Hello, I am new to this site and I am excited to be introduced to so many knowledgeable owners/enthusiasts. I have a 2004 XJ8 and the Air Suspension has failed. I want to replace it with an Air Suspension Conversion Kit. There are so many different ones with the price of $1099. to $3300. What is the real difference in these kits? I am totally baffled and frustrated. Also what is the deal with the headlights having to be readjusted after the conversion? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. I want this Jag to be as trouble free and fun as my 1996 Jaguar VDP was for 16 years(I love Jags). Thank you all, Jacklyn

 

Welcome to the forum Jacklyn,

I've copied this question from your Intro to X350 forum.

Members here with the same model will be able to advise on the air suspension options.

Graham

 

Any idea what has failed ? There will be fault codes that give clues to what has failed so get these read. The air compressor piston seal is notorious for wearing out and hence it takes too long to charge the reservoir. That fix is either a piston seal kit from our member bagpipingandy, or an exchange or new compressor at around Ł300. If an air spring is leaking you can buy rebuilt units from Arnott, or new ones from Bilstein. Arnott also make new ones but without the CATS facility.

Better find out the detail of the fault before whacking out hard-earned cash.

 

Hi Jacklyn,

Welcome to the forum.

Don't jump into doing a conversion, as Fraser stated, like any system there are various components which might fail, but it is highly unlikely that the "air suspension system failed".

Now that the cars have been around for a while, there are replacement parts and fixes to whatever may be wrong with your car, and the odds are that it will be cheaper to fix your car as it was engineered rather than do a conversion.

Is the conversion your idea, or was it recommended by a repair shop?

 

Part of the reason I chose to swap out the air suspension system for a coilover replacement is that I didn't want to keep dealing with all the aging parts and pieces of the air suspension system. But I came to that point only after it appeared that the struts needed replacing. Disconnecting the CATS in the conversion process interrupted the headlight self-leveling function, but you can manually adjust the headlight stance to the desired level.
Both Arnott and Strutmaster offer good coilover products along with instructions/videos about how to do the job yourself.

 

Hi Fraser,
My mechanic recommended the conversion because of the cars age & 95,000 miles, he feels like all the suspension parts will need work or replacement soon. Sorry but I don't know what all the codes were. Here are 3 codes that I have written down from one shop I took it to...
C1799, C2302, P1582.
I really just want a trouble free suspension that last like my 1996 VDP... still smooth the day I parked it!
Thank you for your input and suggestion.
Jacklyn

 

Hello Mac Allan,

Please see reply to Fraser,

Thank you for your input and recommendation.
Jacklyn

 

Hi Kbeachy,
I read some of your post and it appears as if you tried replacing parts for a while as they failed, then ultimately replaced with the Air Suspension Conversion Kit. I know it is expensive (painfully expensive for me) but it seems that in the long run it may not be. It is my main/only form of transportation and I want to do it right the first time.
Thank you for input and recommendations.
Jacklyn

 

Jacklyn, I have had my 2004 XJ8 for right at 2 years and I've thrown in the towel on it's air suspension (CATS). I had to replace my right front air shock within the first couple of months and did so with a rebuilt Arnott air shock (they no longer rebuild them) at a very good price for both parts and labor. I have no complaints with that shock and it came with a limited lifetime warranty so I couldn't gripe.

Even so my air suspension started to give me increasingly repeated messages of an 'air suspension fault' several months later although the car still rode well and maintained its height. Anyway recently it lowered during a cold snap and while it would pump up given enough time and it was obvious that there was leak in one of the rear shocks.

I decided that enough was enough since with it just hitting 80,000 miles the three air shocks that hadn't been replaced were due and at close to $500+/- each (Arnott's) plus labor I was looking at an easy $1800 -$2000 to bring the system up to snuff and I was still saddled with an air pump and various electronics that could go at any time that were just as expensive.

I've got better things to do with my money and I also have a 1999 XK8 to keep healthy so I'm switching as I write this to a full set of Strutmasters air shock replacements. They are a coil over set-up like Arnott's with the only difference being that they sell theirs on their website for $1195.00 whereas Arnott is asking for almost $1500.00.


I eventually found a site selling the Arnott kit for the same price as the Strutmasters but by then I had already made up my mind as the only thing the salesperson at Arnott would give me was a lousy $75.00 discount despite knowing that some of their retailers were selling them for $400 less at retail. So I went with Strutmasters.

They used Eibach springs all around with KYB shocks at the rear and Bilsteins on the front and the construction looks to be first rate and substantial. My local shop is installing them for me as well as doing the module disconnect and installing a new windshield washer pump for me so I expect my total cost to come in at about $1500-1600 parts & labor.

Give me a couple of days to drive it a few miles and I'll report as to my impressions on how it drives. As a sort of head-up I tend to drive somewhere in the 80-100 (not that often)mph on the interstates on the longer hauls and 70-80 on the shorter divided highway trips so I do push the car a tad.

 

Very helpful post, RDMinor. I went for the coilover without trying to invest in saving the air suspension first, which I'm glad I did. You can search for more posts about what the coilover ride is like, but bottom line for me is that while it's not quite as smooth it's worth knowing it won't go out at any time and especially in cold weather. I think either Arnott or Strutmaster are good options, depending on what price you can find at the time. I got mine from CarID. Has given me peace of mind. Any independent shop should be able to do the job for $200-300 in labor.

 

Well, maybe the coil conversion is the thing, but our own editor of the Jaguar Enthusiast Club magazine has an X350 V8 on 220k miles and it's still on the air suspension.

I think it is only fair that those forum members who convert to steel coils report their experience here when the cars have done 80k miles !! FWIW my car is on 90k miles. I fitted a set of new old-stock air springs in January last year as I wanted to convert from Sport to Comfort settings, the original air springs were OK. I admit I did have to have a compressor in 2010, but since then all has been OK.

 

Well I have now driven my wife's '04 XJ8 with the Strutmasters coil over suspension and my initial response is much like others who have gone down this road. (pun intended<G>)


The ride does seem to be a bit harsher over the sharp bumps but the steering response is slightly sharper. Of course the shocks don't have but maybe 20 miles on them so they may loosen up some down the road.

My total cost came out to $1223.00 for the shocks and $425.00 to have them installed. In that labor cost was also included the replacement of the windows washer pump and the disconnection of the Air Suspension Module behind the back seat so I think it was a reasonable amount for the work involved.

I agree that it would be nice to keep the air system in operation but each of us has to make that determination based on our usage, our ability to fund such repairs over how ever many years we may have the car(s), and other considerations.


In my case my XJ has just turned 80,000 miles, I've already absorbed the cost of one air shock with three more to go over the next year or two plus the additional concerns about the air compressor, the reservoir tank, the ASM, and all of the plumbing. This is my wife's daily driver and it's important to me that she have as few potential safety related problems as possible. We're both in our 60's and have other things to keep us busy aside from repairing cars and for the tinkerer in me I have my XK8 and my motorcycles. With Arnott's now running close to $550 each plus the labor and with pumps and modules running over $400 each plus labor and programming I took the path that I think a realist would.