Well they do kinda work. The passenger seat works fine. The driver's seat seems to work for a little while after I turn it on then it seems to like time out. If I turn the switch off and then on again nothing happens. I The only thing that seems to work is turning the car off and restarting it. Then the heated seat works again. Could this be a relay problem?

The same thing happened to me last night... Had the seat on for a while, then I looked down and it was off and would not turn on until I turned the car on off and on.

Welcome to my World ;(. Same problem here(light comes on and after 1-2min is off). Will have to check the fuse. BTW does anyone know which fuse is for the driver ventilated seat?

If the fuse was blown it would not work once the car is restarted. My guess would be some sort of fault protection by the computer

There is no air coming from the seat, only the light on the knob comes on, and stays on for a while.
Maybe the controller(knob) is on the different fuse/relay than the cooling/heating system.
Just though that maybe there was a proven solution for this issue.

I have the same exect issue too with my 06 m35x - passenger seat works fine but driver seat sometimes doesn't work - sometimes the knob doesn't even light up. Shutting her down and restarting resets it for me too -

Anyone find a fix for this?

I may be wrong but the console knobs operate fans that control the amount of cold or warm air forwarded to the seats via the M's HVAC system. No seat heating coils involved. There may be an override to the switches if the system is not working properly. Move the seat forward and raise them to their highest point and then check the filters under each seat. There fairly easy to remove and there have been posts on the forum regarding how to remove them. Unless your frequently carting around pets, kids, or driving around with the windows opens these filters generally dont get that dirty. I would expect if they are dirty it could have an affect on the cooling and heating. These filters are about $55.00 a pop from Infiniti and I've found them no where else. I remember seeing a post where an M owner actually made replacement filters out of some type of like filtering material. I've inspected mine from time to time. Of course if your covered by an Infiniti Elite Extended warranty (I am) I'd let the dealer deal with the malfunctioning seat cooling and heating AFTER you check the filters. Also be careful what you use to clean/protect the front seats. Remember the heating and cooling are channeled to you through the seat perferation. If the perferation gets plugged up it could create problems. LOL.

I did a google search for "06 m35 heated seat relay" and got some pretty good hits. I am wondering if changing the realy might help. Its not that expensive (about $25) I'll probably try this when I get time. I must says every other car I have been in has better heated seats than this one. My wife reminds me of this also. My 04 pontiac had better heated seats than this. I know it is a different design by which the seats are heated and cooled, but it still should be better. I hope they have improved this in the 2011 M.

gavnator wrote:I may be wrong but the console knobs operate fans that control the amount of cold or warm air forwarded to the seats via the M's HVAC system. No seat heating coils involved.

From what I heard from SteveTheTech you are wrong. The fans that blow air through the seat do not take air from the main system at all. Yes you are right about no heating coils. The M uses what is called a Thermo-Electric Cooler, TEC. Basically one side is hot and one side is cold. The fan takes air off of the top plate and blows it through the ducting in the seat, by changing which side the hot plate is on (top or bottom) you control if the fan takes hot air or cold air from the TEC to blow into the seat. Thw way the hot plate is controlled is by the voltage going to the TEC. I believe the TEC units in the M are little 35w units. The max setting for each temperature provides the full voltage to the TEC (or maybe over-volts it a bit?) and the lowest setting under-volts the TEC so it doesnt give off as much hot/coldness. the seat heating/cooling works independantly of the main AC system, you can turn the seats on max hot and the AC down to 50 degrees if you wanted to.


Perhaps if the fan is not working it shuts the system off to prevent damage since air is not being taken away from the TEC. Since the system goes into fault mode and shuts down, it wont work until the car is restarted which has cleared the memory.

a 35w electic device that has no where to send the heat and nothing taking the heat away could reach that pretty quickly. So as I suspected before, something is likely keeping the fan from taking air away from the TEC properly and thus the system shuts down once the TEC becomes too hot compared to ambient temperature.

Could be your fan is broken as it sounds like damianony has, or the filter is clogged up, or things like that.

Has anyone determined if the issue with the heater shutting off and not coming back on is a malfunction that needs to be repaired or is this the way the system is designed/operates??

