Looking at replacing the leaking front struts on my XJR. Love the ride and feel of the car and want to retain the CATS operating system if possible. Was thinking on a set of new Arnot's sports. Any input would be appreciated.

 

Only the original Bilsteins have the variable damper setting that CATS uses. In fact it only varies between "Hard" and "Soft". Default is "Hard" when no volts are applied to the valve solenoid in the damper. You can buy the Bilsteins on the internet, but as far as I know, only the Comfort air spring is available, not Sport. Your XJR will have Sport. So best to replace a pair on each axle, not individually, or replace the lot. Sometimes you can find NOS (New Old-Stock) on the internet. That's what I did when I replaced Sport shocks with Comfort on my first X350

 

Send yours to R M T, to rebuild yours.
Specify you want YOUR shocks rebuilt, & returned.
You still have your stock shocks functions, for less cash.
I have used both solutions, Arnotts, as well as R M T.
R M T is the least expensive of the two options.
Both work very well, but the stock rebuilds are my preference.
The 04's were in nice shape, but was not aware of R M T then.
Arnotts were put on with good results.
The 07's were replaced with the ones from the 04.
Rebuilt, ready to put on, as soon as the old ones came off.
Instead of waiting for the turnaround of your old shocks.
Leaving the 07's now in the box R M T sent the 04's rebuilds in.
Not as nice condition as the 04's were, but are still able to be rebuilt
They still worked well, but at 97,000 miles it was time.

 

I wish I had just ponied up for the Bilsteins. I tried Suncore aftermarket struts on the front, but the damper blew out on one of them very quickly. I switched them out for RMT rebuilds and now at least one of them is leaking.

I've gotten really quick at changing out the front struts...

 

Sorry to hear of your issue with R M T.
Will they make good on them?

 

They provided me a shipping label to ship the strut back to them and said they will evaluate the strut and decide whether or not they will warranty it.

 

Hi DAFF,

A few months back I replaced an XJR's front air springs/shock absorbers with the Bilstein B4s from Rock Auto. The ride and handling were so good that I think most of us who drive these 10+ year-old cars have no idea just how good the suspensions were when new. If you can afford it, I highly recommend going with the Bilsteins, even though only the B4 Comfort version is available.

Last week I worked on an XJR that had been converted to Arnott air springs/shock absorbers. The units had electrical connectors for the CATS wiring harness, but I don't know if this was for dummy coils that fool the CATS system or if the shocks actually are adaptive. You'll have to check with Arnott Industries. The ride in this car was very nice, but I didn't push it around corners to test the handling so I can't fully compare the Arnotts to the Bilsteins.

I have also converted several X350s to the Arnott coil-over shocks and they also give a comfortable ride, but with significantly more body roll, squat and dive.

If you enjoy sporty driving, my personal opinion is that the Bilsteins that retain full CATS functionality are the best option available.

Cheers,

Don

 

Wow, RockAuto has the fronts for $676 and rears for $660 right now. That is significantly cheaper than what they used to be.

 

The front air shocks on the 07 are the ones off of the 04 rebuilt by R M T.
The 04 has Arnotts purchased new for $830, if memory serves.
Verses what memory says was $550, both are well worth the money spent
The 07 VDP, seems to ride a little softer with the stock rebuilds.
Supposed to maintain the cats system, so they say.
Would love to replace all eight shocks on both cars with Bilsteins.
But seems that cost plays a factor.all to often.

 

I completely rebuilt the front end on my 2005 xjr and went with the Original Bilsteins. Exspensive ,but I'm happy I did. I wanted the suspension as it was designed. it rides smooth when needed and firm when I'm taking corners. Plus all the research I did on after market replacements suggested that they also had issues or failed in a rather short time. When i pulled the air shocks out, one was already a late model Arnott air spring that was throwing a code. I grew up with Jaguars and always loved the way they rode especially xj6's which is why i wanted it to be original.

