How many miles should I expect to get out of the EOM shocks? Would the whine from the right seat increase if I got Bilstein sport shocks? Are shocks harder to replace on a Jag or the same as other cars?

 

I replaced the rt ft at 50k miles. The others are still going strong at 65k old guy miles.

 

The XJ8 does not have Shocks it has Air Bags.

 

The air bags just replace the springs. The car still has shocks (Bilsteins) but they are unfortunately in the same unit as the air bag.

 

The essential thing to note is that the shocks are not separately replaceable, they are built into the air spring units, hence replacement is much more costly than just buying a set of shocks from the motor parts shop. I suspect that when these cars get to about 10 years old, or attain high miles, people will dump the air springs and convert to steel, as the cost of the air units is very high. Lots of Land Rover owners do this, and there is now a kit for the Jaguar. Don't some Mercedes also have air springs ? I'd like to know what these owners do, as Mercedes parts are definitely NOT cheap.

 

Thanks, Fraser, do you know who sells the steel spring kit? But my question of how long the OEM spring/shock should last remains unanswered. we've got 120,000 on our '98 and it still seems to handle well. I was just wondering.

 

I suspect it has a lot to do with the type of use. I am fairly gentle with my car, as is the editor of the Jaguar Enthusiasts CLub magazine who has taken his X350 to over 130k miles without shock replacement. Then there is the variability of the original parts to consider. Whilst these will be made to very high quality standards, some duff ones can get through and if not failing during warranty, then have to be replaced by the next (poor) owner. Over 100k should be a minimum in my opinion, but people have seen failures at less than this, normally the air spring, (the rubber diaphragm), not the shock.

 

thats what I meant, they are not replaceable independent of the airbags.

 

For replacements air shocks $399.00 each wheel $394.00 for new air pump
JAGUAR Air Suspension Parts - XJ Series 2004-2010 XJ Series

For converision $2,600 for all four wheels
Jaguar XJ8 Air Suspension Fault Solution