So I have a 2015 Cooper Hardtop S that although I love the ride, it has an issue.

Basically, the heated seats have failed and I was told that it is an issue with the 2015 models. The seats turn on and once they hit 80F, they trigger a circuit and turn off. I have lower back pain issues and need a car with either heated seats or a heating pad.

It has been in and out of the shop for the 3 months of ownership and I have been told it is an issue and there is no fix.

I spoke with Mini NA and was asked 'what do I want to do'. I basically said that I just need a car with heated seats.

I have been looking at the 2015 Coupe/Roadsters as a potential swap out as from what I can tell, they are on the older chassis and don't have the issue the newer models do.

I don't need a 4 door and would prefer to stay with a 2 door.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. I am sure there will be comments regarding the need for heated seats, but they really are a necessity.

 

Well, having worked with Lemon Law its going to be hard to get them to buy it back. If its "normal" and they can prove it as-designed then there is not much you can do (since the seats do work, as in they heat up..)

If they are that critical to you, I would trade it out for a car where they don't shut off.

I would avoid any type of modification to the existing seats, that would pretty much void any hope of every resolving this.

You could add a "plug in" 12V seat heater ($40 Amazon). And keep the car. All and all, that's a $40 fix that keeps you in the car, and only makes the seats slightly ugly.

 

If you really wanted to keep the car, locate the temperature probe or measuring device and wrap it with a bit of some form of insulation, enough to cause the turn off temperature to increase. I've done that with refrigeration, freezing and heating devices. Even my old espresso machine has been treated to a bit of trickery to get the water temp up.

Otherwise demand a new car.

 

Heated seats have a thermostat that will shut the seat off when it hits a certain temperature. Just like any heating system, otherwise you'd have a 'run away' heater and it would burn you. Sounds like your thermostat needs to be replaced.

If Mini isn't going to do it for you, I'd take it to an car upholstery place and see if they can replace it.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone.


I spoke to Mini NA again today + they have indeed acknowledged that it is a problem and have asked what I want to be done.

I have requested a buy back towards a 2015 Mini Coupe S that has been determined that the seats do work + that there is no issue.


I was told that they will follow up with me within the next few days

 

Sorry to hear about this issue. I hope when they follow up they are able to fulfill your request and if they do you don't have this issue again with the new one. Let us know what happens!

 

Strange, the heated seats in my F56 [and the 3 I test drove] are damn near scalding on the high setting.

Why can't they simply replace the seats? Sit in a demo or a car on the lot and see if the seats work correctly. It's very odd that the dealership and MINI are using some excuse instead of fixing the problem.


As for the "L" word, each state has very specific laws as to what a lemon car is and exactly what the dealership and manufacturer must do prior to it being declared a lemon. So far based on your post you're nowhere near that point as everything has been lip service and no actual repairs have been attempted.

 

Interesting. What I think you said is your dealer told you the heat was supposed to turn off when they reached a certain temperature. I'm pretty sure that isn't true based on what other F56 owners have said (as in no one ever posted that complaint before), and as an owner of a 2014 R56 Coupe I can assure you mine stay on until I turn them off. I think the dealer is wrong.

 

What the dealership told me is that once the seats hit 80F, there is a circuit that turns them off. They also told me that this was not normal behavior although it was confirmed by their technicians and an Engineer from Mini NA.

I had thought of modifying it aftermarket but then got to thinking, a) why should I as it isn't working as it should be and b) if anything happened due to my mod, I would be left holding the bag

I have used a plug in seat heater, but it was extremely uncomfortable and just need the seats to work

Per my dealership, they have checked every car on the lot with heated seats (they don't have many), and the F56 all worked (or really didn't work) the same way.

Based on state law that my car has been in exceeding the state limit and we are going on months here, it only makes sense for Mini to make it right.

 

So basically,... your seats work exactly as designed. Rather, this is a case of one man demanding to have hotter seats. Not really Mini's responsibility if you ask me and certainly not a "lemon". It would seem silly to sell the car back, potentially losing a lot of money, for such a minuscule reason. I'd probably look into other options to keep your back even warmer than the typical heated seats can provided.

