Seat Warmers with Cloth Seats?
 

No, I didn't find anything remotely related while searching.

That said - I have a 04 with cloth interior and would still like to put in seat warmers (after market or stock, however imperatively with the 8's stock switches) like the new 2 and 3 have them, even with the cloth package.

I have a budget and will try this most likely during summer - just looking for someone who has done this before so I don't have to figure everything out by my own.

So, has anyone here attempted to do so already?

i have an 04 base and an 04 GT, and having had the seats out of both, it does look like the body wiring harness has all the wires and connectors, which is good.

you need:

upper shifter plate, MT FE06-64-430A-02 w/o navi w leather, FE20-64-430D-02 w/navi w/leather, the AT's are different

seat heater switches GJ6A-66-420-02 and GJ6E-66-420-02 (they are the same except the bottom is color coded to match the harness)

finding these used should be easy

seat wiring harness for a seat heater car, FE02-88-1H9 LH, and FE02-88-1H4 RH

the seat heater pads. FE02-88-121 for the bottom, and FE02-88-122 for the seat back.

if you have a friendly parts source, you should check prices, some of this stuff isn't expensive, but you probably don't want to buy everything new.

once you have all the bits, actually installing the heaters requires completely disassembling the seats, which on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being easy, and 10 being hard, taking the seats apart is about a 7-8. there are lots of covers and clips and hogrings and stuff

Thanks for this really helpful post.

I remember seeing unused connectors under the middle plastic cover, so this might be easier than I initially thought.

Getting the parts will be very easy since there are sadly many wrecked/totalled/commercially totalled cars at the local junkyard, from which I can take most parts (maybe except the heating units themselves).

Taking the seats apart is not my primary concern either - it is whether the heating pads will fit and if so, if they might get too hot since they are designed for leather...


Thanks again for the part numbers and the detailled explanation!

yes, i'm sure there are cars with heated cloth seats, but i can't think of any. maybe its just a marketing thing?

the Rx8 heaters have a thermostat, and they only go to 99F, which i doubt is hot enough to actually melt anything.

or B, the easy way, just get the shifter plate and leather front seats and call it done.

Figured I would add my $0.02 to this as I have installed aftermarket seat heaters before.....

One of my previous vehicles, a 2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade, had leather seats but no heaters. I ended up buying a set of seat heaters off of Ebay for $100 shipped. These pads are trimmable and come with the wiring and switch. I pulled the seats in the Liberty and removed the leather skin off of the frame (not as hard as it sounds). I then trimmed the pads to fit the seats; one for the bottom and one for the seat back. The pads have wiring pigtails than I ran into the center console and wired into switched power from the power window control module. I mounted the switch in the center console and was done. In all, about 2-3 hours of work. I recently sold the Jeep, but had the seat heaters installed for three years without issue.

On another note, my wife used to own a 2003 VW Jetta GLI, and it came factory with heated cloth seats.

As for the RX8.....you could pick up some seat pad heaters on Ebay and wire them into factory switches, if you required that "factory" look. Another option to save some headache is to just install the aftermarket switches in the same location of the factory switches. Only a RX8 enthusiast would even know it isn't factory.

i knew cloth with heaters was possible!

the factory switches are actually the cheap and easy part, especially in the EU, lots of junkyards. actually there is a relay too, but i'm sure there is a place in the relay box

i've done a few seats and the Rx8 seats are HARD. the power seat is complex!

if you want an example the last seat i worked on was a 04ish miata, and it took a couple of hours to change the upholstery. the Rx8 seat took 8, and i didn't take the upholstery off!