My LSEAT leather seat experience and install directions

[asutherland]

I am pretty happy with the FINAL RESULTS. The LSEAT product seems pretty good, obviously 15 years from now will really tell the tale... but so far so good. Even the local uphostery shop guy was impressed. There were a few imperfections, most of which would never been noticed by anyone. These are SMALL complaints. Nothing that would deter me from ordering from them again.

Some of the stitching wasn't perfectly straight,
There were a few "gotchas" that involved hole cutting,
The seat back top area seemed just a tad thinner backing material than OEM,
A couple areas seem a tad bit loose, but I believe this will get gradually better as the seats see some summer heat and use.

All that said, I am very happy, and the interior of my truck truly looks amazing now. What a DIFFERENCE!!!!!

 

[WanderinWill]

Awesome write up, and very timely for me as well. Weighing options on trying this myself. Great job!

 

[SteveL]

What color Lseat covers did you get. I have a 97 LX450. Bisque seems a bit dark but is what they recommend. I am still waiting for samples. I've heard that the ivory is closer to the correct LX color. My outside color is white.

 

[asutherland]

Hey Steve, check the first couple posts I put a pic of the swatch up. I think bisque is the closest too. That's what I got.

 

[davidp14]

Nice job . Good write up.
I thought this was one of the hardest jobs I've done on my cruiser so far. I wish this was here when I did it.

 

[lumbee1]

Awesome write up! I installed Lseat.com covers in 2017 and love them. The factory "leather" was dried, hard, and the seam openings were grabbing at my pants. I just wanted something nicer but didn't have to be $1200 nice. Lseat.com seat covers took forever to arrive however installation was fairly easy and the quality can't be beat. The unexpected outcome was that the front seats are VERY comfortable and soft. To the touch, the leather is not the smoothest but sitting in them for hours is never an issue any more. I want to do the second row for my kids so they can enjoy the ride as well.

 

[ThunderRolls]

Another satisfied LSeat customer here. I have to say it looks new, but took a little bit of the character my butt had built into the seat!

 

[asutherland]

Cool! The leather will stretch and shrink over the seats a bit more with time/heat. Mine has nearly no ripples in it now. Tight!

Andrew

 

[clx16]

Mine are still holding up very well from well over a year. Did pretty much the same steps you did, but used zipties in place of hog-rings. I also had to cut out some of the foam and rebuild it, but i am glad i added some extra padding in a few places anyway. If i get another 80 and don't get cloth seats, then I will be ordering this same kit again. I used dark beige which was a very close match to my rear seats and none of my passengers have noticed that it isn't OEM. Everyone's leather is a little different after all these years and depending on how it was cared for by the previous owner.

 

[Box Rocket]

Mine are still holding up very well from well over a year. Did pretty much the same steps you did, but used zipties in place of hog-rings. I also had to cut out some of the foam and rebuild it, but i am glad i added some extra padding in a few places anyway. If i get another 80 and don't get cloth seats, then I will be ordering this same kit again. I used dark beige which was a very close match to my rear seats and none of my passengers have noticed that it isn't OEM. Everyone's leather is a little different after all these years and depending on how it was cared for by the previous owner.

Never heard of anyone using zip ties in place of hog rings. How's it working? Seems like it would be way easier than the hog rings.

 

[clx16]

@Box Rocket it works fine, never squeaks and nothing new to buy. I did it about 7 years ago on my taco with cloth seats. The interior was so filthy I removed the cloth and cleaned it. went ahead a fixed the foam and ziptied it back on. Been holding up perfectly ever since. Figured it would be just as good on my 80 with leather. It was and is still holding up.

You need to clip the ties in a way that they don't poke up or start wearing through anything,, not hard, and i guess hog rings have the same risk to a degree. But if you have experience using zipties a lot, then you would just naturally think about that anyway.

 

[Box Rocket]

Thank you @clx16

 

[ThunderRolls]

I used zip ties too. You can use a bunch of them and not limited in distance to metal rods like you are with the rings

 

[clx16]

@asutherland I think the real value of this thread is that you showed how to repair the foam which can be expensive, as well as reasonably priced leather. As parts get discontinued that info will be more valuable.

 

[rolliges]

You guys using plastic zip ties or metal?

 

[clx16]

Plastic
I used very cheap ones that i got at harborfreight, but the below might be better.

PEEK Cable ties are rated up to about 500 Deg F. For those times when you have had something spicy and need your cable ties to stand up or Prowire USA | Cable Ties | Zip Ties | Wire Ties...

 

[ThunderRolls]

Cheap plastic. If they break, all of them are easily accessible from the bottom or behind the back panel. I put enough on there it shouldn't matter.

 

[asutherland]

Zip ties could work for sure. I just bought a quality hog ring plier (not the *** they sometimes include with a seat heater kit, for example)

It was like $12, and has a spring that holds the hog ring in place nicely in it's groove. Once I got used to using it, I actually found it easier than zip ties (for this purpose) as you can use the pliers and open hog ring itself to pull the two metal rods close together with force, then squeeze the ring on. All one handed, while drinking a beer with the other.

 

[davidp14]

I actually used hog rings on the passenger seat and industrial velcro on the driver's.

The velcro was way easier and is holding up just as Well as the hog rings. It's been about a year and my son drives it daily. I know He drags his a#@ across the seat every time he gets out even though I tell him not to so I thinks its gotten a good testing.

Theres a YouTube video on using velcro if you're interested.

 

[mountaingoat59]

I ordered a set from the Lseat website a week ago and never received a confirmation email but it appeared on my credit card quickly. I sure hope i don't regret it like some here and on the bmw forums have. I ordered just a standard set of bisque for the 80 series front seats. I'm prepared to wait 2 months if need be but after that i will dispute the charge if he doesn't ship by then. Roll the dice....