If it needs to be repaired I want the dealer to fix it.

Looks like PartsGeek and AutoPartsWarehouse now carry the seat filters for 22.00 a piece.

Same thing happens to my drivers seat.

Passenger works fine but drivers will sometimes shut off after a minute or two. Need to restart car before it will work again.

Going to make appointment at dealer for this.

EniGmA1987 wrote: The M uses what is called a Thermo-Electric Cooler, TEC. Basically one side is hot and one side is cold. The fan takes air off of the top plate and blows it through the ducting in the seat, by changing which side the hot plate is on (top or bottom) you control if the fan takes hot air or cold air from the TEC to blow into the seat. Thw way the hot plate is controlled is by the voltage going to the TEC. I believe the TEC units in the M are little 35w units. The max setting for each temperature provides the full voltage to the TEC (or maybe over-volts it a bit?) and the lowest setting under-volts the TEC so it doesnt give off as much hot/coldness. the seat heating/cooling works independantly of the main AC system, you can turn the seats on max hot and the AC down to 50 degrees if you wanted to.


Perhaps if the fan is not working it shuts the system off to prevent damage since air is not being taken away from the TEC. Since the system goes into fault mode and shuts down, it wont work until the car is restarted which has cleared the memory.

Great stuff as always

I'm going to take a shot in the dark but here is what I think.

Since the M uses a really neat (read;complex) seat air conditioning system airflow is critical to the operation. As the seats settle over time the small vent passages start to collapse and restrict airflow through bottom of the seat. The restriction to motion of the air causes the seat TEC thermal sensor to reach its' cutoff temperature much faster than previously.

The bad side is that is not typically something the company will pay for. Even with warranty this is typically* (*all cases are different) considered wear and tear. It does not require a driver of size either, one of my regulars is a Fed who can't be more than 180 and has the same problem and as far as I know has had no luck getting his replaced. Although the cushion is about $600 and I would recommend a top quality upholstery shop.

Here a few random facts about the system just in case you all are curious;



System Description

The climate controlled seat system is controlled by climate controlled seat control unit.
Heating and cooling are possible for a thermal electric device (heat conversion machine).
NOTE:
-The climate controlled seat system is downed when the temperature sensor set as the seat cushion and
the seat back's thermal electric device machine detects 20 °C (68 °F)or more of mutual differences of temperature.
-In this case, by turning off ignition switch, system down is canceled and it can be reused by turning on
ignition switch again.
-The climate controlled seat blower keep low speed for approximately 60 seconds after turning the climate
controlled seat switch
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/M/2006_M45-M35/se.pdf

Unfortunately the sensor is not serviceable and other than a resistance verification there is nothing you can really do to prove this system works. My advise you be crank it up on cold and put the side of you cheek and see if you feel the lightest breeze.....honestly that the amount of air is so light that it is really hard to notice. Unbolt the seat and check out what things look like in there.

Check whether the relays are fine.change it and see.

I'll join the list with this problem. My 06 M35X passenger seat works on both heat and air. The driver's seat does not heat at all but cools fine. When I turn the switch to heat, the switch light comes on (and stays on) but there is no heat or air flow. I plan on taking it to the dealer this Spring to see if they can fix it.

SteveTheTech - Since my system does not seem to be timing out, do you think I have a different issue than you described above?

Lynchr wrote: Since my system does not seem to be timing out, do you think I have a different issue than you described above?

Its pretty easy to figure out. If the fan is not spinning the system is timed out. If it blows heat the systems wiring integrity is intact since the TEC only reverses current.

Turn the key on and all electrical loads off and turn the switch to heat and see if you can hear the fan turning.

I had the exact same problem in my '07 M45 last year. The driver's side control would only come on for about 30 seconds then shut off. My local dealership fixed it under warranty. It was in the shop for 3 days because they had to replace the entire heating/cooling control panel.

Have the same problem, cooler seat driver is fine, as far as heated function on both driver and passenger it sucks, any fix for it.

