I'm in Northeast Ohio also, Akron/Canton area...we have heated leather seats in our family car...so...

My wife said if I got leather seats in our Mini (blue lapis), and if I wanted her to wear mini skirts when traveling via our Mini, then I had to get the heated seats.

So for me they were a mandated requirement.

 

For $300 i had to get it, plus i think it would help with the resale value (not that i would try to sell my MCS)

 

What about the heated windshield???

 

This is goign to sound whacky but...

can a heated seat short out or whatever and cause one to incinerate?

Also, do the wipers look different from regular or are they the same with just heat somewhere inside them?

Thirdly, does a heated mirror cost a lot more to replace?

last, does a heated seat eventually wear out? I would guess it would after years of goign on. Can it then be repaired? I plan on keeping my mini around for many many years, and I am quite young yet.

300 seems likea decent bargain. I can not do the piano black maybe. Might be better to go for some comfort as well. Good suggestion that for 270 youi can get just the seats heated. On Long island, side mirrors do get misty at times. however, driving a real car is going to be so strange thatI feel odd wondering about such fun details

 

Why your theory doesn't apply to everyone...

1) I live in Maine
I do not, but I hear Maine is Lovely!

2) My car stays in a garage overnight
Buddha does not. He's a nature guy and prefers the great outdoors.

3) I have cloth seats
Hate cloth; it splits and dry rots in the sun. Have Panther Leather instead.

4) It only takes a few minutes for the heater to start putting out heat even when it's below zero
ok...

5) The washer fluid is already designed not to freeze in freezing weather so why would I need it heated too?
Because when you are driving in snow, you can get a frozen buildup on your windshield wipers (and headlights) preventing your wipers from doing their job. This happens even with your defroster on. Heated fluid will help reduce/eliminate this build up. Meaning you don't need to stop on the side of the road, get out of the toasty warm car, and scrape/bang off the clogged wipers. Or at least not nearly as often.

6) The outside rearview mirrors stay at ambient temps so they don't get condesation and therefore don't need a defroster/de-icer
Not sure where you get that idea. If your car lives outside, you not only get frozen condensation, you get frozen precipitation while the car is sitting and also while you are driving. Heating the mirrors also help to evaporate this precipitation, not just melt it! Have had them in other cars and it is much better than rolling down the window when it is cold and sleeting or snowing and scraping away the icy buildup or wiping down the mirrors so you can see to change lanes. Since I don't have to roll down the windows while I'm driving, I can stay toasty warm in my car!

7) Heated seats are nice, but my *** is pretty warm. Besides a heated seat just makes me want to take a leak.
Heated seats are divine to those of us who've suffered back injuries. Helps keep you from getting crippled while driving. I use them even in the summer when my back really aches. Built-in heating pad. Yummm.

8) Cold weather pkg=just another thing to go wrong and it'll do so at the worst possible moment...even though it's totally not necessary(unless you live in the great frozen north that is).
Cold weather pkg is one of those really nice things to have. And there isn't any thing in the package that is critical to keeping your car running; it is all about creature comforts so even if it goes wrong at the worst possible moment, the only thing you have to worry about is well...nothing.

 

To the person who asked about heated seats wearing out, well, yes, anything can wear out. Tires wear out. Does that mean you don't want them? Window regulators wear out, does that mean you don't want your windows to roll down in your Mini? Just wonderin'

 

Yes, my experience is that they often do wear out. They didn't work last winter in Utah in my 1987 Volvo (with 195000 miles on it) and it sure would have been nice to have . But I don't know how long or how reliable they'll be in my MINI. Our Volvos always seemed to have little electrical problems and the heated seats not working (or working only occasionally) always seemed to be one of them. They can be fixed, but if its not under warranty then it can get expensive if you don't do it yourself.

Are heated seats NECESSARY? No. But neither is A/C, Power Windows, Remote Keyless Entry, a panoramic sunroof, alloy wheels, etc, etc... If you live in a cold place they're great, but if you don't feel you need them because you live in a warm place then don't bother wasting your money. It hasn't really gotten much below 90 degrees yet since I bought my MINI but I'm sure excited to use them this winter!

 

Hey, I'm old, bad back, knees & neck, with cloth, heated seats. They are great. Nothing like getting in a car that has been out in the heat all day with leather or pleather - don't wear shorts or short sleeve shirts. Having owned 4 911s, 3, with leather, the leather seats do require more care than the cloth. I like the looks & feel of the leather but..... The rest of the cold weather stuff, 10 years ago I would have said "are you nuts?" today, I must say I do enjoy it ( no I did not order it. it was on the car when it came in & I already waited 6 months ).

 

I've never heard of a seat heater incinerating. The only place you could have an issue would be the plug. But don't take them in the hot tub with you.

