Td5 D2 Seats - Heater Switch Panel

Started making some E-bay purchases having made the decision to go all electric and leathery.

The first 'purchase' was an absolute nightmare. I had fallen asleep while searching E-bay on the moby for second hand D2 interiors. They are out there but the prices are questionable. 

I was looking at a complete black electric leather interior priced 'buy it now ' for £895 with £50 p+p on a pallet.  Clearly way out of my range, but that did not stop me from falling asleep with the page still 'open' only to wake up and find I had foolishly pressed the 'buy it now' button and then confirmed the action on the next page as well!  I even had the 'pay now' alerts via email in the inbox.

Flew into an absolute panic, E-bay would do nothing, the transaction was legitimate in their eyes. I had to send the most fawning, begging and apologetic message to the vendors in the only hope that they would cancel the transaction from their side, which thankfully they did! The 'Gentlemen of Salvage' indeed, and a lesson learned...

CENTRE CONSOLE SWITCHES.

This is where the heated seat switches are located. I have been looking at these for a while now and have missed a couple of bargains on E-bay. The current going price for an individual switch is £20-25 with the complete switch panel upto £60.

I managed to get a complete switch panel (mount plate, seven switches and the finishing plate ) for £22 posted. I remember thinking that the wording of the advert talked about a 'heated seat switch' but it showed the complete unit. It wasn't till the box arrived that I felt chuffed. 

Front and rear views of the new centre console switch panel straight out of the box. 

The locating tags for the cover plate are intact and the switch faces are clean. I have not tested any of the switches and don't expect any problems.

I am wondering what it is about those heated seat switches that makes them so expensive (£20+ ) even second hand? I read that the current draw for the heating elements is a severe 115 watt so maybe their switch rating warrants this but having said that I noticed other vehicles seat switches are not that pricey (D3 and RR are half that price.)

The walnut trim for the top plate.

It looks like it won't fit but that's just perspective distortion from the switch plate being angled slightly.

Bought this trim plate what seems like a long time ago and must admit it was the inspiration to install the heated seats as I felt installing it onto Hx with the blanked out switch positions visible would be a mistake and only a constant reminder of what should of been there ...

PLUG AND PLAY.

Hx already has the loom connectors for the heater switches wired into its loom or 'main harness' as Rave calls it. When I replaced the handbrake gaiter and removed the centre console switch panel, I noticed the unused connectors just sitting there behind the existing switch panel. Seeing them in there and knowing what they were used for was another big incentive to get them fitted.

Installing the switches should be a walk in the park.

Fitting the Switches.

The two heated seat switches were removed from the donor switch panel and offered up to the switch panel in Hx. The Switch panels have differing face plates determined by whether the heated seat switches are fitted or not, but the underlying switch mounting plate that the actual switch bodies are mounted onto has the same 'pattern' in every D2.

Also present on every D2 will be the two multi-pin connector plugs caught up in the spaghetti of connectors for the window switches behind the mounting plate!

During their install it became obvious that the heated seat switch bodies are 'sided' with plastic ridges on the side of their bodies to ensure that they only fit the RH or LH positions on the base plate. This was a bit puzzling till I realised that the 5-pin connectors from the vehicle loom are themselves 'sided' and also of differing colours. The LH seat connector is green and the RH connector is black. I guess this means that searching for spares has to stipulate which side the switch is for as the switches are not interchangeable! I have already noted that the 2nd hand prices for these D2 switches are high and perhaps this feeds into that pricing?

LH switch body showing the 'sided' ridges on the end.

Note the matching notches on the mounting plate.

This last image also shows the LH Green and the RH Black 5-pin connectors fished out from all the  spaghetti back there!

With the switch bodies mounted correctly, the attachment of the nearby 5-pin plugs is easy and uncomplicated, truly 'plug and play'!

Pimping the Trim Plate.

Fitted the 'Walnut' style trim plate to the Centre console switch panel. Some careful positioning was required and the instructions for the mounting were carefully followed. 1- Clean the surface with Meths.  2 -Warm the trim plate up before peeling off the backing paper. 3- Press home hard to complete the bonding.

After a short wait, the trim plate was fitted onto Hx and a photo was taken. Guess I can now call the heated seat install complete!