2000 BMW 740IL User Comment / Complaint

Two days after purchasing a 2000 bmw 740il with 45,000 miles on it from a friend, i left my driveway and activated the driver's side heated seat. after driving several hundred yards, i began to smell smoke. i stopped the vehicle to try to determine the source of the problem. my wife was following in another vehicle and pulled along side me. i rolled down the window and wife said "there is smoke coming out of the window!". i turned off the seat and opened the door and looked at the seat. there was a burnt spot approximately the size of a dime high on the outboard bolster of the driver's seat. i touched the spot and it was extremely hot to the touch. my one and a half year old daughter was strapped in her car seat in the back. before exiting the vehicle, i unlocked all the doors in case i had to go around and pull her from the car. after turning off the seat, the fire stopped. i have researched this issue on several bmw e38 websites and have found several other complaints of this occurrence. one individual said that a service bulletin had been sent to bmw dealers to alert them of this problem in several lines of bmw cars, including some newer models. fortunately, i had not yet utilized the auxiliary climate control timer function that allows the owner to have the car turn on it's heated seats and steering wheel at a pre-set time before the owner enters the car. seeing how quickly the seat caught fire, i have no doubt that if this function had been used, it would have resulted in a catastrophic vehicle fire that could have consumed the seat, since presumably the owner would be inside the home or office and could not witness the fire.