Arnott air struts

[ekimv65]

Morning All,

I have purchased a set of replacement air bags for my 2006 X5 4.8IS driver and passenger side fronts only. I installed them and buttoned up the front end only to start the car and have them inflate and leak back down to the ground in less than 30 seconds. I installed them and checked the directions again, re-installed them, only to have the same result.

I contacted Arnott and they were at a loss as well. I finally had had enough of installing and replacing, I called AAA and had it flat bedded to the dealer who installed the second set of air bags shipped from Arnott only to have them leak back down as occurred in the installation I had done at home.

Both the dealer and I contacted Arnott, same result, perplexed. As a result they chipped a set of remanufactured complete struts to the dealer who installed them returning my vehicle on Saturday last weekend. This morning, I opened the garage door only to find the passenger side deflated again!!!

This is getting ridiculous, I just had the alignment shop do the alignment yesterday for $250.00. This is getting ridiculous!!!!



Anyone else have this kind of nightmare!!!?

[Icer006]

If you've tried the front bags multiple times, it could be a leak in the line, or the pressure accumulator, or the pump. The air suspension system is not that "simple" where replacing the front air bag solves everything.

[ekimv65]

Yeh, the dealer went through the whole system with a fine tooth comb to diagnose the system. The bag were leaking out of the top of the strut!

It doesnt get any easier to spot than that!

[britcon]

Wow...bad luck !. I installed Arnott on mine with no problems at all. They must have had a production meltdown.

[Icer006]

Yeah, I have Arnott struts and they are fine.

[Kev's X5]

sounds like my 06 4.8is.

It's CPO, so they have been paying the bill. New struts,soleniods,airlines,cpu,software,.... My CPO is almost over time to sell this pig. It still drops the front or the drivers side (f&r).

[Ken@exoticstuning]

I just installed the arnott air struts both front and rear. And while the install goes smooth,my front is doing the same thing as yours. Did arnott or your dealer checked the air bag itself and find out where is leaking ?

I'll check for leaks tomorrow and see if i can solve it or not.

[Ken@exoticstuning]

Update. Upon further inspecting the front air springs from arnott,seems like there's a leak on the upper part of the air bag where the strut mount meet the bag itself. Also seems like the CNC strut mount was mis-drilled for the air hole for the air supply hose and was not " Fixed " ....2 leaking points on mine. And yet car is on the shop's lift for over 3 days now

[Icer006]

I bought the entire rebuilt strut, not just the airbag itself. It has no problems.

[markesq]

How difficult is it to replace the front air strut?