BMW's heated vest

[nedflanders]

Has anyone used one of these before? managed to get one but not sure how hot they're supposed to get, are they thermostatically controlled as went for a quick spin and seemed to heat up ok, just wondered if they get hotter when the weather gets colder??

 

[shugie]

Has anyone used one of these before? managed to get one but not sure how hot they're supposed to get, are they thermostatically controlled as went for a quick spin and seemed to heat up ok, just wondered if they get hotter when the weather gets colder??

Assuming you mean the sleeveless one with a silver material on the top part, they are thermostatically controlled on the "low" setting for certain, on the "high" setting it seems to stay on most of the time. I wear mine over a T-shirt, then a fleece or down jacket over the heated jacket, finally my Tourguard jacket on top, and that keeps me warm enough in anything above freezing.

 

[nedflanders]

Yes the sleeveless silver one, I take it the vest regulates itself?

 

[shugie]

Yes the sleeveless silver one, I take it the vest regulates itself?

It looks that way, there are two thick wires for the heating current, and two much thinner ones which I think are connected to some sort of temperature sensor. The control box, which is in no way waterproof, has a circuit which switches the heating element on and off to maintain a preset temperature, the little manual that came with mine gave different preset temperatures for high and low settings.

Be warned the connector is crap, I ended up cutting it out and soldering the connection in the end. But other than that it's a good bit of kit.

 

[nedflanders]

Cheers, thought it must be self regulating, just wish mine was a bit smaller