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As it turns out, the seat bottom cushion was severely worn on the left side and this can only be seen and truly assessed when the seat is completely out if the car. Because of this, I ordered a new seat bottom cushion from Lexus at about $195 shipped. I may add extra cushioning to the new seat bottom if necessary but I'm hoping it will be perfect out of the box. My existing cushion was worn pretty badly. Lexus issued a new seat bottom design through a TSIB. So I'm getting the revised cushion. I'll post pics and full details after I'm done.
If I was in your position, I would feel really lucky to have scored a white LS460 with black interior- most white cars seem to have tan interior which doesn't look anywhere near as good as yours IMO. Welcome! I also just bought my first 460- a 2007 with 45k miles.
I received and installed the new cushion I ordered from Lexus about 200 miles ago. Unfortunately, the seat is quite stiff because it is new and the comfort I was hoping for just isn't there...yet. The seat bolsters are high and stiff and this creates pressure on my hips. I've had the seat out of the car 2 times since installing the new cushion, adding/removing padding to the center. Nothing can be done with the sides except wait for them to break in. Dare I say it was better with the old cushion because it was broken in. I purchased the "updated" design though I can't really say what they improved.
I've removed the seat and messed with the padding probably 4-5 times since buying the car and paid someone to do it twice before I gave it a shot myself. It's not too difficult to do and that's the only thing that's been saving me. If I had to pay someone to do it, it would be a different story. My wife thinks I'm crazy. Takes about 30 minutes to get the seat out of the car and the leather cover off the seat bottom, it's basic. Actually cutting and shaping foam is a different story.
I've got a ton of pictures and I'll do DIY thread for those in the same boat.
At this point, I'm shopping seat bottom pads and perhaps a sheepskin cover for the seat bottom. I just need some comfort. The seat bottom is so stiff and rigid.
Congrats on your new purchase. I also got my 09 LS 460 with 33k miles for 25,5k. It has no ML system which is kind of disappointing. I am trying to replace with a better system but not sure how to do it. Any suggestion?
I was lucky to get the ML system on my 07. I love the pearl white. We have that on our 4 Runner. So Im a seat comfort freak. I cant stand seat back bolsters on my shoulders or hard seat back cushions. I make these cushions for all my cars. They
push me forward off the bolsters and are softer than the seat back. Vinyl from a fabric store and real good carpet foam cut and glued together. Then I put straps on. This vinyl doesnt match real good but it works amazing for me. I might look for a better color match and do another one. There are straps on the bottom also and it never moves. I wish I could drive it but we got a foot of snow and Its not AWD. Even if it was I wouldnt take her out of the garage. I just go and sit in it and smile taking note of how comfortable the seat is. Some day Im going to figure out the self park system. Does anyone here have and use that?
Congrats on your new purchase. I also got my 09 LS 460 with 33k miles for 25,5k. It has no ML system which is kind of disappointing. I am trying to replace with a better system but not sure how to do it. Any suggestion?
From what I've read, it isn't worth it to mess with the system in this car. If you don't have the ML, you'll end up spending quite a bit of cash. Some people have swapped out the 6x9s in the door but then others have said that's pointless.
I'm sure their is plenty of reading on the forum though.
I was lucky to get the ML system on my 07. I love the pearl white. We have that on our 4 Runner. So Im a seat comfort freak. I cant stand seat back bolsters on my shoulders or hard seat back cushions. I make these cushions for all my cars. They push me forward off the bolsters and are softer than the seat back. Vinyl from a fabric store and real good carpet foam cut and glued together. Then I put straps on. This vinyl doesnt match real good but it works amazing for me. I might look for a better color match and do another one. There are straps on the bottom also and it never moves. I wish I could drive it but we got a foot of snow and Its not AWD. Even if it was I wouldnt take her out of the garage. I just go and sit in it and smile taking note of how comfortable the seat is. Some day Im going to figure out the self park system. Does anyone here have and use that?
Nice work! The seats in the LS are too contoured for my taste. The bolsters are too narrow.
For me it's the seat bottom cushion. I've pulled the seat out nearly 10 times, I've lost count. The most recent time was 2 days ago. I will say that I know more about the inner workings of the LS driver seat than probably anyone on this forum. lol I can take the seat out and strip the seat bottom down the cushion in about 30 minutes. I've added padding, removed padding, shaved padding, ordered a new seat bottom cushion, then shaved that new seat bottom cushion down, added padding, etc.
I will say that I am getting closer to perfection and learning a ton about upholstery work. Most of the upholstery guys in the area are leather/fabric experts, not cushion experts. I've had to do research online for that.
I plan on doing a nice DYI tutorial for those in the same boat...although I haven't touched the seat back so I don't know if it will be of much help to you.
I'm fine with the seat bottom it's just my worn out back that is very demanding. The bolsters in this car are not too bad so I only use one layer of foam. In my ML350 the bolsters are twice as deep so my pad is 2 layers of the foam. In my 4 runner I use 2 layers also but I think one would work also. Of course I'm giving up the heated and air feature on my back but I can live without that.
I have it and never use it except as a party trick for friends. It's "interesting", but not at all practical.
Ditto, except I call it a parlor trick.
It really does work well, but the problem is the fastest you can parallel park the car from the time you come to a complete stop until the time the car is in the parking space is about 15 seconds. In the Boston area by that time some wiseass in a Prius has already slipped into the space.
11-06-15, 05:58 PM
