I sat in a Mini at the dealer the other night, turned on the heated seats, I must have waited at least 5 minutes, no heat.... how long do they take to heat up? Also, I take it that the 2 light mode is the hotter mode, yes?

Doug

 

I've used the heated seats in our 05 S and they work great. I can feel noticable heat in under 1 min. And yes two lights is the hottest setting. I've heard some people say they are to hot but on a cold morning they're just what I'm looking for.

Dennis
Victoria BC (so it doesn't get stupid cold hear (-6c))

 

I can't leave the seat on high for long. It gets HOT. As soon as I feel it start to heat up I turn it to low.

Earl

 

Same here. And thats with the top down and 50F outside. As soon as seats get hot I have to turn it down to low.

 

Try another MINI. I accidentally hit the heater button the other day, and I knew it was on WELL before I saw the lights...

 

My seats take about 25 seconds to full heat up. Once they get going, it's very toasty!

 

I test drove two 05's today, both with heated (black leather) seats. I noticed the heat immediately.

 

13 degrees this morning.Heated seats mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!I'd say you got one that had issues.Try another one (and let the dealer know that the one you tried needs work).On a cold day like this morning , mine usually takes a couple of minutes to really do the thing,but NO MORE.

 

Ditto

 

Yep, they get very warm very quickly. The MINI heater on the lower setting is noticeably warmer than our Saab's on its middle (of three) settings. You should definitely notice it unless you have space shuttle heatshield tile stuffed in your pants. The one you tried must not have been working.

Mark

 

Less than 30 secs is about right. Something was wrong with that car. Temp control on the seats is awful though, on low, they can be so hot you can't leave them on. Hopefully my '05 will be calibrated better...

 

Either that car had a problem or it can depend on the seat material. In my MC with cloth seats the heat can almost get to the point you feel burned. In my sister's MC with leather its just a nice warm feeling through the leather.

 

I didn't get the heated seats on my '03 but I had them in my Dodge Ram. I miss them, don't use them much here in Florida for cold snaps but worked great on my back after a hard day at work.

 

I would try another vehicle. They definitely get warm....much faster and warmer than the ones I have on my Lexus.

 

Now, the car was just sitting in the show room, the engine was not running .... does this matter? I did have the key on, and I was listening to a CD at the time (and listed to 2 or 3 songs while I sat there). I turned the heat on for both seats, I had my hand on the passenger seat cushion, just in case I could not feel it so much through my jeans or jacket (I sat in the drivers seat). Does the car have to be running for the heat to actually work? Safety feature? Egine off=no heat, even though the lights for the heated seat are on?

Doug

 

I love my heated seats, better in cloth, not as hot

Yes, the car needs to be runnning

 

Ummmmm - nothing like nice warm buns... Ours work great!!

Donna

 

Mine take about 5 min to warm up, but once they do, they are nice. Maybe my butt isn't sensitive? I have leatherette.

 

Here in North Dakota, I'm regularly turning mine on @ Zero or sub zero....fast heat time; 3-5 min...scorching by 10

 

Much to the joy of my wife who feels that I drive with the top down when it's cold just to torture her, the heated seats in my 05 heat very quickly. I think the two lights identify the area being heated. Either seat, back or both.

 

I like how the MINI's heated seats heat up rapidly and then cool off a little bit
in the low-mode. It almost resembles how efficiently the rear wipers work.
swipe a couple times quickly, then go to slow mode. :smile:

 

Ummmm this might sound like a dumb question, but was the engine running? If my seats are turned on and I turn off the car, when I restart the engine, the seats are turned off. This suggests that the seats run on a relay tied to the ignition system.

But like others on this thread, my seats heat up fairly quickly also.

 

Pretty sure the car should be running...

 

McCasper, I think you may be mistaken about the lights; Jamie at South Bay MINI said that the two lights indicate the heat level: 1 light = low; 2 lights = high...

_Dave_

 

Heated seats are the best! I never knew how nice until they showed up in my 01 MDX. I'm gonna add them to my Mustang (you can get the heaters and switches on eBay....)

If you didn't feel anything, something is wrong!

Matt