Does anyone know if there is anything out there that will soften stiff leather?

sure, I recommend the search feature but here are some and the pro/cons as reported by nico members

(Im a Q owner, sorry if you are not :P, or if this seems maybe partial to flagship models with leather that deserves preservation)

Combo 1 Meguiars Leather Cream Conditioner Works VERY well to soften leather, somewhat of a 'buttery feel'Down side - Gives seats a dull finish Meguiars Leather Spray (Meguiars Gold Class Rich Leather Spray)Not oily, used to give the seats a shine if combined with Meguiars Leather Cream Conditioner Combo 2Zymol leather Cleaner Cleans the **** out of your leather, down side is this will REVEAL cracks already in the seat (does not cause them)Zymol leather conditioner Helps soften up seats somewhat, reported not to be very good but it will help hide the cracks the above product will reveal. Users recommend using another product to soften the leather

Combo 3 LEXOL-pH CleanerSafe to use on leather, probably the safest of any real cleaner. Works well, has a smell that some users report not enjoying... and if you dont enjoy it, it will take time to air outLEXOL Conditioner Some awesome reviews, really restores the leathers feel if applied in excess on the first use (and apparently safe to do so if you wipe off whats left after a while)(Jesda thinks it smells like horses, and uses a Meguiar's product to cover it up - it isnt that good of a smell really)

Combo 4 (I know its not a combo but a single product)Black Magic leather cleanerWell it does a pretty good job of cleaning and conditioning. Downside for most (not all) is it leaves the seats looking VERY slick and oily. If thats your thing I guess...

Combo 5 (Will be the best or worse, never seen it used on a Q - if anybody has please post results, I must not have been around when you tried it!)Leatherique "REJUVINATOR OIL" I have seen it first hand, it took a seat covered in stains, totally written off by two separate shops for repair - restored it to LIKE NEW condition and feel. REALLY supple. Downside could be the price, or having to wait for some shipping which sometimes is a little lengthy (along with the near REQUIREMENT that you use the rest of this list, other combos you dont HAVE to use all of them)Leatherique " PRESTINE CLEAN"Worked well, however the ONE person I have personally seen use it said the seat color started to fade and ended up on his terry cloths, leading to the next requirement (like I said though, probably as clean as it could get)LEATHERIQUE "DYE" (Or, what you will actually probably need, " LEATHERIQUE CUSTOM MATCHED DYE") Basically, when he used the cleaner, and then the rejuvenation, the seats were still badly faded. Eventually he re cleaned the seats and used a dye, which was the "custom matched"... and didn't match. However he used so much that eventually the interior looked pretty good, took about an hour a day for a week without sitting in the car to dye it to something consistent. If the cleaner does not fade the seats, you dont need this, that would be ideal!

Combo 6Armor All Do yourself a favor, give your car to somebody who cares, if you use this you will be banned forever, I will find your cat and grill it and then eat it up in front of you. Known to crack some leathers, does not smell very nice, oily, VERY slow to soak in, VERY poor at cleaning. The ultimate WORST idea. You might as well use battery acid to get that feel back if you think this will do it

IF YOU HAVE TEARSLeatherique is the go to product to fix a tear, unless you happen to have spare leather and are able to reupholster the car. It will not fix anything large, but if it is just cracking or the tear is maybe ~1 inch long (or wide, but not both!) it should be able to do a bang up job. If your tears are longer, Leatherique sometimes ends up cracking, you end up with the same problem (I dont know why). If the tears are greater then lets say 1 inch by 1/8th of an inch it is possible to try Leatherique, but you probably will be needing to hit up a professional

THE BOTTOM LINE If we base our decision solely off of what Q owners seem to be saying the CLEAR winner is LEXOL Cleaner followed by LEXOL conditioner (YOU MUST CONDITION LEATHER AFTER CLEANED). Let that crap dry out for maybe an hour and follow up with Meguiars Gold Class Rich Leather Spray, it gives the car a fantastic smell, and the spray actually brings the leather closer to a 'like new' status compared to most everything else

Really hopes this helps. One last thing, this is my school of thought, maybe some users agree. If your seats are ****ty condition and you want them to change you 'may' need to apply conditioners liberally, but apply cleaners a bit sparse. This is because cleaners may damage the leather (even if they claim not to), conditioners will on the other hand restore the natural oils and feel of the leather giving you a supple surface without too much gloss. When you spray the conditioner, spray all over the seats, then spray it on to your cloth, rub it into the seats for a couple minutes each. Let it start to dry, maybe 20 minutes, I actually let it sit for over 2 hours once, that was a little too long. Apply a little more conditioner to the rag and run over all the surfaces again, every time you move to the next seat change to a new cloth with a little sprinkle of conditioner on it. Finally wait a couple minutes and wipe the seats with a dry cloth GENTLY, maybe 2 minutes per seat. Let it sit overnight, crack the sunroof or you will die next time you sit in the car. IF the seats have sat in decent temps (50-80 degrees maybe) they will feel awesome, so smooth, you will sink right in and think its a product 10x better then silk, if the temps were crappy your going to want to car to sit longer, or get somewhere like a garage. Im not 100% sure why but i had poorer results (still great but not as great) when doing this in the freezing cold OR in direct sunlight*This is a lexol cleaner/conditioner, the light coats were actually Meguiars which covers the smell up somewhat and gives the seat a better appearance

After this is all done, you will need to lightly apply cleaner/conditioner, or just conditioner as needed and as per the instructions on the product once every month or every two months. The seats may be oily, I say live with it for a week or more, the leather needs it!

I wish you luck, with owners allowing their seats to fall apart and develop rips we are being left with no option but to reupholster seats with an inferior quality leather or leave the leather realm. Prevention is the key, even if your seats are well past their due date you can extend their life quite a bit and reduce tears/rips over time by doing this

did that post help at all?

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try and post the results. I did find a cleaner that works great and helped a little with softening. It is good old Saddle Soap. I used a soft brush and it cleaned the dirt right out of the grain of the leather. I am going to try some of the conditioners you recommended. Thanks!