Basically
どうもありがとうございます is the present tense.
どうもありがとうございました is the past tense.
I know people don't use past tense for saying "thank you" in English; but, in Japanese, we use both those tenses for saying thank you. For example, if someone gives you a free ride to somewhere, you would say "ありがとうございます” when you are riding on the car, and you would say "ありがとうございました” when he drove you to the place, or when you are getting off from the car. Because you are saying "ありがとうございました"(past tense) for what he just DID(just had done) for you. This is the difference between "Japanese ありがとう" and "English thank you."
In addition, There is no relation of politeness between those two expressions.