Here's something that could engender a bit of discussion.
I have read on this forum posts that decry the Air Suspension system on our X350's by pointing out that the X351's have 'learned their lesson' by not deploying Air Suspension at the front.
Mercedes Benz, the most successful seller of luxury saloons (sedans) in the world do not appear to have learned this lesson. Their W222 has what they call 'Magic Body Control' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active...c_Body_Control that uses a stereo camera to scan the road surface up to 15 meters ahead of the vehicle at speeds up to 130 km/h (81 mph), and it adjusts the shock damping at each wheel to account for imperfections in the road...…!
Given the eventual supremacy of electric cars, this sort of technology will obviously far outlive the internal combustion engine and far from criticising Jaguar for their ground breaking use of aluminium construction combined with all-round adaptive air suspension, perhaps we should be encouraging them to match the best saloon/sedan on the planet?
What do I know, perhaps the X351 already does this?
In any event, it's only an opinion....

 

Seems absurd to us peasants, trading the now old stuff.
For the new, improved, maybe not as good, stuff.
But thats what lets us taste, or drive, some of the finer things in life.

 

Wingrider, you are right, the cost of maintaining the excellent Jaguar active air suspension is what make these overengineered gems affordable for us mere mortals!

However, on the Mercedes theme, have you seen this one?

 

Right after getting my first Jaguar back in 2016.
Loved watching it then, as well as now.
Sometimes advertisements are just enjoyable to watch.

 

Love that commercial, EsRay! Thanks for posting it for us to enjoy again.

Regarding the X350 air suspension, it is important to note that most folks who complain about it are complaining about components that are 10+ years old and have typically done more than 75,000 miles, often far more. Shock absorbers of any type are wear items, as are air bladders and the piston rings in any type of air compressor. Additionally, Jaguar didn't even design or build the system. For that we can "blame" Wabco and Bilstein, two of the world's largest and most experienced manufacturers of air suspension systems. Wabco and Bilstein are OEMs not only to Jaguar, but to Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ford, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen, Volvo, and many others, so we can hardly fault Jaguar for using the Wabco ECAS system (and re-branding it ECATS) along with Bilstein air springs/dampers.

If you get a chance to drive an X350 that has had its compressor rebuilt and all four air springs/dampers replaced with new Bilstein units, you will understand what was so special about this suspension and why Jaguar felt it was worth using even if it would require significant repairs and upkeep many years into the future. Most of us who drive our X350s with original suspensions aren't really experiencing the system as it was designed and as it performed for the first several years of its life. I've replaced original Bilsteins with new ones on a couple of X350s now, and the performance is truly a "magic carpet ride." When the time comes on my own X350, I will gladly invest in new Bilsteins rather than consider doing a coil conversion. There really is no comparison in terms of the combination of ultra-smooth ride and superb body control.

Cheers,

Don

 

Small point to clarify--the active shock damping is not the air suspension on the Jag or Mercedes. The Jag has both air suspension (springs) and ECATS (active shocks). Though Jaguar does not use a camera to scan the road ahead, it does adjust based on vehicle dynamics measured on the chassis. The new XJs did retain ECATS all around, but only kept rear air springs for level control. Nothing very new, Cadillac and Corvette had active shocks going back to the early 90s. And rear suspension levelling was common back to the 1950s on many cars.

 

And to further clarify, on the X350, both the air suspension and adaptive damping (ECATS) are part of a single, integrated system, both managed by a single ECU, the Air Suspension Control Module, which was designed and manufactured by Wabco under the name ECAS (Electronically Controlled Air Suspension). While ECAS lacks the forward-looking camera of the new M-B system, it is hardly unsophisticated. Here's a list of the inputs and outputs the system utilizes in controlling suspension dynamics:

The ASM is located behind the right hand rear seat back. The ASM is an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that controls all aspects of air suspension operation based on input signals from the following components:

Ride Height Sensors
Valve Block Pressure Sensor
Front Vertical Accelerometer
Rear Vertical Accelerometer
Road Speed Signal from the Instrument Cluster (via the CAN bus)
Lateral Acceleration Signal from the ABS/Dynamic Stability Control Module (via the CAN bus)
Brake Switch (via the CAN bus)
Brake Pressure Switch (via the CAN bus)
Engine Torque Rate (Longitudinal Acceleration) Signal from the ECM (via the CAN bus)

The ASM controls air suspension operation via outputs to the following components:

Air Spring Solenoid Valves in the Valve Block
Reservoir Solenoid Valve in the Valve Block
Damper ECATS adaptive damping actuators/solenoid valves (one at the top of each air spring/damper)
Air Compressor Motor
Air Compressor Exhaust/Vent Valve
Headlamp leveling circuits

Cheers,

Don