My driver's seat started to burn when the seat heater was turned on. I smelled something electrical burning and felt the outer section of the seat get very hot, and there is a black burn mark on the seat. is there a fix? should i disconnect the fuse to the seat heater? any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks!
Yes, definitely, pull the fuse for the seat heater circuit, asap - the wiring for the seat heater pad may or may not be a separate plug from anything for whether the seatbelt's plugged in or occupant sensor for seatbelt warning & airbag deployment (need a wiring diagram), but if it is separate, I'd unplug that too. Not sure there's much to do for a burn mark, cheapest option perhaps would be some leather dye of the right type (not sure what that would be), but, not sure I'd hold out much hope for dye to last or not end up staining your clothes.
Yes your seat heater had shorted causing the high temps and burning the leather. Yes do unplug the seat heater or fuse to no further damage can occur this can start fires on the seats. The repair is to replace the seat leather and heaters.
thanks, do you have any idea of the cost involved? can this be done at my local mechanic's shop (not a BMW shop, but has worked on my car)
Costs will vary depending on what route you go. Presumably, the most expensive would be a new replacement seat from BMW, if one could even be had. Another option could be sourcing a replacement seat of the same color - search ebay for BMW E39 seat (try other search terms too - searching BMW seat might be least specific with most results to wade through). You might stand a chance of finding someone who's disassembled a stock seat and is just selling the leather seat upholstery that's over the frames & pads. You might find the seat heating pad too, depending on whether it's integrated into the leather or not. Upholstery shops might be able to effect a repair, re-creating the damaged panel with replacement leather that might or might not be a close color match. In any case, there are a number of ways to go.
