my allroad has 74k miles. i posted earlier about the front driver bag leaking. i am getting that replaced at a local indy suggested by JustMtnB44.

i am wondering if i should replace all the 4 bags with arnott to get a smoother ride - the ride is not really bad but not smooth either - researching the forum, i get the impression that the bumpy ride could be because of the shocks.

i know i definitely need to replace the leaking bag.

please advice if i replacing all 4 bags will make the ride smoother - i am guessing replacing all the bags and all the shocks will be expensive for a car i intended to keep for no more than a year or two.

thank you

 

I would recommmend just doing the 2 fronts....as for shocks, the mileage is low but age-wise it could very well be time to replace as well. The rear bags and shocks are longer lasting it seems...I'd wait on those items.

Don't forget, air ride is noticeably different than a spring set-up. IMO it is a more bumpy ride than a conventional suspension to begin with.

 

I bought the car new, noticed the ride had become rough on local roads when the car crossed 50k miles, the local streets in Pittsburgh are bad for the most part - hence the question about the shocks in addition to the bags, if they will not make a difference, no point in the extra expense. Thank you for the advice

I spoke to a local mechanic this morning who suggested the arnott conversion kit saying it would take care of the leaking bags and my concern about the bumpy ride - I would lose the adjustable suspension in the process I always set it in auto. Coming to think of it, I bought the allroad because of the biturbo when I traded in my 2000 s4 in 2004 due to constant complaints from the kids in the back seat. It has been fun so far but has become a headache of late considering converting it and keeping it as a spare car for Costco runs. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

Replacing the air springs will not change the ride quality. Only replace them if leaking. Given the low mileage on your car, I doubt that the shocks are worn out. If anything, worn out shocks will give the car a softer but bouncier ride.

My car has 85k miles; almost 50k of them have been from me in Pittsburgh and on road trips. I replaced my front shocks with new OEM shocks while replacing leaking front air springs and worn front control arms about 6 months ago. To be honest, the ride quality did not change at all, and in a way it was money wasted. At least I sold my old shocks to recoup a bit of the cost.

The roads in Pittsburgh are just horrible. The broken pavement and sharp edge bumps just do not work well with the allroad suspension. I drove down to Greene county yesterday and the roads can be uneven, but the lack of sharp edge bumps makes the car feel so much better. Also, some of the ride harshness that I notice is not so much feel in the seat, but body creaks and interior rattles that make minor bumps sound worse than they are.

Given your car has relatively low mileage and you may or may not keep it long term, I would just replace the one leaking spring with an Arnott Gen I and call it done. $250 vs $1200 is an easy decision for me, but I also prefer to keep the ride height adjustment as that is a feature that makes the allroad unique. Maybe others will chime in as to whether the Arnott coil conversion gives the car a smoother ride.

 

thank you for explaining in detail. i was seriously considering the conversion kit in hopes of a smoother ride.

the prices you quote are for the parts right? how much should I expect to pay an indy for changing the bad air bag?

thanks again.

 

About 1.5 hours of labour.

 

@KKRAR: did you end up changing the front shocks with your bag replacement? The reason I ask is because I am in the same situation now. I just got my Arnott replacement bag which will be going in this weekend but I am pondering the idea of replacing my front shocks even though they are performing well. I am at 100k and the AR ride is quite smooth still after all those miles. My question is if you did get new shocks, did it make a big noticeable difference in ride quality for you? Obviously there should be a difference with new shocks but given that my ride is quite good for whatever reason my fear is that if I do this and I end up with slight difference then it might not justify changing. Please let me know your take on before/after impressions if you did the change, thank you.

 

jujuC6, i sold my allroad and picked up a 2008 S6, sorry I cant be of much help here. had i kept it, my plan to was to replace just the bags with the Arnotts - indy quoted me $1400 for the front two.

 

Nice pick up, love that car. I ended up just doing the bag and AR is back its good old self. My mechanic tested my shocks and told me that they were in great shape considering their age. He said, in my case new shocks would only yield slightly better performance over the ones I have now so I skipped them for now. Once all said and done the damage was minor $276 Arnott bag, $125 install.

 

How do you like the S6 so far compared to the allroad? How is its ride quality on our wonderful Pittsburgh streets?