The WIPERS are not heated, only the washer jets are. The OEM wipers are the exact same on all MINIs.

Don't know about the cost of heated mirrors, but I doubt it's siginifcantly more. And if it's egregious, just buy a non heated one. (you do get into minutiae, don't you! )

A heating element simply passes electricity through one end to the other, coverting it to heat in the process. If a wire breaks, they could fail, though I don't know this is a big problem. If it did break, at a minimum you have a non-heated seat and can decide if it's worth the replacement cost. I put a set of aftermarket heaters in my Miata - the elements were ~$150. My labor was free.

On the other hand, if you bought the elements and had someone install them, you're looking at way more than $300. It's a bargain.

 

You are a funny man, Eric Rowland, and I love your top 10 list of why heated seats are not important, I was laughing outloud. Maybe cause my parents used those lines when I was a kid... As for me, all I can say is that: It's a great feeling to have my a*s nice and toasty on those nippy days. Well worth the few extra dollars per month (that's if you financed the car).

 

Hm. I guess I buy them then. I can get that urination sensation kicking in whenever I want with the flip of a button. cant beat that with a stick

goign to do full heater options for 300

 

I love the heated seat! Hubby has BMW 850i with heated leather and we would fly around pretty late in the season with the windows down and the sun roof open. The heated seats kept my butt warm and let me go longer without putting up the windows! So I had to get them in daMini. Also nice when you get the ice cream chill from a large cone!


Of course, in the 850 when you hit 100 the windows roll up anyway

 

women love heated seats, pretty much all the females i know like their butts heated up. Personally i don't like them, the pee feeling, and never really used them in my audi, and thus i didn't get the cold weather package. I live in the mountains and haven't wished once that i had the cold weather package.

 

If I had a cabrio I'd definitely get the heated seats for extend top-down season all throughout our mild winters here. Honestly, though, I was used to classic Minis having few....and possibly negative....creature comforts, so having AC, airbags, and power windows was more than I could possibly imagine in a MINI. Needless to say, I skipped all the packages. I did do a few a-la-carte additions, though.

 

A seat heater anecdote, courtesy of my mother, who lives in Wisconsin:

One winter day, she took her boss out to lunch and they took her Cadillac DeVille which has heated seats/back. They'd been in the car for maybe 2 minutes, when the boss started squirming a bit in his seat. A minute or two later, he was squirming even more, and my mom asked him what was the matter.

He replied, "My b@lls are on fire!"

My mom promptly showed him how to turn the seats on "low" or off entirely, but to this day it makes for a good story.

 

That's anther good reason for the seat heaters! An old GF had them in her Volvo. It's a great game (especially in summer) to subtley hit the button and see how long it takes them to notice.

 

I prefer cloth seats. Heated seats are therefore not necessary.

 

Heated seats alway seem like such "luxary" to me right up their with "Automatic Windshield Wipers". I am sure people like them but I think I can flick the windshield wiper button.

So, just to counterpoint, and I am NOT taking anything away from anyone who needs them because I can see it in the far North or a convertable

Reasons I dont want no stinking heated seats:

1. Can't afford them
2. Too many clothes on in the winter anyway
3. Draws to much electricity from the battery
4. NO need to warm that part of the anatomy ... all your heat is lost from your head, not your butt
5. Probably would want to make me pee after drinking morning coffee
6. A warm butt and cold head is bad for the body
7. One more part to break
8. Adds 10 oz to the weight of the car. Who wants to add weight to a MINI
9. Two words: Toasted "parts"

and the number ONE reason to BUY heated seats:

MINI-Skirts!!!

 

I've never had heated seats and my used MCS didn't come with the CWP. I figure you can't miss what you never had, right?

 

once I discovered heated seats, there was no going back. The first time I used them the strangest thing happened. I parked my car, got out, cool breeze blew past my butt and I thought.... "why is my butt wet?" Imagine my surprise when I realized what it was! I got over that quickly! I use the heated seats here in Socal instead of the heater. Works for me.

 

Heck yeah. mini skirts

can't get enough of them in my car!

Now, in american thinking on cold, we put hats on and gloves and large amounts of warmth on upper body. Lower body gets 2nd place in need for warmth. Interesting, my japanese friend said that in japan, they believe that the feet need warmth first, and the legs, and gradually up to the upper body. HE was saying that in nice homes with some sort of special cedar or something floors, they have little honey comb shaped (vovos) wooden structures under the floor. each one has a tiny gas flame that heats the floor causing your body to relax when you sleep and is healthy according to their understanding of subtle medicine. Interesting! I always thought.

also, iguana's like to sit on hot rocks to aid their digestion of food.

 

i need a hot rock please