F86 Rear Struts Arnottt vs BMW OEM

[SeanF86]

Hi everyone,

Just had my car serviced the other day at BMW 70k. They found my rear struts leaking and quoted $5300 to replace the pair. The job is super simple so I plan to do it myself. From looking online I can get OEM ones for about $700 each. I see a lot of people talking about the Arnott air springs but nobody talking about the Arnott strut replacements. Arnott struts go for $300 each at Rock Auto.

Anyone know if the Arnott struts are any good or if I'm better off going with the BMW OEM ones?
Arnott sk3816/3817

[pachieh]

For that dealer price you can buy KW v3!

[MyF15+F85]

I have replaced mine with arnott, once only and never touched it again.
( bought 4 originally just in case ) never used the other 2 ( yet )
Mine failed at about 100 kms ( 60 k miles ) and now I'm at 310,000 kms
on my diesel. My F85 never toughed it ( but it only has 63k kms.)
For me arnott is the way to go

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by MyF15+F85

I have replaced mine with arnott, once only and never touched it again.
( bought 4 originally just in case ) never used the other 2 ( yet )
Mine failed at about 100 kms ( 60 k miles ) and now I'm at 310,000 kms
on my diesel. My F85 never toughed it ( but it only has 63k kms.)
For me arnott is the way to go

are you referring to the bags or the shocks? OP is asking about the struts/shocks.

[Yuille36]

I've only ever replaced the rear air bags with Arnott. The front struts and rear shocks are EDC (Electronic Damping Control), so you must either replaced them with OE or find aftermarket that offer this feature. Or you can eliminate this feature all together and go with coil-overs.

[MyF15+F85]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

are you referring to the bags or the shocks? OP is asking about the struts/shocks.

The only thing that arnott makes is the air springs, so that is what I was referring to .

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by MyF15+F85

The only thing that arnott makes is the air springs, so that is what I was referring to .

did you look up the PNs in the OP? arnott apparently makes rear EDC shocks

[ENDEE666]

They make fronts and rears, EDC and everything. I found this thread also seeking the same info. Arnott has a great reputation, I've used them on other cars in the past. And there's endless positive feedback about their air springs on F85, F15, E70 and E53. But not much about their shocks and struts. Rockauto and the Arnott website, and a few other sites, show front and rear shocks and struts. It seems to be a very new offering, would love to find some feedback. Otherwise I might just try them anyway.

It's one thing to get the cheap Amazon or Ebay Chinese shocks for like $300 a pair, I highly doubt those are worth a damn. But Arnott is very reputable.

[suitedcboy]

Contact Arnott to be sure about EDC and not a gas damper and an EDC fooling resistor. I checked with them on the same for a 2016 F15 with ZHP and the response was gas damper and resistors.

[ENDEE666]

The shocks and struts both have the valves or solenoids on the housings.

[ENDEE666]

I emailed Arnott. Their shocks do not actually adjust after all. Good catch suitedcboy