I drive a 2005 Jaguar XJ Super V8 Vanden Plas. My car bows to me every morning and when I leave work.

I know to transition to a conversion is the logical choice. My concern is doing it right with the right company.

I have narrowed it down to 5 options.

1.) Arnott
Cost is $1,436.85 + s/h.
Can't tell me if it's a Bilstein shock or not.

2. Motorcars LTD
Cost is $1995 + s/h.
Claim to be the first ones to produce it. They do use Bilstein shock.
They claim other companies mass produce and that the quality of other companies is horrible.

3. Strutmasters
Cost is $1426 + s/h
They use a Eibach Coil and a Bilstein strut.
Claim that thiers is the most accurate and that the Eibach company makes the coil is the same that makes the coils for Formula racing.

4.American Air Suspension
Cost is $1395 + s/h
Nice guy named Eddie.

5.Suncore
Cost is $995 (includes s/h)

My whole thing I don't know which one to buy. I don't want to deal with ongoing issues and I want to save the comfort of the ride without feeling like I'm in a pickup truck.

I appreciate all suggestions or experiences! Thanks Jaguar Team!

chazzWARD

 

Welcome to the forum chazzWARD,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to X350 forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

Rockauto has Arnott conversion for $1231.00

 

I chose to do it properly and retain eCATS using Bilstein B4's. No other solution preserves eCATS except OE. Front or rear pairs will run $1700. (no tax & free S&H)

 

GGG,

Thank you for your assistance and I certainly will!

chazzWARD

 

Why would you choose Arnott conversion. Just curious!

 

I don't know what eCATS means or why it's so important. Sorry ablout not knowing the terminology! I do appreciate your knowledge.

 

I think many would argue that the logical choice is to fix the car as it was originally engineered and intended.

When dealers were charging two arms and one leg for air shocks, the conversion was appealing. Now that replacements aren't so dear, and there are inexpensive remanufactured options, it isn't quite as appealing.

You likely only have one leaking front air spring, which you could replace with a remanufactured OEM unit. Also forum member BagpipingAndy sells a very inexpensive air compressor rebuild kit that deals with the other major service issue with the air suspension.

Good luck with your decision.

 

Hi chazz,

I'm a new owner too. I am just learning about how to maintain Jags as well, and am in fact having an Arnott shock replaced this week (warranty!!!!) that failed after only 120 days on the car.

ECATS: Jaguar Enhanced Computer Active Technology Suspension system

From the Jaguar Service Training Course NP04, 2004 Model Year New XJ Technical Introduction:

[I]"The low weight of the X350 means its payload is a higher percentage of the total vehicle weight. To cope with a large payload a coil sprung vehicle would need either a high wheel rate or an increase in unladen height. The compromises in ride height need by conventional steel sprung suspension systems do not exist with the X350's air suspension system."

Suggest you take a look through that document to see all the cool things the suspension does - when it is working correctly! The document does a good job of explaining how the system is supposed to function. I knew it was complicated, but it is even moreso than I had imagined.

I'm kind of with Mac Allan on this - if the designers of a $75,000 car thought there was a good reason to build it this way - I'll give it a try. Especially now that the price of aftermarket Arnott parts is out of the ridiculous stage and are just silly expensive.

Good luck!

 

I've not decided yet. Just gathering info like you.

 

I experienced the same problem with my 2005 Jaguar XJ8L after I purchased the vehicle over two years ago. After taking the car to the dealer, and being charged $1100 for a new air compressor that didn't take care of the issue, I hired a Goodyear service center to convert the car over to Arnott coil/springs. In many respects, the ride is superior to the air shocks. Incidentally, Jaguar had since stopped installing air shocks in the front, and instead opted for coil/springs.

 

I did the Arnott conversion last year. Best thing I ever did. The peace of mind is priceless. I never liked the factory air suspension; its purpose was to give a smooth ride, but my old '87 XJ6 was much smoother and had regular springs. So either the system never worked properly on my car or it was just garbage in general to begin with. Either way, once it started failing on me on cold mornings, I replaced both springs up front and rebuilt the air compressor. Still had intermittent problems. So I said screw it, and did the conversion.

