I am glad to hear it worked out so well for you!

I understand how many get frustrated with the air suspension. Personally I will never give up on it.

By the way it would be helpful if you have not already, to post your experiences with the conversion and a review of the results.

 

I remember coming to a point over this in another thread that Arnott finally came to, after I bashed them for using the public as a test bed for their "real world testing".

I too am a firm believer in OEM. Think about this: How long does the typical traditional OEM shock/strut last? Certainly the manufacturers of suspension components recommend changing them at around 70K miles.

Our cars came from the factory with AIR SUSPENSION. If you bought the car expecting to have the pricey suspension components last forever, then you were in fantasy land, and holding those components to a standard well beyond the conventional units found in more earth-bound cars.

I bought a Jag, not a 300 SRT, the only other car in the running for my dollars. I knew all this going in. I'm not about to change the very character of my XJR to save dollars or add peace of mind. But hey, we all have our opinions. I've read some good arguments for coil-over conversion. In the case of a strut-conceived car like a Mustang, it's a step up, IMO. In the case of the X350, it's a huge step down.

 

Good points SuperTrav. After 50-70K miles, how much does Arnott charge for replacements?

With a $300 compressor as the weakest link that I have yet to hear fail more than once, inexpensive height sensors rarely need replacement and occasionally an airbag will spring a leak for around $400 each it is a no brainer to keep it stock the way it was engineered to be.

The invalid argument "I have a leak in one part I had better replace the entire system with an inferior one" could apply to any component in a car, at some point something is going to break and require service. It is inevitable...

Of course, it is your car and are entitled to do anything to it you please!

 

Well, my tuppence (= 5 cents) is that I do sympathise with people who have converted to steel springs to give piece of mind. I suspect this is mainly the peace that comes from not having to think about BIG bills maybe coming up in the future. Not everyone has a big bank balance, or more probably, an understanding wife/partner when it is big spend time.

The main parts for this suspension, the air springs, are very expensive, no doubt about it; even at internet aftermarket prices. As to a compressor for $300, it is more like £300 here in the UK and that is for service exchange. From what I have seen so far, these are the main parts subject to early failure. I had to replace my compressor in late 2010, with the car on 33k miles. Not a lot of miles, is it ? Yet since then the car has been perfectly OK, (knock on wood - Tap, Tap).

We have a UK forum, and I have never read about any air spring replacement, it is a very rare thing in the UK. Of course, like "musical chairs", one can end up as the guy with no chair, and having to replace an air spring costing many hundreds of pounds, whereas steel coils will be around £100 maybe £150, a big difference.

FWIW, I intend to keep my car original with its air suspension. It could be difficult to change to steel, as one would have to declare this to the insurer as a modification, and also one would lose the DSC, and this saved me from an accident last year, so well worth it.

 

DSC is a function of the braking system isn't it? It takes input from the steering wheel angle, master cylinder brake pressure, wheel speeds and lateral/yaw sensors.

Aparently DSC "manages the braking system to enhance the drivers control of the vehicle".

Granted you would lose the CATS systems ability to alter the switching sequence of the shocks on cornering but do you think DSC gets disabled as well?

 

Sorry, I stand corrected, the DSC only uses brakes and throttle control, not dampers. Anyway, I am sticking to the air suspension. My local independent will use used or new components depending on customer preference, (poor guys like me)

 

What is great about this forum is the sharing of experiences, knowledge and ideas. There are quite a few new members and new to Jaguar members joining every week.

I just don't want some to get the wrong idea about the reliability of the air suspension. I believe the issues discussed affect very few cars and are not as dramatic as some make them out to be. At the same time, there are many of these cars on the pre-owned market and potential new owners should be aware of the maintenance costs on these and any high end automobile. Frankly, Jaguar still remain one of the easiest and lowest cost to keep running compared to Mercedes, BMW & others.

Please be aware there are many systems on the XJ that require IDS programming, not just suspension and hopefully you have a service facility available to you that has this equipment.

