Best Coil Suspension Conversion Kit?

[Gregory891]

Sweep_the_Leg Sweep, you don't tell us the year, mileage and past (suspension or other) repairs to your X5.

Even with a conventional suspension, after time & miles or km, your shocks and other suspension parts will need replacement. The X5 had some known bushing & other parts that need attention every 5 to 10 years based on your roads, driving style, wheels (wide 18, 19 or larger diameter wheels will accelerate this).

I have a 2002 3.0 diesel (I live in Europe) with conventional front and air rear. Rear bags showed signs of cracking, so I replaced them proactively with Arnott products. Two hours start to finish, easier than with springs as you don't have to use a spring compressor. Bilsteins (B6 the yellow ones) as well.

I would suggest that repairing your front air struts is not any different as replacing shocks on a spring / shock suspension and WITHOUT the hassle of compressing springs.

Buy Arnott front air struts, easy to replace (they have lots of videos to show you). Look at your rear air springs and if you see visible cracking, consider proactive replacement - it's really quite easy.

[Sweep_the_Leg]

Mine is a 2005 with just under 79,000 miles. I don't know about any previous suspension work, as I've only had it for about six months and wasn't privy to prior service records when I bought it.

I ended up swapping out the factory front struts with Arnotts today. From the online research and calls I made, there is apparently not a single coil suspension kit that works on a 4.8is. Even KW told me that their coilover kit is not compatible.

The car obviously feels much better with the new Arnotts. I had slow leaks on both sides, which generally meant that car was having to pump itself up every time it sat for 8 hours or so. Steering is much more responsive and the ride feels both more stable and softer at the same time. Not surprising, I suppose, considering I was basically driving it around with both fronts at various stages of low to full inflation.

While I would rather have just put coils in and forgotten about the whole air system, the Arnotts weren't too bad. Once I get my core deposits back, and with the decent labor rates at my indy, the total damage will be a tad over $1300. I would have tried tackling the install myself in the driveway, but I've got too many other things going on right now.

[KyleNatolix5]

I'm not saying they are the greatest as I was only able to dig up with one review. The BC Racing Coils for the X, and the review was from one of the forum members X5girl. They will run ya just around a G note.

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by KyleNatolix5

I'm not saying they are the greatest as I was only able to dig up with one review. The BC Racing Coils for the X, and the review was from one of the forum members X5girl. They will run ya just around a G note.

You can read post #6 in this thread to see the why I think KW is pretty much the top of the heap (nothing worse then trying to save some $s on a labor intensive mod only to find dissatisfaction in the end result). I'm currently looking into a TOTAL Powerflex/heavy duty suspension bushing set to install with the KWs. With the ultra-stiff bushings there will be no excuses at alignment time to see a printout and hear "that's close enough" from the tech. I'm going for minimum camber/tow so the X is not a tire eater.

Having owned several coilover vehicles and setting corner balance/cross weights on my scales, I like the fact that the KWs have a low friction thread coating process that allows for adjusting without unloading the coilover (it sucks having to jack up, adjust, drop, re-settle the vehicle during the process).

[///Bruce]

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

You can read post #6 in this thread to see the why I think KW is pretty much the top of the heap (nothing worse then trying to save some $s on a labor intensive mod only to find dissatisfaction in the end result). I'm currently looking into a TOTAL Powerflex/heavy duty suspension bushing set to install with the KWs. With the ultra-stiff bushings there will be no excuses at alignment time to see a printout and hear "that's close enough" from the tech. I'm going for minimum camber/tow so the X is not a tire eater.

Having owned several coilover vehicles and setting corner balance/cross weights on my scales, I like the fact that the KWs have a low friction thread coating process that allows for adjusting without unloading the coilover (it sucks having to jack up, adjust, drop, re-settle the vehicle during the process).

Just noticed something: you own a 4.4i. Yours does not count. It is not a self-leveling setup. Quiet!

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by ///Bruce

Just noticed something: you own a 4.4i. Yours does not count. It is not a self-leveling setup. Quiet!

???

I made that point clear in the 9th post of this thread..."I have rear air on a sport pkg '03, at first sign of airride failure the KW Var 3s will be installed, will re-code to remove airride function."

The rear air has yet to fail (over 200k miles).

Don't understand the "Quiet" comment, having researched/installed/set-up/corner balanced/tracked/street driven (over 150k miles) several coilover vehicles personally (sig pic show two of them, ZR-1 & Hennessy Viper, at Sebring track day).

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

???

I made that point clear in the 9th post of this thread..."I have rear air on a sport pkg '03, at first sign of airride failure the KW Var 3s will be installed, will re-code to remove airride function."

The rear air has yet to fail (over 200k miles).

Don't understand the "Quiet" comment, having researched/installed/set-up/corner balanced/tracked/street driven (over 150k miles) several coilover vehicles personally (sig pic show two of them, ZR-1 & Hennessy Viper, at Sebring track day).

Yes the rear air X5's can last quite some time. I have see 3 examples so far in excess of 220,000 miles on original rear air system.

[KyleNatolix5]

I'd love some KW's but for 3 grand it costs a pretty penny. I'm also looking into eibach sway bar kit, but the front is rare to come by.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by KyleNatolix5

I'd love some KW's but for 3 grand it costs a pretty penny. I'm also looking into eibach sway bar kit, but the front is rare to come by.

Eibach front sway bar can be purchased through European vendors. You may have to pay a little more for it since its coming from so far and rear in the US.

[TiAgX5]

I've seen them as low as $2300. Currently $2600 on e-bay.

KW Suspension Variant 3 Three coilover Kit 01 06 BMW x5 E53 35220053 | eBay