This past winter was colder than normal in Los Angeles, and I saw many other XJs basically turned into lowriders by their malfunctioning suspension systems. There are just too many components in the system that can fail at an advanced mileage. 4 shocks, compressor, tank, valve block, lines, control module, and height sensors all add up. All it takes is one tiny malfunction anywhere in that chain to ruin your day. There are so many other problems that can rear their ugly heads...why not get rid of one permanently?

The coilovers are a tiny bit bouncier at slow speeds, but the car handles so much better overall. And I can go over speedbumps and through dips in the road like a normal person, without bottoming out!

If you are planning on keeping this car for a long time, do the conversion. I'll wager many of these cars end up in the junkyard because people don't want to or can't afford to repair the suspension system.

 

My front right air shock went bad and I had to have it replaced. If another one goes bad, i'm selling the car and going back to Infiniti.

 

I chose to go the Bilstein route for 2 reasons

1. All others don't retain the cats
2. All others are confort not sport

Be aware though that Bilstein's in sport are hard to find.

Cheers
34by151

 

eCATS is part of the traction control system. The shock is electrically connected and using pulse width modulation, the vehicle can change the damping on compression and rebound, using input from various sensors like height, yaw and speed to dynamically control under and over steer, nose dive, and handling. The NOS OE and the Bilstein B4's are the only new modules that provide this. Arnott and spring over shocks, even if they use Bilstein shocks do not retain this feature. There are some folks out there rebuilding modules, but they use the old shock and just replace the air bladder, and any shock that has been used until the air bladder failure would not perform anything like new.

 

Where do you go to buy the conversion kit with the Bilstein B4?

 

Bilstein B4's are not conversion kits. They are exact direct replacement of new. I purchased mine here...

(this is from a previous thread that I got the info from to purchase mine)

Originally Posted by Jimmy3Sticks
Box,
On a side note, Car Steering Wholesale is selling new OEM Bilstein Air Springs for $800 if you're interested. For $44 more, they will have it in your hands the next day. The local Jaguar dealer wanted $1340 plus tax for the exact same unit. Not sure if they are the same units on your '04, but they carry a vast variety of Bilstein shocks and air springs. Really nice people, great service.

Car Steering Wholesale
1 (800) 399-7845 ext 632
Ask for Will

 

Here are a few dealer and manufacturing sites:


http://www.americanairsuspension.com/Jaguar-XJ8-Air-Suspension-Conversion-Kit-p/0410xj8cv.htm (StrutMaster conversion Kits.)
This site has excellent instructions…



http://www.strutmasters.com/products/2004-2010-jaguar-xj8-4-wheel-air-suspension-conversion-kit-ja14f-2/
StrutMaster site.


http://www.motorcarsltd.com/asc.kit.xj8.html (Black Dog Conversion Kit.)

http://www.motorcarsltd.com/jaguar-land-rover-product-videos.html
This site has great videos on replacing the struts.
The video suggest disconnecting the front calipers and some other components, I didn’t see any need to do that.. I did remove the sway bar end link as it got in the way when installing the new struts.

http://www.blackdogmanufacturing.com/XJ8-Air-Suspension-Conversion.html
Black Dog site


https://www.arnottindustries.com/part_JAGUAR_Air_Suspension_Parts_yid20_pid136_gid6 94.html
Arnott site

 

Just got back from a road test with the new Arnott's conversion, I find the ride a little harder then the air springs. I read somewhere that the conversions take awhile to break-in, then the ride is as good as the air springs. It is much-much quieter but I still hear a few thuds once in awhile.

 

I know this is an old thread but I am also looking into this for a 05 XJR. Years back I bought the conversion for my Mark VIII from strut masters. It took the smooth ride away and made it ride like a vette. On the Mark VIII this wasn't a bad thing but for an XJ this would not be acceptable to me...IMO.