 

Just to update this, I sent the leaking strut in for warranty replacement and received a new strut about a week later. Good customer service, I just hope this one holds up.

Interestingly, the leaky strut was the newer of the two I purchased from RMT. It had a build date in September 2018.

 

Glad they made good on it, that is what i have read about them.
Reputation, keeping cats system, as well as the cost, was deciding factor for me.
Arnott makes nice units, and also stand behind their shocks.
Early 2888 shocks were improperly assembled.
They had issues when you took the air lines loose.
They came apart and would leak air if reused.
Paid for new ones, & had to ship the old ones back.
Then they refunded me for both, no complaints!!!!

 

I used Arnott Sport Air struts on the advice of mechanic (the Bilsteins are not readily available up here in Canada as far as I can tell). I am not totally happy. The 'sports' shocks are stiffer than I like, and seem to get worse with cold weather; I doubt the cold rubber of the tires and the frost heaves help there either. If I was going to keep my Jag around, I would either switch to Bilsteins or get comfort shocks.

 

I have Sport struts on my XJR and they are still soft. I think comfort and sport are relative. The X350 struts are comfort ride either way.

 

That's interesting-I doubt our butt calibrations are that different :-) Do you drive much at -10C and below? That's where I really find the ride choppy. I have owned this car for a decade, driving it year round on the original suspension for the first 9 years. I agree the original suspension is almost always in comfort mode; I didn't realize how much I would miss that! My wife's Legacy GT now rides more smoothly than my Jag.

 

I am in Houston, a cold day is less than 10 degree C. I think my other cars may alter the perception. A 335i with M suspension, an A8 with beefed up roll bars, and a F150 4x4 all ride tighter. But it is not even close.
The A8 struts are similar to to Jaguar, the electronic dampening has way more functionality.It supposedly adjusts dampening instantaneous in msec interval. I would hope the Jaguar does the same, but reading here it sounds like hard or soft are the options. It also allows adjusting ride height from inside the car.
I have experienced hard in the XJR when dealing with leaking struts and a weak compressor. It is really hard. Too hard to be usable.

 

I am very happy with my Arnot air shocks on the front of my 2004 XJR. I still have the original shocks on the front. 104K miles on the car now.

RyeJag

 

Anything but factory. Do a coil over...

Unfortunately it's only a matter of time before something on the air suspension system goes astray.

Beautiful ride when everything working 100% but it's the exception not the rule. **** poor design.

Its moments like this my XJR has coil overs and no more air suspension issues...

 

A while back when Rock Auto had Bilstein B4s for $675 each I put two of them on the front of an '06 XJR and their performance was astonishingly good (I also rebuilt the compressor). Most of us who haven't owned an X350 from new have no idea just how good this suspension was before the shocks lost some of their control, the air springs developed leaks, and the compressor piston ring wore out. I respectfully disagree that this system was poorly designed. With new parts it is pretty incredible, world class in its day and not far off even today.

I have converted several X350s/X358s to Arnott coils, and while the ride is perfectly comfortable, I prefer the reduced body roll and self-leveling of the stock air suspension when it is working properly.

Rock Auto does not list the Bilsteins currently, but Parts Geek has them at $1,074 each. I don't know if there is a more affordable supplier at this time, but if you can justify the price, my personal opinion is that the OE setup with Bilsteins provides the best performance.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Don,

I fortunately was able to experience the OEM system working at 100% on my other X350.

The system is great. But, let's face facts. The system design (mainly the compressor and struts) are flawed to an extent and the cost to keep the system on the up and up is uber expensive, hence my opinion.

I have experienced the vehicle too low and failed compressor during the winter where there is no way to even lift the cat. That's a worst case scenario for sure. Luckily, I was able to rebuild the compressor and source a used, low mileage strut to keep costs down.

Case and point look how the forum lights up from Nov - Apr with all these suspension questions and issues, mainly in colder climates.

You are right the ride quality with coil overs is less desirable but on the upside is dependable and with everything else that can go wrong with these cats it's one less thing to worry about.