Arnott or OE
 

I know there are tons of threads on this already. Any reason why you chose Arnott over OE ?

I think I'm just going to buy a set of OE. Only about $150 more for a set of OE.....and I do recall a couple of threads where some have had to do their springs 2X as the one they received was faulty.

OE air springs are made in Mexico but you do get BMW warranty for 2 years. But Arnott supposedly has lifetime warranty.

I got OE Air Springs replacement before I was aware about Arnott.

I would go with the Arnott bags as they carry the lifetime warranty, they come equipped with continental contitech rubber for bags, also the metal topper and bottom for the rear bags are aluminum and not steel as the OEM,which will not rust or premature leak. Just installed a new set in my X5. Good quality. Good price from Rick auto

Thx All. I went ahead and ordered the Arnotts. My biggest concern was my cost of ~time~ versus just doing it 1X. There are too many threads on good experiences, as well as too many as well, to be concerned about QC, as I have seen more than a couple threads of users needing to redo it 2X as their 1st one was leaking..

Arnott Industries does stand by their product with the warranty for sure. I wouldnt pay more to have BMW bags and not have the warranty

I put in arnott for the rears (just 1 axle air on mine) and have had no trouble. It's a pretty easy job, too.

Arnott here, no issues installing. And no issues so far, but I only have them for about 8-9 months.

So for the non iS models with Airbags ONLY on the rear axel, is it safe to assume that the comfort airbags should be bought where the Sport are only for the iS model e53's?
RockAuto sells them for $150 CAD where as Arnott sells them for $133 USD. Canadians are much better off buying from Rockauto based on the exchange rate alone (plus RockAuto is awesome).

^Sport bags (rear air only) is for the SPORT package equipped non iS models as they have the sports suspension -

Comfort bags are for all the non-Sport Package equipped models, AND the 4.8iS models - you would think the Sport bags are for the 4.8iS but they are not because they are articulating. 4.6iS takes the Sport rear bags.

thanks Jay. I did some more searching on her and noticed that. I dont have the sport model, so comfort it will be, when ever I need them. I have 120k miles now so I assume some preventative maintenance will be in order.
like a fuel pump, air bags, some other easy items to fix.
sadly I know I need new Valve Cover Gaskets soon (ie within 6 months) unless I'm ok with a sweating/dirty engine block. WHICH I AM NOT.