-99 Ls400 Air Suspension Or Not?

[froilan]

I live in Sweden and want to buy and import a used LS400 -99 only driven 50000 miles from Germany. This car has no air suspension but all LS cars sold new in Sweden has this as standard equipment. My question. What will I miss if without the air suspension. Will the greatest loss be comfort or will it be handling. The roads in Sweden are very rough and I want a comfy ride but not soft like the old american cars

[lx_and_ls]

I owned a '91 LS400 with air suspension in the Netherlands. During periods of moderate frost the suspension was very noisy. Maybe the bellows around the strut?

[1990LS400]

I remember that Steve (SW03ES) once said that his father previously had a 98 LS400 with air suspension and that he did not think the ride was very different than in an LS with steel springs.

It is possible that LS400's with steel springs sold in Germany may have a firmer suspension than LS400's sold in the U.S.

We currently have a 2000 LS400 which I often drive in the state of Missouri. Missouri was recently rated as having nearly the worst roads (49th of 50 states) in the U.S. Our 00 LS handles these rough roads very well and far better than our previous 1990 LS which also had steel springs. I sometimes drive the 00 LS on rural gravel and dirt roads and I don't think it ever "bottoms out".

The later LS400's (U.S. models, at least) seem to have a bit more ground clearance. Our 90 LS easily "high centered" in deep snow but the 00 LS handles deep snow much better.

[SW03ES]

Yep, my dad had a 98 LS with the air suspension (very rare in the US, on the east coast) and I extensively drove 2000 LS400s without the air when I was shopping and I really didn't see much of a difference. If anything the LS400 with the normal suspension felt a little more nimble and easier to handle in corners than the car with the air which tends to be a little floatier.

His 04 has it too, and I don't see much of a difference between it and the 430s without it either.

My advice? Skip it because its expensive to repair.

[ED.]

We have the air suspension on our 96 and so far we haven't had any problems with it. We bought the car with some miles on it so I am not sure if it truly is like ridding on air but so far its been nice. I remember one day I had either started the car or just turned it off and all of the sudden I started moving while I was leaning against it and I swear I felt like I was shrinking! It was the suspension either rising or lowering. It was so quiet I didnt hear a thing and I even had the hood open. What great cars these are!

thanks

[RFeldes]

froilan,

Lived several years in Europe and you will not find a better car. The air suspension is susceptible to more damage from rough roads. Excellent choice. You can always tighten the suspension with the springs. This site can tell you how. But I don't think you will need it.

[froilan]

Very grateful for all the detailed answers here. Helped a lot in making my mind up. Think I´ll go for this german LS400.

[lx_and_ls]

I forgot to mention. I got 260,000 kms with air suspension on European roads without a single problem. Unfortunetly I had to sell the car because I moved to North-America. Otherwise I would still be driving it. I bought it at 210,000 km, and it still looked new.