[Mattl0806]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Love the massage seats. Heated seat plus lower back massage on the way to work... Makes spending this much money worth it, lol.

This makes me jealous. I need massage!

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Blu-Byou

"My wife says we should never get another road trip vehicle without the massage"

I think thats your job to do no??

You know how things get carried away, DAP is not that good.

[CrustyOldGuy]

I've only had my X5 for 14 months now but enough to form an opinion on the ventilated seats and climate control system as a whole. I do have the ventilated seats with the massage function. Compared to the countless vehicles I have owned previously that have leather and ventilation, .......the BMW X5 seats do literally Suck. Yes, I know that they are designed to inhale instead of exhale and sure wish I had tested this before I invested in it. Really useless IMHO and, as others have stated, when you have it on the highest setting, the fan(vacuum) noise is terrible - and still with little to no effect on your rear end. Definitely would not invest in their sucking ventilating seats again.

[major1]

wow. you really are a crusty old guy!

[jad03060]

Where you live, the local weather, and how long your drive is, all will affect your opinion on the ventilation. On longer trips, I arrive dry on a hot sticky day. Previous vehicles without that feature, I did not. Your money, your choice, but they are not listed as seat coolers, and don’t cool your back, well, maybe slightly in evaporative cooling at some level, but not generally.

[ST3]

I think we should be spending more time talking about the seats available in the X5M vs non X5M. That is where the comfort changes significantly. Obviously it’s still subjective, however, there is a bigger difference in my experience than in a heated/cooled/massage seat vs none.

[MJBradley1967]

Originally Posted by CrustyOldGuy

I've only had my X5 for 14 months now but enough to form an opinion on the ventilated seats and climate control system as a whole. I do have the ventilated seats with the massage function. Compared to the countless vehicles I have owned previously that have leather and ventilation, .......the BMW X5 seats do literally Suck. Yes, I know that they are designed to inhale instead of exhale and sure wish I had tested this before I invested in it. Really useless IMHO and, as others have stated, when you have it on the highest setting, the fan(vacuum) noise is terrible - and still with little to no effect on your rear end. Definitely would not invest in their sucking ventilating seats again.

Are you sure they suck?

I thought from the discussions around here that the BMW ones blew air up vs my Grand Cherokees that sucked it down through the seat. I could feel the heat being drawn away from me in those.

[jad03060]

Originally Posted by MJBradley1967

Are you sure they suck?

I thought from the discussions around here that the BMW ones blew air up vs my Grand Cherokees that sucked it down through the seat. I could feel the heat being drawn away from me in those.

Unless something has changed recently, the ventilated seats do suck air and blow it out the bottom. Easy to check…place a tissue on the seat when the fan is on and see if it elevates, or is sucked down.

[Kid Red]

I'm in Florida and constantly sweat on my back when driving. I picked up an X5 a few days ago and I LOVE the ventilated seats. I have them set to turn on immediately when getting into the car and I haven't sweat on my back yet. So to me - they work fabulously and totally worth it.

The massage feature is just gravy on a lovely driving machine.

[Cityman]

Originally Posted by Kid Red

I'm in Florida and constantly sweat on my back when driving. I picked up an X5 a few days ago and I LOVE the ventilated seats. I have them set to turn on immediately when getting into the car and I haven't sweat on my back yet. So to me - they work fabulously and totally worth it.

The massage feature is just gravy on a lovely driving machine.

Agree! How do you set the ventilated seats to automatically turn on at each start? Other than adjusting auto temp, I thought you had to manually adjust them.

[jad03060]

Originally Posted by Cityman

Agree! How do you set the ventilated seats to automatically turn on at each start? Other than adjusting auto temp, I thought you had to manually adjust them.

There are climate rules that can be set to turn the ventilation and/or seat heaters on at various temperature points…it’s in idrive if I remember correctly.