scotskier

Just about to push the button on a new 3.0S. Was not going to order the air suspension but test drove one a couple of days ago with it and now need to decide over the weekend to make the change in the order.

On the one I drove it seemed to tighten up a bit in Dynamic compared to standard (and my current 09). However the demo did have 21inch wheels as well so need to factor out how much impact they had on the handling.
(IMHO the 21s gave too much tramlining and living in the mountains where the weather changes quickly will not be adding these anyway

I have seen a few threads where owners rave about the air so wondered if anyone had experience both with air and standards springs and/or with the H&R springs. Primary driver would be to improve/tighten up the handling rather than any other factor. However I do have concerns about the longer term reliability of the air. are there any components in the air set up that need to be replaced with mileage?

All views welcomed. need to nail down whether I specify it or not. Also swithering over the S-line interior. Like the 3 spoke wheel/paddles - don't like the black headliner (and it always seems a bit gloomy on the wife's X5 D sport) .

Hmm, used to be indecisive - now just not sure

bmwrt

Love my air suspension in both cars.

2PUTT

i decided to skip the air suspension since no company has perfected this in years. MB has had issues with them with the E-class which forced them to extend the suspension warranties to 10 years. Audi has had issues with the allroad, RS6, RS4, etc with their air suspensions. i would also skip the springs. they will make the ride more bouncy which would really not help the dampers in the long run. this was a known issue with the B6/B7 S4 with owners who installed springs and not coilovers. the vehicle was just too heavy which ended up shortening the life of the dampers which meant the owners ended up switching to coilovers.

i decided to get the other option as far as suspension is concerned. KW Variant3 coilovers. they come with lifetime warranty. the price would be comparable to the air suspension option. i ordered mine from KMD. the other place that prices them aggressively is ModBargins.com. the ride is less sloppy than stock. i requested the installer to adjust it to have a mild to moderate ride. i wanted it to have a compliant ride but improve the handling to get rid of the slop and be able to take the turns at a higher speed. i am very happy with it. it is definitely much better than stock. i also lowered it a little bit to help improve the stance.

Jusforfun

Air suspension is not only height adjustable ita also adjusts ride. Automatic at normal ride height is harder than comfort.
At high speed comfort lowers automatically but remains softer. Dynamic lowers and stiffens ride further than automatic.
How long do you intend to keep your Q7? Just curious as we have had only 1 fail report on air and that was water damage to the control module (easily fixed) no complaints about ride unlike the springs on Q7. Every few months someone comes along asking how to lower, stiffen or soften the ride on springs. To balance that, plenty people have chipped in to say they are perfectly happy with their springs.
Just get the air!

scotskier

Thanks JFF et al

I wll go with the air

IsR

Good call. I've had them on my Q7 and I'm riding on 21". I'm sure 20" probably rides better. But I have no complaints and really glad that I got them on the car.

mikemdd

This question comes up about once a week. The rumor about lack of reliability is just that....a rumor. No data to support it. Everything is a risk.....

My decision to get air was simple. If I don't order it, I will never have the option to get it later. If I think I "might" need/want it later, then I should get it. I don't have to use it if I don't want to. In practice, after the fact, I found I did "want" it for convienience, and I ended up "needing" it (from my standpoint) for towing. Best decision I made.