Rear Air Spring Replacement - with photos

[X5Kiwi]

Originally Posted by rogerkiu

The Arnott spring costs $100 each, plus shipping cost, the total cost will not be cheaper than the OEM. In Hong Kong, each side brand new spring costs $160 (not from BMW official dealer but some automobile retailer), one pair costs $320. If I order Arnott spring, one pair costs $200 plus around $50 shipping cost, total cost is $250, only $70 difference between oem and Arnott. In this case, I will rather lean to oem, unless the product quality of Arnott is much better than oem. Anyone can shed some light on this decision please?

BMW New Zealand quoted me $300 EACH for the air springs, with a 10-14 day delivery time.

[rogerkiu]

Originally Posted by X5Kiwi

BMW New Zealand quoted me $300 EACH for the air springs, with a 10-14 day delivery time.

That is what the dealer quotes to me here in Hong Kong. You may try some independent car parts dealer who also carries out BMW parts business. They will be definitely cheap, half price for the exact same OEM parts. Here in Hong Kong, there are lots of independent car parts dealer who sells OEM BMW parts at very cheap price. For example, for front air spring struts, US$540 each side; rear air sping, US$160 each side. Some OEM product for suspension like Lemfoeder control arms are also sold at a very low price, much cheaper than some online shop on the internet. Of course, those parts from indepedent dealers have no warranty.

[Mdickey]

Thanks for the write up OP. I just replaced my rear right air spring last night after it started to sag a few weeks ago. I have a 2001 4.4 Sport model so I ordered Arnott part A-2503 which replaces BMW part # 37126750356. Total for the part was $113.51. I ordered on 7/20 and received the part on 7/23. I did the install by myself last night in about 60 minutes.

I had my left rear spring fail about 2 years ago and at the time was too busy to DIY so I ended up having a local independent shop replace the spring. Total then was $510 and included 3 hours of labor at $99/hr. After doing the second spring myself last night I feel like I was ripped off on the labor. No way this takes a mechanic close to three hours when I did it myself (for the first time) in about 60 minutes. I am glad I saved $400 this time around though.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by rogerkiu

The Arnott spring costs $100 each, plus shipping cost, the total cost will not be cheaper than the OEM. In Hong Kong, each side brand new spring costs $160 (not from BMW official dealer but some automobile retailer), one pair costs $320. If I order Arnott spring, one pair costs $200 plus around $50 shipping cost, total cost is $250, only $70 difference between oem and Arnott. In this case, I will rather lean to oem, unless the product quality of Arnott is much better than oem. Anyone can shed some light on this decision please?

With all those knock off products floating around in China and Hong Kong I would be a little wary of buying parts from a Non BMW official dealer.

At least the Arnott is assemble in the Good Old US of A.

[X5Boise]

Nice work in your descriptions and pictures. Will bookmark this for future reference.

[AZX54.4]

Which fuses do you remove for doing this job?

[rogerkiu]

Originally Posted by AZX54.4

Which fuses do you remove for doing this job?

Just open right side pannel in your trunk, the subwoofer side, then you will find the fuse box inside, the 30a fuse that is the most front one. You can find the description on the back of the pannel saying which fuse for which function.

[FITZUNI]

Good Job....

[ala2000]

My vehicle is 2001 BMW X5 4.4i Sports. Do I need comfort air spring or sport air spring? I see yours is also sportpac but you ordered comfort version of the air spring. Let me know Thanks.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by ala2000

My vehicle is 2001 BMW X5 4.4i Sports. Do I need comfort air spring or sport air spring? I see yours is also sportpac but you ordered comfort version of the air spring. Let me know Thanks.

Their website says about the sport springs:

Besides Sport Suspension the BMW X5 Sport Package consisted of black exterior trim and, for the 4.4i, 19-inch tires. Vehicles equipped with the the Sport Suspension from the factory have firmer, shorter springs that result in a lowered vehicle stance, along with shock absorbers that have been valved to yield firmer dampening.

Based on that I would think you want the Sport.