It's been bothering me since it's been cold enough to turn on the heated seats. Are just the bottoms heated? My seat bottom heats on the left first, then slowly radiates to the right. Haven't tried the passenger seat yet. The backs do not heat. Normal?

Mine work on buns & back, but seem to be related to the climate control temp setting as to how hot they get. I wonder if it is due to the climate controlled seats? Do they actually have elements, or do they blow air for heat? I can say that in comparison, my girlfriend's 2011 Sentra SL heated seats (that are elements) get hotter than a whorehouse on nickel night.

Mine sometimes are piping hot and other times seems like it didn't turn on. Next time I go get service, definitely mentioning it. Did not have this problem on my 07.

So it seems I'm not the only one who has funny heated seats. That's good and not lol. My e91's heated seats heat up within minutes and does so uniformly on the bottom and lower back. The ones in the M take a good 7-8 minutes before they start getting warm. I have the Deluxe Touring seats too, which have more padding than the standard seats, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

I think your E91 likely had a wire heater in the seat like the heated seats in most cars, thus it can start heating immediately. I actually think (just my own deduction) that the Infiniti one, since it's fan driven/ventilated, waits till the temperature is warm enough before starting to blow hot (or cold) air. Similar to how if you set the car to 90*, and just start it, it won't start with a fan speed of max but will gradually build it up as the car gets to operating temp.

My issue is that sometimes the seat is hot to the touch and other times it's not.

I would agree IlyaKol; at least that's the way it seems to operate.

I noticed a difference coming from my EX with heated seats to the Q70 with climate controlled seats, and have experienced the same that it seemed like only one side was heating at first. I have assumed this is the difference between climate controlled seats driven by a blower vs. heating element in heat-only seats. I've noticed too that it takes a few more minutes to get to the point of feeling the heat. From what everyone is saying, it sounds like this is just the way the climate controlled seats work.

In my wife's QX56, with the setting on the lowest, the seat gets hot very quickly, like it was using an element, not a fan. But, she has heated and cooled seats like I do so I know that it is a fan. Often times, I'll have it turned off in a few minutes as my rear will be on fire.

In my M37, the seats do not heat nearly as quickly. Maybe it's just a difference in the two systems or the maybe differences in the seats between the two, I'm not really sure. But, I've definitely noticed that the seats just don't get as hot as quickly in my car.

And, I definitely don't think that there is a heating component in the back of either seat in either vehicle as only my "backside" gets warm (or cool for that matter) and not my lower back.

Thanks for the reaffirmation guys. Only having the car for a couple months now, I'm still learning what's normal/not normal for my car. If you saw my ICC thread, you'll know why I'm a little paranoid lol.

Anyway, glad to have some other folks with the same experience as me.

I dunno about the back of the seat, but I have the opposite opinion. The days when it gets hot, my lower back gets a bit of heat too...unless it's somehow transferring through the material.

I definitely feel the lower back warm air. It is not as warm as the bottom but it is there. The hottest part of the seat is the bottom front just to the back of the knees. The other parts never get as hot. I do wish it would get hotter than it does.

Mjkkb2 wrote:I definitely feel the lower back warm air. It is not as warm as the bottom but it is there. The hottest part of the seat is the bottom front just to the back of the knees. The other parts never get as hot. I do wish it would get hotter than it does.

I also confirmed today that the lower back (lumbar) area is heated. It's not just heat transferred...it's legitimately heated/cooled.

It's hard to tell whether the seat is heated from your body heat or if it legitimately is heated by the seat heater lol. It does get really warm right behind the knees. I also wish it was more uniform.

On another similar, but unrelated topic, when I have my heater cranked up I only feel warm air coming out of the driver's side vents but cool air on the passenger side vents, like as if the fan was just blowing without any heated air. When it's on auto, it's difficult to tell that that cabin is heating up because it directs it to the foot vents. Thoughts on this?

I'm pretty sure the coolant has never been drained and filled, but even then, the car only has 33K miles on it so it shouldn't be a clogged heater core or anything like that.

I'm betting the cabin filter was never replaced either. The dumb previous owner neglected the poor gal.

It's definitely the seat. I had just gotten into the car, and I didn't fart into the seat, so no way the back/lumbar area could remotely get that warm that fast.

The back is definitely heating for me, though I do think it takes a little longer to feel it than the seat itself.

Good to know. With a few of the things my car has put me through, it never hurts to have confirmation of one thing or another. Thanks fellas!

gaygeek wrote:The back is definitely heating for me, though I do think it takes a little longer to feel it than the seat itself.

btw - welcome to the forums!