phil.az

My seat heaters feel like they start warming whenever I drive with the AC. After 20 minutes it's noticeably uncomfortable. Of course the seat heat button is OFF and I've verified the setting in the MMI display is 0.

Dealer says this does not happen and my body heat is causing me to imagine it. If that's true how come I don't experience this while driving with the climate control system completely off?

I can unplug the two harnesses under the seat but of course that causes me to lose all power options. It would be nice to know which harness and/or pins control just the heat. Even nicer would be a fuse I could just pull.

tenspeed

Unplug one connector at a time and see what works.

frozen-stitches

take a light and look under the seat and look for the plugs that either go through the foam or looks like it wraps up to to top of the seat and try that one. the seat heater element is on top of the seat cushion. if you see a green connector that might be it,but some cars are different

phil.az

Thanks for the hints. I can reach two different harnesses so I unplugged both. To my surprise I was still able to heat my seat using the standard dash button and MMI ****. There is at least one more harness that I can see under the seat using a flashlight & mirror but reaching it may not be possible.

Still open to suggestions. Both seats/seatbacks feel quite warm after 25 minutes or so driving around with the A/C on so it's hard to believe I'm imagining it.

xlover

Why not unplug the whole harness and drive around for an hour or so to verify that is the issue. That way you could prove the difference to the dealer.

phil.az

Well it turns out seat heaters have fuses that are documented in the owners manual. I just now pulled the one for the driver's side. As soon as I confirm that it's truly disabled I should know within a few days of A/C use whether it's all in my head or not.

The results will be posted here in case anyone's curious.

phil.az

OK people, I just finished a 4500+ mile trip and confirmed the seat heaters are not misbehaving afterall. Sorry for making up a non-problem. My A5's black seats do hold alot more heat than my previous car's beige seats, even if I cover them with a white towel while parked. I should plan to look for cooled seats the next time I'm in the market.

MonzaA5

Should have gotten the S-line. Alcantera doesn't heat up nearly as much as leather (and doesn't feel cold in the winter). It's a great seating surface material.

KarlFEvans

The black leather seats in both my Miata and my A4 also retain a lot of heat. Not sure why.

ayap

You probably have a 'hot butt' syndrome that warms up the seats quickly. Just ask for a refund for the heated seats - you don't need heated seats, since your butt warms up quickly.