Anyone Retrofitted Heated Seats ?

Search function not yielding a conclusive answer........ I'd like to replace my standard non-heated seats with heated hard back sport seats. Will my non-heated car have the loom in place ? Is it just plug and play ? (I realise I will have to find somewhere to locate the switches - probably centre console as I have a double-din headunit taking up space in the upper console). Thoughts and experiences welcomed - might stop me paying an unnecessary premium for heated seats !!! thanks, Jamie

I got an aftermarket set when I bought some hard back seats and fit them when I stripped them down for paint and leather dye. I mounted the switch on the side with the seat adjuster buttons/levers, there is power under the seats and the set came with relays. It was a little time consuming cutting them to fit between the foam of the seat and the outer padding but doable, you just cut them to size with scissors.

Thanks, that's useful. I'd prefer to keep it OE and have found a set of heated seats to buy, I'm just curious if they'll plug straight in or need a whole extra loom ? If it's fiddly I might save some money and look for non-heated seats. I'm not hell-bent on having a warm bum, but if the facility is there, why not ! cheers, Jamie

I'm sure OE seats are plug and play

I've got my heated drivers seat sat in the garage, if you wanted to try plugging it into your car and then seeing if it heated up?

Thanks for the offer, Neil. I suspect it won't do much without the switch (which I don't have !). I'm sure someone out there will have done a retrofit and knows the answer ! Jamie

Hi, its a real pain of a job. There are no wires already there, you would need to put everything in. Both seats have a control unit, you then need to wire these up to the switches and also the fuse box, there are multiple wires required because the switches have 2 stage heaters. There is a post somewhere in rennlist, I considered it on my 986 but ended up with kit like infrasilver. The Waeco kits are carbon elements, as opposed the 996's copper wire setup. these are better lasting and more even heat distribution. unfortunately its not a case of bolt in the seats and get some buttons ordered and away you go! hope that helps

Well, there we go, I knew someone would know the answer. Thanks very much ! Looks like I'm better off waiting for some cheaper seats to come up for sale ! Cheers, Jamie

its not impossible to do, but it isn't going to cheap!

If you are looking to do this and buy heated seats, make sure that they have the wiring loom and relay on them. These fit under the seat base. Something like £125 each from OPC and rarely come up second hand. This is an issue I had when retrofitting heating elements to non-heated seats. MC

I eventually found the following........ https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996-turbo-gt2/263552-option-retrofit-diy-seat-heating-996t.html I think this makes it appear more complicated than it actually is, nevertheless it's pretty involved. The long and short is that the 996 loom is bespoke to each car's option list, so a non heated seat car will not have the necessary wiring. This can be harvested from another loom, but it's not the job of a moment, nor is it cheap to do. For that reason I'm oooot ! The search for a nice set of non-heated sport seats continues...... Jamie

if they are comparable price and you aren't paying a premium for the seats with heaters then it isn't the end of the world and if you feel like fitting the other parts at a later date. the option is there. Like mistercorn said you can sell these also if need be! cheers Nick