Arnott C-2664 - Spring Conversion Kit Experiences
 

I have recently taken possession of my 2nd 2004 3.0d e53, the car has only run 134,000 Kilometers (84'000 Miles) and is in almost new condition. The option list has everything I wanted except one option: S0221 2-axle self-levelling suspension (SLS).

Although the SLS-system has worked perfectly up to now, I assume from the countless posts on this topic here on this board that it will only be a matter of time before it will cause problems. I want my car to be reliable!

While searching for a conversion kit I came across the Arnott C-2664 Spring Conversion kit.

I did although not find answers to the following questions:

What is the vehicle height after fitting this kit?
I do NOT want my car lowered because really like the "Offroad look" of the e53.
(I have lifted the normal ride height with INPA for now to achieve that with the SLS).

And how soft/hard will the suspension be after fitting this kit?
Does it correspond to the sports suspension (S0226) or is it designed to be more comfortable?

Experience values are highly appreciated!

The air suspension is far more reliable than it seems because the vast majority of people it's working and they aren't posting.

There is a kit to rebuild the compressor when it fails.

If you have a good scanner you can program the heights to fix if it's not level.

My air suspension made it to 205,000 miles on original air springs. Had to replace both the level sensing arms.

Wife's e 70 had to replace the air springs at about 70,000 miles.

170k on my rear air spring suspension and I’m on my 3rd round of arnot air springs. I didn’t really need the last set, but I had the car in pieces a couple years ago and figured I’d put a new set in when it was easy.

I like the rear air suspension. It’s been reliable, inexpensive to replace the air springs when needed, and the ride is adjustable with the right software. I’ve got a lift on my x5 so this is helpful.

I converted my wife’s 2015 grand Cherokee to springs with an arnot kit and was disappointed with the ride height, and poor customer service. However the air springs they make for the x5 have been great.

On the e70, the air springs are easier to change than the headlight bulbs! Easy access from below just take off the wheel cut a hole in the old one to help collapse it cut the air supply line plug the line in the new spring and twist the new one 1/4 turn bayonet style to lock it in. No tools (save the utility knife and lug bolt tools and Jack)

I must say I might be a little biased on the reliability of the air suspension on the e53, maybe it's not THAT BAD after all as I thought, thanks for your insights!

After getting this really mint example of a 21 year old 3.0d my most important job is to make it as reliable as possible, changed all the front end suspension parts with Meyle-HD,did all the usual preventive Maintenance on the M57 3.0d engine and a complete cooling system refresh, an oil change on the ZF 6HP is planned as well.

I can work on the car myself and order good priced quality parts from germany.

To get the car as reliable as possible the SLS is still on the to-do list... I dont mind doing the work and buying the parts.

But now I am torn between leaving the SLS as is and replace an Airbag or a sensor here and there when the time comes or just convert everything at once to springs to have peace of mind.

Can a sudden SLS failure leave you stranded or are there always warning signs before that will happen?

As the car has the "Sport Susension Settings" (S0226) I would be glad to hear which OEM parts (dampers/springs) I could use best to achieve the same height and hardness like a car without SLS but with the S0226, will Bilstein B4's do the job ?

Arnott C-2[emoji2394][emoji2394]4 - Spring Conversion Kit Experiences
 

Having helped probably 8 to 10 people deal with air suspension problems, including two separate incidents with wife, the vast majority of the time you’ll have a leaking hairspray that just lets the car stay overnight and it will pump right back up when you turn the car on or even open up the trunk.

in our case, I’ve never had an air spring on hand, so we usually have up to a week of sinking overnight while waiting for the part to come in.

A few cases, the problem was more involved like the air compressor or a valve, but maybe one out of 15 cases was fairly complicated.

all that being said, I ended up with Spring rear suspension on my current X5 and I’m 95% happy with it only 2-3 times when I’ve overloaded the springs

"heading helped probably 8 to 10 people deal with air suspension problems"


As English is not my native language, what did you meant with "heading" ?

Sorry, typo: "having helped"

Songs of woe...? :rofl:

*sinking* damned swipe auto correct!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I really haven’t been able to find a reason to do a spring conversion on my e53. Granted, I only have the rear air springs on mine, but they have been quite reliable and I like the ride with them. They also handle the mild off-road stuff I do when hunting fairly well. The failures have been just as Andrew described- leaking down overnight. The air springs are a very simple job too.

Air springs on all four corners may be a different story though. I know my wife’s 2015 grand Cherokee was a huge pita to troubleshoot when it develop leak, and at the end of the day I never found it. Hence the spring conversion for that car.

Alright, I've decided to leave the SLS in my car as I really like the ride and everything works as it should.


The PO has already changed the front airbags with Arnotts as well as the compressor.


The rear bags are still 21 year old originals, I just ordered new Arnott replacements for those and will replace them as a preventive maintenance measure and a compressor rebuilt kit as well.


Thank you for your answers and insights on this matter!

Nice and thanks for posting the follow up.

Please post your experience with the compressor rebuild. I’m sure that is in my future, given that I’ve got 23 years and 170k on the OE compressor

I'd have that on my summer Todo list. In my case is walnut blast intake