 

By only heating to 80F (i.e. less than body temperature) is not working exactly as designed. If Mini cannot produce a product that at least can be felt, then the product is faulty. Looking at other manufacturer's products, heated seats will go between 105 - 114F - There is no reason for me as an owner to look into other options as the product I have purchased is faulty.

I don't want to turn this into a pissing match - cheers

 

I doubt Mini will buy your car back because the seats don't heat.. either at all or as high as you want. They will want to repair the seats just like anything that isn't working under warranty. If they repair the seats and they function like all Hardtop seats but still not hot enough for you, then I can't see you have a case. Did you test the seats before you ordered your car?

As a suggestion, since you have specific back pain issues and may benefit from better seat heaters, ask them to install after market heaters that will give you better performance. These heaters can go up to 127 degrees and some versions have 5 heating levels. A car upholstery place can do this kind of install with no problem. The heater kits aren't that expensive and would probably give you better performance over the stock heaters.

http://www.rostra.com/comfortheat-au...-by-rostra.php

 

The heating pad certainly has a thermostat in it that turns the current off when the pad reaches a certain temperature. No different than the thermostat in your house turns off the furnace when the house reaches the set point. Changing from Low to Med to High just changes the set point.

The thermostat is often built into the pad. Maybe Mini got a bad batch from their vendor? 80 degrees is often less than ambient temperature around here. Not even sure in the summer time how you can even measure the seats turning off at 80 degrees. If the thermostat was mistakenly set to 80 it would not even send current to the heating elements unless the ambient temp was below that.

Most heated seats also have a timer that turns them off after a certain length of time.

 

Good luck and please let us know what happens!

 

The heated seats in my car have always sucked...probably the lamest in any car that I've tried. I have a 2014 Cooper S.

Good thing I live in SoCal now...

 

I've never had mine set to High. Medium at most, at first, then usually back to Low. I am completely satisfied with their functioning, and I do not live in SoCal ;-).

 

More info:

On my 2008 MINI Cooper S...when the heated seats were set to high, it was more than the booty of a human being could handle...I mean it was hot!

I have not tried out the heated seats on my 2015 I3 yet...

And again...I wish you only the best!

 

I tested the driver's heated seat today in my 2015 MINI Hardtop, 2 Door, I3 and with it set to the high setting, it's more than I can handle...way too hot!

As Ryephile said in his post: "[the seats] are damn near scalding on the high setting."

 

Same with my 2012 Justa, and they do not turn off. Way too hot if left on "3".

 

I know for a fact that my 2015 turns itself down once you get to a certain temp (which I'm happy it does- it can burn through the leather!)

My Touareg does this as well.

I can understand that if you need therapeutic heat for your back that this is not ideal, but it is more a safety thing than anything else- and what's the problem with just turning them back on?

I know I have tricked it by turning it off and back on once it goes down from 3 bars to 2 bars.


This is more of a preference thing than a lemon law thing. If they buy your car back because you don't like the way a feature works- then you have it made!

 

More than 15 minutes of heat to you back is no longer therapeutic. If you are having back issues, relying on your car for treatment is probably unrealistic, not to mention expecting a buyback.

 

The heated seats in both my previous '03 and my current '09 MINIs both sucked, at least compared to the ones in my wife's Audi....in that car you have 6 temp setting, I use "1" and she likes "3", but either way when you turn them on they warm up nicely and stay there at whatever temp you have them set at.


In both my MINIs, the seat heater comes on hard, gets extremely hot and after about 10 min shuts off till it's almost cold, then they kick on again and the cycle repeats. I use them on really cold days but usually turn them off about 3 blocks from leaving my house as they're uncomfortably hot.


BMW/MINI need to go visit Audi and see how to do it right.......


Sounds like the OP has a solution in hand for his situation, and MINI NA is working to make him happy, so good for them!

 

Just bought a 2015 Cooper and the seats do self regulate and reduce the temp to prevent seat melting, apparently. My 2012 had to be turned down to "1" almost immediately and even that was hot!

Why would you get rid of a car if the seats weren't right? Just fix/replace the heated seats.