Front Seat Heater/cooler problems of the 2004 BMW 5 Series

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 5 Series. The contact stated that he smelled smoke while driving approximately 25-35 mph. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic where they advised him that the driver's side heated seat warmer burned a hole through the seat. The manufacturer was later contacted and they offered no assistance. The mechanic advised the contact that the seat warmer was defective and needed to be replaced. The contact did not receive any injuries. The heated seat warmer was disengaged as a temporary repair. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

Fire: the contact owns a 2004 BMW 545i. While driving approximately 40 mph with the driver side seat heater engaged, the contact began to smell an abnormal burning odor and the seat began smoking. The contact shut off the heater and noticed a burned hole in the seat. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the contact was advised of NHTSA campaign id number: 04v575000 (seats: front assembly: seat heater/cooler) he then contacted the manufacturer and was advised that his vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle the VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 66,000 and the current mileage was 66,600.

The drivers side seat warmer caused a fire in my 2003 BMW 545. I was real lucky that I smelled a strange odor and was able to put the fire out after shutting off the seat warmer.

We just purchased our BMW 545i in mid October. On November 13th while driving home from our son's home we smelled something burning. My husband soon realized that the driver's seat and his pants were on fire. We immediately turned off the seat heaters and was able to put the fire out. We were fortunate that no one was injured, and while a pair of pants were ruined, my husband did not sustain any burns. Our dealer immediately took the car back to the dealership and furnished me with another car to drive. I am now being told that the seat heaters are on national back order and do not know when my car will be fixed. I do not blame the dealer, but have to question if BMW is aware of a problem.

In may of this year I leased a brand new 530i BMW. While driving to work this morning using the heated seat, the seat along with my jacket and sweater caught fire. Thankfully I was not hurt but shaken up. The car has been towed to the dealer and they have been notified. I am concerned for the safety of others especially for those people how would not know what to do or how to react. My wife could have been driving the car with kids and who knows what could have happened. Any assistance on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!.