Contemplating lowering the X5, feedback appreciated.

[faz]

Hi guys,
I owned an Infiniti QX4 for a while before the X5, and the ride was a bit too rough for my liking (back seat with my newborn daughter in it at the time was just too bouncy and rough.)

When buying the X5, I didn't want to have the sport suspension for that reason. So my X5 is a simple old 3.0 with no special suspension parts.

I am now thinking that since I do not do any off roading of any kind with this SAV, and the beautiful weather in California (no snow), I might benefit from getting the suspension firmed up a bit for better handling, while trying to keep the costs low. I have done some search and H&R sport seems to be a good bang for the buck at say about $300 for parts, and about $250 for installation (just got a reply from some local shop that is advertising on craigslist that seem to do aftermarket spring/suspension/sway bar installations.)

I have some questions that hope some people would be able to help with:

- spring installations are DIY for some people... so it can't be that difficult for a shop to do. Is there anything specific that I need to worry about with X5, that say needs to go to a more expensive shop than one that is offering a $250 quote (and say it has done some spring/suspension installs on other makes/models)?

- once lowered by H&R sport springs, do I need to do anything extra for the alignment? I am assuming an alignment is needed afterwards, but I am talking about additional alignment kits and such (it seems like some people need to, and some people didn't... from my searches here I can't say for sure.)

- how much 'rougher' the ride becomes with H&R sport springs on? I can kinda live with the OEM sport suspension, but don't really like it any more rough than that. (mainly for kid/passenger reasons.)

- Is the handling improvement worth the effort? especially considering I am running the OEM 17" tires with Michellin Latitude Tour HP tires (that I bought new about 10k miles ago and won't be changing any time soon).


- H&R vs. Eibach... which one is more recommended?


Any feedback on these will be appreciated.