When I say they suck, I meant they poorly working, seeing old seat filters and new one next to each other makes me wonder. if that's case I'll change them but I'm not sure if the OP stated there was significant different in the air flower not.

Infinity_818 wrote:When I say they suck, I meant they poorly working, seeing old seat filters and new one next to each other makes me wonder. if that's case I'll change them but I'm not sure if the OP stated there was significant different in the air flower not.

I got my seat filters here and they fit perfectlly:

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2007/i ... ilter.html

The product you want is the NPN Cabin Filter (the last item on that page). Someone else posted this in a previous thread. They cost aboout $40 for the pair. My seat filters didn't look all that dirty (2007), but after installing them, the difference was VERY noticeable (for cooling - we dont use heat in South FL).

I was having almost the same problem. My driver seat cooling was working but not my heating. The light would come on for cooling and get cold. The light would come on for heat for 30-45 seconds then turn off with no heat.
I removed the CCS Module from the passenger seat and installed it in the drive seat and it worked. I bought a used CCS module on eBay for $51 with shipping.

wow ok, I dont feel so bad. I was thinking man something must be wrong with my seats for the heat. I thought they were coil based and not the TEC system (dont know much about these cars but Im learning) Even on high, it doesnt burn me out of seats (which I kind of expect it to do) In my wife's Acadia, put the setting on high and after 5 minutes you cant wait to turn it down/off.

My M was in service another day and I got loaner EX35, it was about 56F in the morning so turned heater on, it gets too hot too quick, apparently it is a coil based heater, but any way I kinda missed my M when it gets heating slowly, but not too hot but very nice and confortable! I guess to each its own...
On the side note, my neighbor got ’13 BMW528 with heat/cooled seat option where heater works good but cooled seat is actually just ventilated not climate controlled, he is not happy because it did not make any difference when it is on or off, not at all! Plus rattles, vibrations, and this in 5 months old bimmer and last straw was last night when gets Recall notice: for 2012-14 BMW 5 Series with N20/N26 engine for loss of brake power.
The Problem:
The oil supply from the intake camshaft to the brake vacuum pump can become restricted. If this happens the brake vacuum pump could fail due to lack of lubrication, resulting in a loss of power brake assist.
The hydraulic brakes will still function to stop the vehicle but without power assist. Without assist the driver will need to apply much greater pedal pressure to stop the vehicle. The distance required to stop the vehicle will increase as most drivers will not be able to apply enough brake pedal pressure.

Sstarky, I am having the exact same problem. I found the CCS module on ebay for the same price. Would you mind describing how to switch it out? I am semi handy, is this something I can do pretty easily by myself?

Larz wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2013 6:53 am

Infinity_818 wrote:When I say they suck, I meant they poorly working, seeing old seat filters and new one next to each other makes me wonder. if that's case I'll change them but I'm not sure if the OP stated there was significant different in the air flower not.

I got my seat filters here and they fit perfectlly:

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2007/i ... ilter.html

The product you want is the NPN Cabin Filter (the last item on that page). Someone else posted this in a previous thread. They cost aboout $40 for the pair. My seat filters didn't look all that dirty (2007), but after installing them, the difference was VERY noticeable (for cooling - we dont use heat in South FL).

I can't find the seat filters anywhere. I've searched this forum and the links only lead to the cabin filter. I haven't changed my seat filters and I want to swap them out bc I feel like they aren't getting enough air thru them.

anyone have a link to find them?

midnightclub619 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:23 pm

Larz wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2013 6:53 am

I got my seat filters here and they fit perfectlly:

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2007/i ... ilter.html

The product you want is the NPN Cabin Filter (the last item on that page). Someone else posted this in a previous thread. They cost aboout $40 for the pair. My seat filters didn't look all that dirty (2007), but after installing them, the difference was VERY noticeable (for cooling - we dont use heat in South FL).

I can't find the seat filters anywhere. I've searched this forum and the links only lead to the cabin filter. I haven't changed my seat filters and I want to swap them out bc I feel like they aren't getting enough air thru them.

anyone have a link to find them?

Just gently wash and air dry...

Yeah. I'm thinking I'll do that and take a vacuum to it.