Hi folks,

I've just joined the forum and looking for help to achieve the above.

We have just bought a 5 month old ST Line X 140, I thought it had heated seats but it does not! It's a great wee car with adaptive cruise, LED headlights, pan roof, B&O sound, etc., but I'd really like to sort the seats out for my better half. It can be cold up here in the shire!

Here's my thinking: the wiring loom will have all the necessary wiring and connections in place as standard, correct? If this is the case then if I buy the different centre console switching to the one that has the switches for the seats and steering wheel, change the steering wheel (making sure it has the adaptive cruise switch) and front seats, then it should all be plug and play????

Sounds to easy so would appreciate your help to be certain of what is required.

Also anyone know of a good garage who could fit the parts for me in Aberdeenshire?

Thanks.

7 hours ago, FiestaLes said:

Here's my thinking: the wiring loom will have all the necessary wiring and connections in place as standard, correct?

Probably not, but I dont know anyone who has tried to fit them on the mk8. Youd have to take the seats out yourself to see if the wires are in the loom.

7 hours ago, FiestaLes said:

Also anyone know of a good garage who could fit the parts for me in Aberdeenshire?

Garages dont tend to take on this sort of work, retrofitting is more of a DIY thing really. 

As what Luke says, it's likely the wiring loom won't have all the necessary connections/wires in place. As this is for the MK8, there won't be many people around that can confirm or deny this so your best bet is checking yourself to make sure. Taking out the aircon/ heated seats controls and replacing them is probably going to be a pain too. 

I'm not sure about the adaptive cruise - you mention your car has it then say that you'd want to change the steering wheel to one with the button on it. In the case that your car doesn't have adaptive cruise - it wouldn't be a simple swap of a steering wheel. I'd imagine there'd be quite a bit of software work. Probably less hardware as if you have an ST-Line X, you'll have the distance alert anyway which is what I think the Adaptive Cruise uses but I could be wrong. 

In relation to the seats, I can't see there being many seats with the heating elements available to buy as the MK8's are still quite new and if any are available, they're likely to be expensive. If you're looking for a garage that can do it, you'll need to look around quite a bit as not many will undertake this kind of work and due to the amount of time needed and a degree of expertise required, labour costs would be high too. If you're definitely wanting someone to undertake the work for you it does lead me to the question of, given all the costs associated with this and that the car is relatively new, (without sounding rude) why not just buy one with the options you want? 😛 

Ok folks thanks, when I mentioned the steering wheel having the adaptive button I said “making sure it has it” as most don’t. I know what extras are on the car!

We bought a car with a good list of extras the mistake I made was that I thought (wrongly) that the X models had half leather with heating, turns out it’s just half leather. I’m not going to sell the car and lose 2 grand to then buy a car with heated seats my point was can it be done relatively easily and therefore not at excessive cost. If it’s going to cost to much obviously I won’t bother as it’s not a big deal. Just wondered if it could be done.

Loom wise it’s unlikely they do a different one in every car given the range of electrical options. I’ll look into it myself and confirm if I make any progress.

10 hours ago, FiestaLes said:

Ok folks thanks, when I mentioned the steering wheel having the adaptive button I said “making sure it has it” as most don’t. I know what extras are on the car!

We bought a car with a good list of extras the mistake I made was that I thought (wrongly) that the X models had half leather with heating, turns out it’s just half leather. I’m not going to sell the car and lose 2 grand to then buy a car with heated seats my point was can it be done relatively easily and therefore not at excessive cost. If it’s going to cost to much obviously I won’t bother as it’s not a big deal. Just wondered if it could be done.

Loom wise it’s unlikely they do a different one in every car given the range of electrical options. I’ll look into it myself and confirm if I make any progress.

Fair enough, I think the prospect of retrofitting the heated seats will be easier as time goes on and more people attempt and post some tips/instructions on what needs doing. 

Out of curiosity and regarding the adaptive button on the steering wheel - does your current car not have the button on the steering wheel already? 

Yes it does have the button but the wheel doesn't have the heating element, if I want to add the heated wheel as well I will need to buy one with heating and make sure it also has the adaptive cruise button on it.

I think you are correct, I am probably one of the first to think about this on the new model but I was hoping there would be an auto electrician on here who would already have a good understanding of what is already fitted. As an example it's like the footwell lighting, all the connections are there ready to go you only need to fit the lights. They do this because it is cheaper to have one loom which they then plug in whatever extras are specc'd on the car. If you think about it, it makes complete sense. I'm actually waiting for those very lights to arrive :-) Have a look under the dash on the driver and passenger sides and you will see the rectangular space for the lights behind which is the connector for them.

18 minutes ago, FiestaLes said:

Yes it does have the button but the wheel doesn't have the heating element, if I want to add the heated wheel as well I will need to buy one with heating and make sure it also has the adaptive cruise button on it.

