Which route for front airbag/shock replacement?
 

Hi All,

I have a 2004 4.8 X5 with 2 axle self levelling air suspension. Done about 125,000 miles. This morning the front of the car had sagged, with the arches resting pretty much on the wheels. When I unlocked the car the front rose, but I could hear air hissing from the front right wheel arch.

I started the car and both sides filled. Front right no longer hissed, but I can see splits where the airbag folds under - with some of the internal strengthening cord poking though. And the front left has not filled fully.

In terms of replacement I haven‘t even considered bmw as I expect to pay north of £1,000 per strut if I did(!). Are Arnott the go-to brand? Would anyone advise simply replacing the airbag - or the entire front strut assembly?

I’d like to keep the handling as good as I can rather than “cheap out” - albeit I’m not prepared to drop thousands of pounds on bmw parts vs a good quality aftermarket solution. I can do all the work myself and have INPA/DIS etc - but really grateful for some advice on which brand and which approach to take (just the airbag or the whole strut). I’ll do both sides at the same time.

Many thanks!

Arnott Suspension Air Struts is the way to go. Now are there cheaper routes? Yes and they have a history of failures.

https://www.arnottindustries.com/

Many thanks. Just had another look and started the car and tried to raise it to the highest setting. Car lifted and air gushed out of the passenger front bag - bloody great bit hole/tear in it.

Arnott seem to supply just the airbag unit which can be swapped over on to the existing strut. Might just go for those as they are about £150 cheaper a side than the entire strut assembly, and no idea how comparable the struts would be to oem.

I'd seriously consider also doing the struts. You're in it for the labor (either DIY, or mechanic), and the stock struts are going to be pretty badly worn.

Arnott has reman units as well

This was half on my mind. Does anyone have any experience of the ride on the new arnott complete strut units? Will it be worse or the same as oem? They used to do remanufactured units but these aren’t available to me in the UK (and are marked as unavailable on their web site). Don’t want to make it worse than it is!

I'm curious about this as well. My airbags work however the ride seems a bit crashy over larger bumps, almost as if the dampers are worn out (do they have dampers?).

My car has 185,000km

Yep they do. The airbag bolts on to the top of the damper. I’ll attach a link to the instructions which show it a bit more clearly….

Awesome, thanks for that. I suppose you can buy the shock seperate from the bag but then you may have to replace the airbag anyway later on down the track.

Do people generally replace both at the same time or just whatever is needed?

Cheers

No probs - but I’m not sure how interchangeable a standalone shock is. I think they are slightly different for the airbags to sit on?? Bmw only supply the entire strut assembly, obviously…

Bitten the bullet: £700 delivered for the two front arnott air struts. Should make install very quick and my oe shocks must be a bit tired by now. Will report back!

The whole bag and strut combo?

Yep - front left and front right Arnott air struts.

BMW price is over £1,400 for the pair. This really is prohibitively expensive in light of the available aftermarket options.

Yep that's pretty redicious. Are you getting refurbed struts or brand new? It would be interesting to compare the two.