GeriatricSQ5Guy

Just an FYI - I had a seat cushion in the passenger side for my wife and it caused the air bag to not arm. Should be OK in the driver's seat since by definition someone has to be seated there to drive. But don't get one for the passenger. The owners' manual says not to as well.

blchandl2

We liked the seats in our '18 Q3 Premium much better than our '18 Q5 Premium. We bought seat cushions from Purple (mattress) for long trips.

atlanta A6

I went into the dealership to buy a Q5 and absolutely hated the seats. Ended up driving an SQ5 and among many other things, loved the seats including the thigh support extender and side bolsters holding me in place. I feel these seats are excellent but can empathize with those suffering with the Q5 seats.

ribeye

I opted out of the sport seats in my Q5 because the bolsters dug into my back.Doing that, I had to give up the warm weather package that had cooled seats as the standard seats were not cooled.
Actually I had lined up a BMW X3 to purchase online and when I went to the dealer to test drive it, They had the 2019's out and at that time the only seat you could get was the sport seat. The bolsters dug into my sides even when I opened them up wide. The salesman know exactly what I was talking about and gave me no grief about backing out of the deal.
I headed to the Audi dealer to look around and they gave me an offer I could not refuse.
Now, I am bit overweight, but far from fat. I do have a wide body.
But back to the seat thing, they are hard as hell. I tried cushions, but not for me. I finally solved my problem with a Genesis GV80. Those seats even have built in shiatsu massagers' that will go off automatically on long trips.

miabchdave

Since I had both the 2018 and 2021 Q5 PP models, I can say that they “fixed” the seats in 2021 - still firm though. The 2018 seats were infamous for not being acceptable - almost insulting. But a test drive at lease turn-in showed the obvious improvement in 2021. Not an old Volvo seat by any measure, though ;-)

jaims

I’ll soon be shopping fir a replacement seat cushion to replace the one I settled on in 2018. The foam has diminished in thickness and is compressed somewhat. The one I purchased is no longer sold.

FWIW, no seat cushion is going to be 100% satisfactory. I make a slight jostle motion each time I sit down to orient me and the cushion to an optimal position. Takes only a few seconds of my time. To understate the matter, sitting on rock hard seats without a seat cushion is not an option for me.

What has helped me is to buy a cushion that has a zipper cover…this to allow me to access the foam and contour it so it fits better into the sport seat’s somewhat narrow footprint, referring to the bottom seat bolsters (which make most cushions on the market ride up (bend) against the sides of those bolsters). I also trimmed out other contours of the cushion to reduce high spots…and the cushions length/depth. In using a large retractable razor blade to slice and trim off the dense foam, it was like I was trimming fat off a large side of beef, LOL.

So the hunt begins.

sQ5Atlanta

We love the lifeform executive seat cushion. My wife uses it in her SQ5 and I use one in my office on an Aeron Chair. We first found them at The Relax your back store. https://shoplifeformchairs.com/colle...32431008383116

darienal

I am having the exact same problem as the OP a few more into my ownership a 2018 SQ5, the side bolsters of the seats cut into my thighs for extended driving periods. I also thought about picking up an add on cushion to hopefully lift myself up higher in the seat to work around the bolster issue just haven't started looking for a good option...

MarkP888

I think size is definitely a factor. I'm 6' tall but thin (165 lbs) and the seats fit me perfectly. I have the sport seats with warm weather package. But if I were a bit thicker on my backside I could definitely see there being a comfort issue. Americans, on average, are likely quite a bit wider than Germans. Like many things, VAG needs to learn their markets better... ahem... Remote start...

My complaints would be the thigh bolster, which feels super cheap. Should be perforated leather, not solid vinyl and should be motorized and part of the seat position memory. Also the driving position, which feels really odd to me with respect to the virtual cockpit. To get the seat and steering wheel where they are comfortable, I can't see the top half of the virtual cockpit. First car I've owned that I have encountered a major layout issue like that.