I think you are correct, I am probably one of the first to think about this on the new model but I was hoping there would be an auto electrician on here who would already have a good understanding of what is already fitted. As an example it's like the footwell lighting, all the connections are there ready to go you only need to fit the lights. They do this because it is cheaper to have one loom which they then plug in whatever extras are specc'd on the car. If you think about it, it makes complete sense. I'm actually waiting for those very lights to arrive 🙂 Have a look under the dash on the driver and passenger sides and you will see the rectangular space for the lights behind which is the connector for them.

Ahhh i see, now it makes sense! 🙂 

Yeah, I see your point on the loom, definitely makes sense. Good luck with it, hopefully there’ll be someone around to have a go! 

yes the footwell lights are a nice addition, have them fitted in mine and they look pretty good in the dark 

Hi DG97, I am interested to know if you have progressed any further with this as I am in exactly the same situation - but with further progression. I have a 2018 Fiesta ST-Line and I have sourced some half leather heated seats along with the heated steering wheel, and also the digital temperature control unit with the heated seat buttons and the heated steering wheel button. Now fitting these was relatively simple and took me about 1.5hrs from start to finish (and that was being careful and trying not to break any clips etc). The result .......... exactly the same! I then took it to my local ford dealership and they said I would need a new heater module brain and then have it programmed into my vehicle, approx £400 for them to provide and fit , but they cant guarantee if this will work, as previously stated the wiring loom may be different. I like yourself am an optimist and believe that ford in their wisdom would not make different looms for different models, so I am now going to get a heater module thingy from a breakers and hopefully try this to see if it works , if not i will then pay to get it reprogrammed, and if that doesn't  work, then i'll try something else until I get it right !!

1 hour ago, Renster said:

Hi DG97, I am interested to know if you have progressed any further with this as I am in exactly the same situation - but with further progression. I have a 2018 Fiesta ST-Line and I have sourced some half leather heated seats along with the heated steering wheel, and also the digital temperature control unit with the heated seat buttons and the heated steering wheel button. Now fitting these was relatively simple and took me about 1.5hrs from start to finish (and that was being careful and trying not to break any clips etc). The result .......... exactly the same! I then took it to my local ford dealership and they said I would need a new heater module brain and then have it programmed into my vehicle, approx £400 for them to provide and fit , but they cant guarantee if this will work, as previously stated the wiring loom may be different. I like yourself am an optimist and believe that ford in their wisdom would not make different looms for different models, so I am now going to get a heater module thingy from a breakers and hopefully try this to see if it works , if not i will then pay to get it reprogrammed, and if that doesn't  work, then i'll try something else until I get it right !!

Hello, it was actually @FiestaLes who wanted to fit these so I’ve tagged him for any possible updates. 

I had those options fitted on my car from factory so never had a need to pursue the topic in much more detail! 

Did you manage to get them to work in the end I am looking to do this could you tell me everything you needed if you did manage to get it to work 

Hi 

On 10/31/2019 at 10:46 AM, Burtonj said:

Did you manage to get them to work in the end I am looking to do this could you tell me everything you needed if you did manage to get it to work 

Hi Bud

Still working on this and after going through all the wiring diagrams and various other things we now thing it is a software issue. Now we don't know if this will be an easy get into the system and switch on the heated seats / steering wheel but more than likely will involve going deep into the system and doing a few resets / add ons, possible wiping of the system and rebooting etc.. to get this thing to work, so still very much a work in progress. Will update further when we find a master technician with the knowledge, patience and balls to try this for us !!

If they are anything like the Mk7.5 then you should be able to add the options fitted using Forscan. There’s a Mk8 Forscan thread in here where you can ask questions. 

On 11/22/2019 at 1:01 PM, Renster said:

Hi 

Hi Bud

Still working on this and after going through all the wiring diagrams and various other things we now thing it is a software issue. Now we don't know if this will be an easy get into the system and switch on the heated seats / steering wheel but more than likely will involve going deep into the system and doing a few resets / add ons, possible wiping of the system and rebooting etc.. to get this thing to work, so still very much a work in progress. Will update further when we find a master technician with the knowledge, patience and balls to try this for us !!

Hi,

Any progress with the heated steering wheel retrofit on Fiesta MK8? Wondering if you managed to sort out the software issue.

Also tagging @FiestaLes and @Burtonj for potential updates

On 12/7/2020 at 7:14 AM, Volt said:

Hi,

Any progress with the heated steering wheel retrofit on Fiesta MK8? Wondering if you managed to sort out the software issue.

Also tagging @FiestaLes and @Burtonj for potential updates

Working on this but not meany people retrofit this. I already had the winterpack but without the heated steeringwheel. I had contact with someone from the focus forum and wiring should be there. Also bought a new spring clock that has the connections. 

Did anyone manage to retro fit the wheel, or give any pointers, photos of wiring needed to be in place? I have the MK8 so wondering if its possible to just buy heating controls, clock spring and wheel with element inside? 

I have photos of my clock spring and it looks the same as the ones on ebay that have heating so guess i need to check the wired that plug into that? anyone got photos of that?