I still feel the reason behind gutting the air suspension system before a problem occurs is not much different than removing say all of the seat motors because they will fail at some point and are expensive to replace (even more than the suspension) and converting to manual levers.

My two bits...

Enjoy your ride, it is a beautiful machine.

 

well I talked with the jag shop on my whole suspension problem. turns out both air shocks in the front are bad, my compressor is weak, the ASM sensor went into over load trying to level out the car so drastically. I need a few new air lines ran too. so the total as of Friday evening was $4,228 with labor. ( I do have some other things thats being replacing aswell but that's a different total ) as supertrav did make very good points, and arnot's conversion kit keeps coming up as the only conversion available. if I do decide with a conversion I'm going with bilstein. I've read great reviews, also the jaguar tech that is working on my car put some on his 2006 portfolio and let me drive it around just to assure me of ride quality and I really felt no difference in ride or drive quality. even with a life time guarantee on parts and labor unlike the air suspension still im on the fence. with me $ isnt the issue. it's knowing I can go on road trips without becoming a low rider at any given sec. and take a chance on ruining something else on my car to make it to civilization while being stuck in B.F.E.

 

Wow, that's a lotta flipping money. I just bought a Super and I do have a few things I don't understand about my car. Seems that the front is higher than the back (ride height sensor?), but the biggie is that from left to right the right side front is higher that the left. I did see a post that suggested that the dealer can reprogram to level the corners out. Wished I had noticed this before I bought the car. I might not have bought this particular car. I've book marked this thread. Keep us in the loop!

dave

 

Is that with Jaguar parts? The Arnott air shocks are $800-$875 a pair with a lifetime warranty and a new updated compressor is $392. I would think the total would be under $2K. Nice that you were able to drive a converted car.

This from their website: We have worked tirelessly over the years to eliminate many of the weak design flaws on the OE shocks. Our design eliminates many of the common high wear designs such as the leaky upper seal, noisy upper mounts, and the weak lower rubber sealing design.

 

jahummer I don't know where you live but stay there lol every I looked in Houston to replace the shocks 1300 - 1500 new and the used ones were 1100 - 800. the compressor 400 and not sure about the price on the airlines. or a new ASM. I will not put used parts back on my car if I stay with the air suspension it will be new 100 % and in the back as well.

 

also driving his 06 portfolio around a major part of the uptown area I. was able to drive
spirited and take some corners rather fast and went over a patched up road and it absorbed nicely. I respected the mans car of course that was the least I could do after the tossed me the keys. bilstein Seems to be the proper conversion kit for doing so.

 

after much deliberation and debates in the forum, "air suspension vs conversion." i decided to go with the conversion. not only because of the cost factor but the reliability that was offered, maintenance, unscheduled repairs, predictability etc. i put myself in a situation: how safe would i feel on a lengthy road trip? being that this wasn't my first time dealing with the air suspension, and a great portion of this forum is about air suspension problems, plus being quoted nearly 7 grand for my air suspension repairs and a little under 3 grand for the conversion. it was a no brainer. my 2 front air shocks and compressor needed to be replaced, also 1 of my rear shocks had a slow leak along with some bad air lines.
it took two days for the conversion to be complete. after so i went for a drive to see how i felt about my choice. after a twisty fast paced drive i couldn't be happier, i know i made the right decision. it truly feels just a good as my air suspension. i was incredibly impressed! i expected to be underwhelmed from threads I've read on the arnot conversion. but this conversion is a bilstein kit. the car has correct stance it doesn't look too high nor too low. it comes with the software for the headlights to adjust accordingly. the ride soft when it needs to be and nice and tight in the bends. i haven't seen anyone else who does the bilstein conversion other than motors cars ltd. if i heard correctly they did say that this was "their" kit and software. i believe motorcars ltd is only texas wide. 2 shops here in houston 1 in dallas and 1 in austin. if anyone is interested here is their site along with a link to the conversion kits page. again i am very impressed and happy with my choice.

XJ8 Spring Conversion Kit - asc.kit.xj8

Jaguar Parts, Land Rover Parts. Used Jaguar Parts, Used Land Rover Parts.