the heating element in the back rest of my drivers seat took a dump yesterday, new heating element is 172$. any one tried the task of changing heating elements in a seat, looks pretty straight forward on bentley as long as you have vag136(special pliers). Any tips, ideas, info please

 

It's not all that hard, but you have to remove the seat, and remove the leather cover from the foam.
IMHO, it's best to have an shop do it. My drivers seat back just did the same thing

 

I figure I can manage, I've got all thoes ASE certifications hanging on my wall for something

 

i did my own. you'll want hog ring pliers. it isa little time consuming. pay good attention to all the little rods when you take them off, so you get them back on correctly. any questions let me know.
good luck

 

Upholstery has a SAE certification?

Mechanics & upholstery are 2 very different expertise.
Getting it all apart is not the hard part, getting it all back tougher with no wrinkles in the leather is the hard part.

I did them in my BMW years ago, & it was a PITA, and I ended up having a upholstery shop finish it for me, due me not be able to stretch the leather properly.

 

hog ring pliers is key as shelby said. 2ks4 you got a point, no lol theres no ase test for taking seats apart... But 3 years as a chevy tech, 4 years of school in automotive and diesel technology, and 2 more as a class 8 highway diesel tech, I'll give it a crack

 

Not difficult. Leave the seat in, much easier. You may have to undo the front bolts for access but i always found it easier because the seat doesnt move around when its bolted in. Ive dont a million seat bottoms on the passat's due to the recall, and a couple seat backs. only took the seat out on the first one cuz i didnt know what i was doing. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you Kyle, 4 yr auto degree 3.5 yr chevy tech, 8 mos vw tech, now test engineering. You'll be able to do it.