Bought my 2005 XJ8L in 2010 with a bit under 41k on the clock. There were no maintenance records but I assume the springs on the car at that time were the originals. At about 51k I had to replace the front air springs. My independent mechanic did it with Arnotts. Then around 71k the front end went down and I had to replace the springs again. This time I was 300 miles from home and the work was done by a Jaguar dealer.. The good news is their service department was open on Sunday so I wasn't stranded. Other good news is that they had Arnotts in stock. The bad news is that they charged me more than double what Arnott sells them for. Arnott gave my mechanic credit (equal to their standard price, not what the Jag dealer charged me!).

Now with only 76k the left front spring sprang a major leak - compressor could only raise the car partway before timing out, and I could hear a loud hissing as the air leaked out of the spring. So now my mechanic has installed Arnott coilovers at all four corners. Arnott did credit us for one spring only.

Preliminary assessment is that they're great! Ride feels to me just like the air springs, and the car still seems very sure-footed in the turns.

I feel very good about having the reliability of good old fashioned steel springs. This failure was a close call, by the way: I had washed the car and loaded the trunk with stuff for a planned trip and put it in the garage. I found the car sitting all the way down the next morning - I shudder to think of the inconvenience had the leak developed while we were on the trip.

Ray