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I finished my install today. I have to say that this is a fairly involved job.
There is no problem at all taking either seat out and removing the covers. The rumors about some airbag related obstacle just was not true on my '06. You do need to disconnect the battery before you start.
I saved the hog rings that fasten the seat cover to the pan and reused them to put the cover back on. A couple of pliers are all you need. At the bottom of the seat backs is a long clip and two short clips that hold the back of the cover on. Use a flat blade screw driver to get them back together. You will see what I mean. I used a small bolt cutter to remove the rings under the covers. I replaced them with zip ties.
I ran a power wire from the battery to the center tunnel under the center console. I installed the switches in the console. I managed to hide all the wires under trim behind the seats and in the center console.
If you have any questions when you get into it let me know.
Good luck.
Your install looks great! I like your choice of mounting location for the switches. I was originally thinking of locating mine on both sides of the power outlet between the seats and tapping into it's power supply. But after seeing your pics, I'm not so sure.
I noticed that AutoWarm sells an optional installation kit for $20 did you happen to use one of these?
The reason I did not want the switches by the outlet is that it is too easy to bump the switch with your elbow. Heated seats are great but not in August in Missouri.
The reason I did not want the switches by the outlet is that it is too easy to bump the switch with your elbow. Heated seats are great but not in August in Missouri.
I just installed the heating elements this weekend. I now have heated seats in the S.
I decided to mount the switch between the seats on both sides of the accessory outlet. I debated location on this for a long time but decided I like this spot best. I put them to work last night for some spirited top down driving. They felt amazing. I am so happy with them so far. Definitely well worth the $90 total per seat. As some have said, it was a bit more work than I originally thought but I wanted to take my time and make sure I didn't rush anything. It took about 8 hours of actual work. My father pitched in with the wiring as he has become an expert at these things over the years.
The instructions sent from AutoWarm were excellent and I even noticed their customer support line for installation questions was open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. But thankfully that was not needed.
The removal of the seats was simple. The air bag sensor that I was worried about on the passenger seat looked like it was built into part of the seat pan/rail system so after the connectors were removed there was no problem separating the leather from foam.
Under the seat pan and inside the seats are the hog rings that hold everything together. I think these rings could survive a nuclear blast. Hog Rings = Satan. It took me about 45 minutes on each seat to get these off. My plan was to reuse them when I put the seats back together, I even bought hog ring pliers, so I took my time to deform them as little as possible. In retrospect, that was not a good idea and probably a waste of my time. I used some heavy duty all weather zip ties to get them back together. I had given some thought of going with a two tone leather interior at some point in the future and removing the zip ties would only take a matter of seconds. For anyone trying this I recommend cutting all the hog rings with small bolt cutters and using heavy duty zip ties instead. This would shave off an easy hour of time.
I bit off more than I could chew when It came to removing the rear console cover. Its not really needed especially when you take off both panels behind the seats but I wanted to do it anyway. After an hour of unscrewing and lightly tugging on the rear console cover, it got personal. I must have removed every screw/bolt/pin in sight and even tried entry from the trunk (I found out its actually possible to use the emergency kidnap trunk release lever after all in the S) but after another two hours I finally admitted defeat. Maybe one of you can show me how to take that off sometime. Needless to say I'll be investing in a service manual for my 06 so this never happens again. So with rear console cover on, we drilled the holes and fished the cable around to both seats and wired the connections to the power wire feeding the outlet. This part should only take about an hour an a half.
All that said, I highly recommend this mod especially for the price. I am more than happy to lend my services should anyone want to do this. It could be a great idea for an install day. After my learning experience, I'm confident this could be tackled in a half days work.
Here's a few picks.
You can see some of the Hog rings here.
Panel behind the seat where I tapped into the power source and hid the excess wire.
I'm sure at some point in time I may need to take you up on your offer with another mod. You all sure knocked out Ryans head unit, speakers etc. fairly quickly.
Nice work Brad. It would be nice to see the pictures of the elements being installed. Did you have the help of a Helms manual to take everything apart?
