Front Seat Heater/cooler problems of the 2001 BMW X5

The contact owns a 2001 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the front driver’s seat caught on fire. The contact jumped up from the seat and hit his head on the windshield, causing him to become dizzy. The contact was able to safely maneuver to the shoulder. The vehicle was then towed to the contact’s home. The contact stated that the heater for the seat became very hot. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileages were 140,000.

Driver's seat heater malfunctioned. I first noticed a burning odor and ultimately found 2 scorch marks in the leather. . . 1 on each side of the seat back near the base. The marks were dark brown and hard (from the dried leather).

Quote from dealer's repair notes: "drivers heated seat became very hot, burning oder in vehicle, back of seat was very hot and leather was burned". Wife was driving at time. Seat was very hot to touch,she had skin burn sensation. We were told that there have been other similar failures, and were fortunate that situation was not worse but feel very strongly that BMW should have addressed this proactively, not on the ad-hoc basis that seems to be its policy.