone pulling and flattening the cover as your try to reattach is helpful. Reinstall plastic trim along base of seat. As I stated before a third person was very helpful when reinstalling the seat. Once all bolts and bolt trim covers are reinstalled reconnect electrical connectors and pneumatic tubing. Reinstall rear seat cushion. After I started the vehicle the error message did appear on the dash cluster due to the disconnection of the air bag system in the seat. My inexpensive Icarsoft diagnostic tool is great for resetting error codes especially if you perform your own maintenance. This will prevent you from having to go back to the dealership to have these codes reset. Seat is now warm as toast and working well.
Purchase my 2012 W221 S550 4Matic February of this year. Noticed that the drivers side lower seat cushion that was not get hot. These seat are fan cooled and heated. Contacted my dealership's parts department and ordered a new lower cushion cover. This cover has the heating element woven into this cover. After checking there were 3 available in the US and 9 overseas. Get them while they last! My cover is beige and naturally I did not check inventory for any other colors. New cover cost was $660.00, nothing is cheap to purchase on these cars! I did not plug my charging unit into the OBD port before I disconnected the electrical plugs located beneath the seat. This would has avoided the air bag code that will appear on your gauge cluster once the seat is reinstalled.
I removed the four bolts holding the seat to the floor/side rail. Disconnected electrical connectors and pneumatic tubing. Be careful the plastic trim tend to get brittle and some did require repair with Locktite adhesive before reinstallation. This product is highly recommended, do not get it on your fingers. Placed blankets and towels throughout the interior before set removal to protect the interior from damage. I removed the lower rear seat cushion which will make seat removal a lot easier. My brother helped me remove the seat but I used a third person on reinstallation which made the job a lot easier. The seat has to weigh 40 to 50 lbs. another suggestion would be to plug the active end of the pneumatic tubing remaining under the seat. I noticed with the drivers door open that the tubing was still pumping air. I eventually inserted a plug into the open end of this tube. A golf tee looks like it would work fine to utilize as a plug. Once I had the seat out and on a work bench you need to start removing the plastic trim surrounding the lower perimeter of the lower bench. Again, take your time this is almost 11 year old plastic. Plastic pry tools are required and there are a lot of tabs that need to be depressed to release this trim. Once you get the plastic trim off you need to start releasing the seat cushion from the metal seat bottom. There is a male/female attaching system on all four sides of the seat bottom attaching the cushion to the metal seat bottom. Using a flat headed screwdriver you need to start releasing the male from the female attachment system. There are four points on either side of the rear of the cushion located in the cloth portions of the cover. There are holes in the fabric hooked over metal clips on the metal seat bottom. A flat heated screwdriver worked well to release the cloth and a lifesaver for reinstallation. Once the cushion is removed from the metal bottom there are four metal wires running through cloth tubes woven into the seat cover. This wires give the seat the tufted look at where the leather is stitched together. These wires are held through the cover and down through the foam utilizing a metal clip fastening system. Pushing down with a screwdriver you can release these clips from the wires which releases the cover from the foam. You will need to remove these wires to reinstall into your new cover. Electrical wire for heating element needs to be pulled out of the foam to remove your old cover. Now your ready to reinstall your new seat cover. Reinstallation would be the reverse procedure from what a I just described. Again to get the four holes in the fabric attached to the metal seat bottom get a flat headed screwdriver through the hole in the fabric and pry it over the metal male clips on the metal seat bottom, now you can slide the holes in the cloth over the metal clips. Now you need to reinstall the wires into the cloth tubes on the rear side of your new set bottom. Put the new cover over the foam and reattach metal clips over and through wires inserted into the cloth tubes by pushing down on the clips and clipping them over the wires. Once this is done you now have to reattach the male/female attachment system along the for corners of the metal seat bottom. This is not easy to get started and someone pulling and flattening the cover as your try to reattach is helpful. Reinstall plastic trim along base of seat. As I stated before a third person was very helpful when reinstalling the seat. Once all bolts and bolt trim covers are reinstalled reconnect electrical connectors and pneumatic tubing. Reinstall rear seat cushion. After I started the vehicle the error message did appear on the dash cluster due to the disconnection of the air bag system in the seat. My inexpensive Icarsoft diagnostic tool is great for resetting error codes especially if you perform your own maintenance. This will prevent you from having to go back to the dealership to have these codes reset. Seat is now warm as toast and working well.
Thank you for the write up! Wish you would have taken some pics but it seems pretty well written so I am sure it will help any of us when needed
I need the heated seat cushion skin for beige for 02 front seats and seem it very hard to find even used one. If you have heated beige front seats skin then please let me know.
10-23-2022, 10:06 AM
