Should the tailgate go down slowly?
 

I just noticed the hydraulic struts on the lower tailgate on our X5. Is the tailgate supposed to go down slowly on our X's?

A friend has an 07 Tundra, and I noticed that his tailgate goes down slowly because of a 1 way strut connected to it. I now wonder if my X5 should have the same thing, and my struts happen to be worn out.

both tailgates on mine are going up and down relatively slow - the bottom one does not drop down like a lead foot on a gas pedal, but rather goes down in a "dampened" fashion, the top one needs to be raised to about eye level, and then it is going up on its own.

the only time it did not go up on its own, but rather started sagging, was in Moscow, after the local authorities had the car for "inspection" - given the fact that we had a 25 mile/41 km traveling limit from the center of the city, it was obvious that the car gained some additional, factory unsactioned electronics... lol...

That's exactly what I was thinking! I may see about ordering new struts for that lower tailgate to bring back the dampening.

RealOEM shows part # 51248402195, at BMW of Fairfax you can get it around $51 each, plus $9 shipping. I tried to save on shipping once and went to pick my order up, but then i thought, I'd rather ship, save on the traffic aggravation... lol...

I am not sure about aftermarket options...