Seat-warmer overheated, burning holes through the leather driver's seat, causing minor skin burns before terminating use of unit. Over the past two months, I had noticed a burning odor in the car periodically, but neither I nor my mechanic had been able to determine the source of the odor. On 1/27/12, I felt the extreme heat in my seat while driving, and found two charred holes in the leather seat. It is important to note that there was not a fire per SE, but in order to register the fact that there was (minor) injury attributed to one person, this form required stating "yes" to the question regarding fire. I have no doubt that this failure could certainly lead to fire if continued use of the unit had occurred.

- Grand Island, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530I. The contact turned on the passenger side seat warmer and began to smell smoke. The contact then noticed that the seat had burned through a jacket that was on the seat. The contact scheduled for both the manufacturer and the dealer to inspect the defect. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 104,000 and the current mileage was 104,030.

- Springfield, MA, USA

On Feb 8/9, 2011, my wife was coming back from work in 2004 BMW 530 when she smell something burning and a tinged on her leg, she got out from the car and saw a smoke and a burning mark on the driver seat. I called the BMW on 2-10-2011, and talked to the rep about the safety issue. The rep told me that I will call back in 3/5 days but called me back after 4 week and refused to address the situation.I told the rep that BMW is a reputable company, and they should fix it, and I will report to the safety dept as somebody could get hurt.

- Omaha, NE, USA

Fire: TL* the contact owns a 2004 BMW 545I. While driving approximately 40 mph with the driver side seat heater engaged, the contact began to smell an abnormal burning odor and the seat began smoking. The contact shut off the heater and noticed a burned hole in the seat. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the contact was advised of NHTSA campaign id number: 04V575000 (seats: Front assembly: Seat heater/cooler) he then contacted the manufacturer and was advised that his vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle the VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 66,000 and the current mileage was 66,600.

- Rochester, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530I. The contact stated that the bottom of the drivers seat caught fire and left a hole in the middle of the seat. The vehicle was not inspected, but the contact stated that the heating pads over heated. The failure and current mileages were 85,700.

- Vagaville, CA, USA

Driver's seat on a 2004 BMW 530I E60 almost caught on fire due to heated seats feature. I turned the head seats on and after 5 minutes I started smelling a burning smell and smoke. The fire made a small hole on the seat. I stopped then turned off the car. I was lucky and I was not driving in the highway at high speeds.

- Dedham, MA, USA

The heated leather seat for my BMW 2004 530 I malfunctioned and burned a hole from a small fire through the seat.

- Clifton, VA, USA

Seat heater on 2004 BMW 530I (E60) overheated and became very hot. Smell of burning. Resulted in black charring to the leather seat. No actual flames from overheating. Seat had previously caught on fire resulting in call to fire department to extinguish smoldering seat material. Entire seat was replaced in August, 2005, after prior recall remedy (NHTSA id number 04V575000) was supposedly completed.

- West Frankfort, IL, USA

The heated seat on my driver's side continuously got hotter and hotter, until if finally burned through the seat. My clothing was burned and so was my hand when I reached down feel the seat. I was driving at the time. This was a very dangerous situation. I my car to nob_bmw in rockville. This is where I purchased and maintain the vehicle. The did repair it for free, but charged me a fifty dollar warranty fee.

- Rockville, MD, USA

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530I. While driving approximately between 45-50 mph on normal road conditions, the front driver seat heating system activated. Then excessive heat was expelled from the left side corner of the front driver seat back-rest. The heat melted a small hole in the seat cover. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. He experienced an identical failure referenced in recall # 04V575000 (seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler). Since his vehicle identification number was excluded from the recall, he was ineligible for a free remedy. The failure mileage was 108. The current mileage was 108,000.

- Vienna, VA, USA

Saturday October 3, 2009 at approximately 9:30am I turned on my driver side heated seat. After approx. 2-3 minutes I smelled something burning and then saw smoke coming up from around my steering wheel. I pulled over and got out and found my seat had a hole burned through it on the lower left hand side (door side). The hole was red from heat so I looked at the back of my shirt and it had a hole burned in it, I then looked at my pants and found a hole had started burning thru the hip pocket. I took it to the dealer and they said they were not aware of any problems like the one I just experienced. I also noticed on the internet on a law firms web page that this has happened before to my model car, 2004 BMW 530I. I plan to call BMW of North America tomorrow (10-5-09) to file a complaint. I can send a picture of the car seat and my clothes if you want.

- Denver, CO, USA

Driver's seat heating unit became very hot and singed the seat covering. Dealer replaced the entire seat.

- Little Silver, NJ, USA

There is currently a recall on my 2004 BMW 530I regarding the seat warmers burning the leather and driver. However, the recall covers the backrest and not the seat bottom. After talking to BMW North America, they said the seat bottom was not covered. Can you make them include the seat bottom in the recall? the seat warmers are burning through the seats in both places, and is hot enough to burn the driver in both places.

- North Oaks, MN, USA