Upgrading seats to semi aniline Luxury Mod
 

So inspired by this Russian guy who did it, I've always been on the lookout for a set of the Luxury seats
Everything is a direct swap, Lexus made this upgrade easy :)
https://www.drive2.ru/l/453730791583645921/
https://www.drive2.ru/l/451159308764184604

I purchased a set of front and rear seats for $1350 shipped to my door. Here are some pics from the wrecked car:
I'll have 18 way adjustable front seats, and heated rear seats with controls. all with semi-aniline leather

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...42844eee25.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...51222f31fc.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...3f13e76062.jpg
That wire mark or the rear backrest is apparently not a rip, just a satin, wipes off
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...1e54b3206a.jpg

They received the certified check I sent last Friday and shipping as soon as the check clears this week.

I paid $600 for both front seats, $200 for the rears, and $550 for freight shipping. The delivery truck will drop it off on a pallet.

That's cool. Did you get the rear seat controls with the rear seats or is that all separate? I would be mainly concerned about the wiring to the rear seat control functionality as it has to go to the radio and climate control, is it just plug and play with the current non Luxury setup or do you have to piggy back anything, buy new mounts?

I would have loved a F Sport also with the Luxury package/rear seat controls.

See the Russian blog links, right click on the page and click translate to English. It's all Plug and play. You will just need the ac amplifier from the lux model to get the rear seat climate controls to work. I already bought that last year.

That will be awesome. Just a heads-up, make sure you are not expected to provide the fork lift to handle the pallet. It may be light enough to grab by hand with a buddy so it may not be an issue, but freight cargo typically requires the recipient to get it off the truck. I would hate for it to show up and you have no way of getting it off the truck.

Yeah, it cost me $50 extra to get a delivery truck with a power liftgate. The delivery company doesn't just let me take apart the pallet in the truck. They are basically dropping a pallet off at my apartment complex in a parking spot.

I'm temporarily putting the seats in my guest bedroom until the weather gets better. I also have a hand truck. The front seats are about 70 pounds each.

I can't wait to get the seats. It was one for my regrets when I first purchased the car. 2 months and I could not find a lux 450h. My next car in 8-10 years 2018+ ls 500h I'll make sure to find one with all the options.

Thats awesome! I also have the Flax interior and remember posting about this last year and you were looking to see if anyone had swapped Lux seats as well. I was in the same boat - a lux model GS was an option for me but I decided to go with the premium instead..the only issue is the seats in the premium GS are a little hard.

Let us know how it goes when it comes time for the install...Are the front ones plug/play as well?

I've pondered seat upgrades in the GS...I have the Fsport which is great but the seats are fairly firm. I can only imagine how much the upgraded drivers seat in cabernet costs!

Is the luxury seat that much nicer to sit in?

Yes the front is plug and play according to that Russian blog post.

Seems like those Russians do more intense mods, like one guy who installed the 2016 head unit into the 2013 GS, involved some custom wiring.

I love how the blog writer kept saying "I love the Japanese" as working or modding japanese cars is always a breeze :thumbup:

This is an awesome mod. I don't care much about the semi-aniline leather, but I sure would love to have been able to option those 18-way seats in my F-Sport. Those headrests look so much more premium (they look very similar to the headrests you'll find in a 2013 S-Class) and I think also offer active whiplash protection and will extend forward if you're ever rear-ended to catch your neck/head (which is why they're designed that way). But more than anything, I'd want those seats for the BMW-style upper backrest adjustment. Being able to adjust that would've made finding a seating position in my GS so much easier (took me a literal year).

shoulda just switched out the front to GSF seats lol

I went to a Lexus driving event & got to hoon the GS F (and RC F with same seats) around a track. They're super supportive & look awesome, but nowhere near as comfortable as the 16-way F-Sport seat in my GS350, let alone as comfy as I'd bet the 18-way semi-aniline seats will be. In addition, they're "only" 10-way adjustable. You lose a lot of adjustability & also lose the active headrests on the 18-way seats. And from what I've read owners complain about, apparently the heating & cooling functions aren't very good at all and perform worse than the heating & cooling functions on the regular GS seats.

They look great, but I'd argue are a compromise overall. Especially seeing as a GS350/GS450 can't be pushed to the same limits that a GS F can.