rough riding
 

Hey folks! I own a 2003 x5 which I bought last year And I've just about had it with the rough suspension,its very bumpy. A friend suggested I replace the rear bags with springs but he said it would also lower the height of the vehicle. are these comfortable,I mean, more than the factory bags? Is there any way I can have the dealer adjust the bag pressure making them more confortable? I have on the vehicle 19 inch chrome bmw rims and low profile tires, the manufacturer asks for two different sizes of tires on the vehicle's front and rear. please ,anything helps.

Tires absorb some of the impact, so having low profiles automatically reduces ride comfort, not a lot, but it is noticable. You could change out to springs, but doing that is only done looking into the future i.e not having to deal with a sagging ass every few years because of air leaking out of the bags. Will springs make it more comfortable? Hard to say, some people say yes and some say no. If you have a set of factory wheels, (255/55/18) slap them on and check for ride comfort. As for a way to adjust air pressure, the computer handles that mess, adjusting pressure for ultimate precision. Air too low - pump inflates bag. Also, I am not a expert. Wait for JCL, Weasel, kill crap to answer. They should have a more definitive answer.

The truck rides excellent with proper tires. You made the issue, not the suspension. The truck was built and tuned to work together properly. If you are going to change the dynamics, you must change all of them instead of blaming the truck. Airbags are not the issue here, as they ride spectacular. The natural camber of the truck makes you ride on the very inside of the wheel and tire so you are literally riding on the stiff inner sidewall of the tire and not much anything else. You can find a way to remove all the camber from the suspension and it will not handle for anything, or put a tire on with proper sidewall.

How many miles on the struts? Possibly struts are gone so your getting no dampening making the ride really bouncy? This is my case right now.. just thought I'd ask.

Lets talk about this.
As I agree that a thinner side wall on a tire will transfer jolts to the driver better then a tire with a tall side wall. I think we can all agree on that. Then to add that the very common excessive camber caused by the rear upper control arm's bushing wareing out can causing the wheels to ride on the stiffest part of the tire, amplifys this bumpy condition. (we are still on the same page)

But you had mentioned that if all of the Camber was taken away completely, it wouldnt handle for chit. This confuses me. From what I know, (and I will add my 4 wheel chassis set up has only been for dirt surface race cars/4 wheelers) I disagree.

I am not picking a fight here, I just wanna pick your mind and learn a little. I'm not saying I'm right your wrong, just my experiance didnt show that a wheel sitting square on the ground will cause undesirable handeling trates.

Your thoughts......

(sorry my spelling sux)

might just need rear shocks. they can be worn out

When the X5 is cornering, as with any vehicle, body roll causes the tires to lean over along with the car.

Negative camber basically compensates for this by allowing the outside tires to be perpendicular with the road surface during high-g cornering.

The inside tires droop to become closer to perpendicular with the ground as well.

Setting the camber to zero when static (going straight) won't necessarily impact handling unless you are driving past 60-70% of the car's limits.

To the original poster, you bought a sporty suv, deal with it or get a Range Rover :)

Smaller wheels - 17's or 18's - would make a difference
Also, what tires do you have on - 19's Diamaris have a harder ride than some A/S.

If the tires are old they will ride harshly as well.