I’ve just sold my 2015 pre facelift 595 Trofeo that I repaired from salvage and I’m looking at getting a facelift model as soon as I can find one.

My question is, I would prefer full leather seats but it’s possible the one I find won’t have them. Not a problem swapping seats but do the full leather have heating? If so, would I be able to wire in a switch to allow heated seats in a car that doesn’t have them already. Obviously I would have to run some wiring. If they do have them, where is the switch located?

typecastboy said:

I’ve just sold my 2015 pre facelift 595 Trofeo that I repaired from salvage and I’m looking at getting a facelift model as soon as I can find one.

My question is, I would prefer full leather seats but it’s possible the one I find won’t have them. Not a problem swapping seats but do the full leather have heating? If so, would I be able to wire in a switch to allow heated seats in a car that doesn’t have them already. Obviously I would have to run some wiring. If they do have them, where is the switch located?

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If they're already heated then it's a simple job to wire them up, if it were I, I'd use a timer circuit like the heated rear screen, thinking of that you could take the screen/mirror feed to switch a relay powering the seats with a cut out switch, one simple option?

John202020 said:

If they're already heated then it's a simple job to wire them up, if it were I, I'd use a timer circuit like the heated rear screen, thinking of that you could take the screen/mirror feed to switch a relay powering the seats with a cut out switch, one simple option?

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I was thinking more along the lines of getting the switches and hopefully wiring from a salvage vehicle and buying seats with the elements. Providing a live feed from the fusebox it seems reasonable that it should just work.

I found this picture of a car with heated seats so I could either retro fit into the existing centre console or try to get the replacement console.

I would think the switch controls the BCM and switches a rely for each seat ?

John202020 said:

I would think the switch controls the BCM and switches a rely for each seat ?

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Oh!!! That sounds like a job then! I wonder if that’s something that can be activated in MES. I will have to wait and see I guess.

You can for about £25 on eBay get a full heated seat set, if you then buy a set of seats which are already heated it’s just a case of fitting the wiring from the heated seat kit. Which can give you multiple levels of control, a simple switch will likely be full power meaning the heating will be far too hot to keep running for any length of time

AndyRKett said:

You can for about £25 on eBay get a full heated seat set, if you then buy a set of seats which are already heated it’s just a case of fitting the wiring from the heated seat kit. Which can give you multiple levels of control, a simple switch will likely be full power meaning the heating will be far too hot to keep running for any length of time

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I just searched and found them. That’s certainly a good back up plan. Thanks.

found this picture of a car with heated seats so I could either retro fit into the existing centre console or try to get the replacement console

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These look like aftermarket switches anyway. I am not sure if there is a factory option at all.
Normally, the seat bottom and back mats are switched in series (low) or parallel (high), powered from ignition +. So no complicated wiring unless you want some automated timing gizmo.
Putting the seat mats in requires opening the seat covers and peeling them back a bit, the mats are pushed in flat and THEN the cover of the sticky tape is peeled off. So not that complex, but some effort (biggest challenge apparently is to close the seat covers afterwards). There's a description in the german fiat forum, it doesn't sound too difficult if the seats are removed.
Switches are either on the bottom end of the gearbox cover if there is enough space, depending on switch size and facelift, or as in your pic in the center console. In theory, you might even be able to fit them in the plastic side covers of the seats (available depth needs to be checked, though).

Watch this space when I manage to find a facelift Abarth, I’ll be giving it a bash but I don’t like the idea of peeling my seats, I would rather buy a factory fitted pair and just run the wiring.

Have you watched my video on fitting heated seats to the leather seats in my Punto Evo, it really was very straight forward and didn’t cause any damage or problems to the seats or stitching, I believe the abarth seats are very similar in their construction so the only thing it costs is time.

AndyRKett said:

Have you watched my video on fitting heated seats to the leather seats in my Punto Evo, it really was very straight forward and didn’t cause any damage or problems to the seats or stitching, I believe the abarth seats are very similar in their construction so the only thing it costs is time.

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No. Link please!

[ame]https://youtu.be/fCJ_7aclt0I[/ame]

I’d advise not getting the kit I used, I’ve had some problems with the switches, I bought a new kit with much better switches I will install when I get the chance