Anyone have any experience of pre-2010 cars without the variable dampers vs the 2010 onwards with them?

I’ve had ongoing ride quality issues with my 2011 and 3 specialists can’t find the issue. The ride is harsh - little difference with and without the traction control on/off and no error codes. So the thought is to replace all dampers with non-cvd.

Any thoughts? 1995 4.6 v8, green/tan (long gone)
2005 4.8iS X5, blue/black
2011 4.4 tdv8, black/black (gone)
2003 3.0d X5, Oxford green/black/manual
2021 p575 SVR, BR green/vintage tan

While I can’t comment on the ride between CVD and non-CVD, I will ask how many miles you have on the clock?

Based on reading on various forums, I believe the struts have a limited “comfort” life. I have 116k on mine and am changing them soon and can comment on the difference then.

There’s also the wheel size too… as many posts will state, the larger wheels with thinner tyre walls have a harsher ride. I have 22” wheels and will be changing my tyres to the larger tyre wall alternatives when worn.

Another thing that comes to mind is that the CVD could be faulty somehow, and they can be unplugged to see if the ride changes? If still just as harsh then they are not working properly.

Please so take the above “advise” with some pinches of salt as none is personal experience… only from reading other various forum posts. Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

Air-springs themselves provide very little damping so require the shocks to be in good condition to avoid a harsh ride, even more obvious with CVDs because of the smoothing they provide when working as they should.

Check that the 3 accelerometers are still securely mounted as a loose one will provide incorrect information.

What size wheel/tyre combination are you running?

Dunc. The life you have is the only one you'll get; make the most of it.
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2012 4.4 TDV8 L322 Autobiography
2003 TD5 Oslo Blue D2 ES Premium Auto (with mods!)

Sam Langley (on here and YouTube) is exploring this for the exact same issue....
https://www.youtube.com/c/SamsMotorMachine/videos Gone to a good home: 2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory and clear glass = "Rory"
New Defender D300 90
1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie"
My preferred specialist: www.glenrands.co.uk
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Can't comment on the L322 directly but on my Audi A6 Allroad with a similar air suspension setup (the shock absorber damping is user selectable unlike the L322) the system works well to smooth out larger road undulations but with road imperfections like ridges, potholes and general roughness like you get on anything but smooth tarmac they do very little and this is down to tyre wall thickness. Mine has 19" wheels and it's as 'crashy' now on rough surfaces at 115k miles as when I first had it at 30k miles. I've often thought of changing it to 17" wheels which were the stock size but as most of my driving is on M-ways the 19's are OK. When I test drove my first L322 TDV8 4.4 on 255/50/20" I noticed the same thing i.e a smooth floaty ride on a smooth road surface but crashy over a rough road surface (and more suspension rattles than my Audi with it). Likely when I get my L322 I'll think about 255/55 tyres as a option.

Rob, yep, commented on Sam’s thread on the issue - it’s pretty much identical to mine. He has relatively new front dampers and new rear ones. I also my rear dampers before him which made no difference at all.

Dunc, I’m on 255/55/20 tyres. Tried 3 different sets of wheels and rebalanced a few times. One issue I had was with a bent wheel upsetting the cvd ecu.

Ideally I’d like to send 1.5A to each damper to rule out the sensors - no idea how to do that though. Hence the subject of the thread - swap all dampers out and forget about it - which Sam eluded to doing as well. 1995 4.6 v8, green/tan (long gone)
2005 4.8iS X5, blue/black
2011 4.4 tdv8, black/black (gone)
2003 3.0d X5, Oxford green/black/manual
2021 p575 SVR, BR green/vintage tan

Also interested in this.
Mine came with 22” 285/35.
It didn’t feel too bad to start.

I came from a 2004 with 19”.

I ran 21” over winter and there was minimal difference.
Now on 275 40 22.

The front feels quite heavy. Mileage is just over 106k.
Just changed ARB links all round and also found/swapped rear upper bush (again).

I've just logged back in as I received a PM from Sam
asking for information regards converting his vehicle to non CVD
Shock absorbers.

I have a full thread on doing this conversion which I was able to complete successfully.

My 2010 L322 with 130K on the clock was infuring to drive due to the side being so hard.

A 7.5 hour drive back from Cornwall forced to me buy standard 06-09 TDV8 shock absorbers in order to save my back. I've no idea what a brand new set of CVD shocks would feel like in terms of comfort but I wasn't happy spending all that cash with the possibility of being dissapointed.

If you find your CVD ride hard then I'd recommend the conversion. The only thing I would do differently is to buy genuine LR Delphi shock absorbers. I fitted Dunlop and although the ride was a big improvement it wasn't as comfortable as my old 09 Westminster riding on new Delphis.

Thanks for the reply mate - I had seen your post and glad to hear the ride is good.

I’m in exactly the same place as you - cheaper to move to non-cvd than mess around with new cvd dampers that may not solve the problem. 1995 4.6 v8, green/tan (long gone)
2005 4.8iS X5, blue/black
2011 4.4 tdv8, black/black (gone)
2003 3.0d X5, Oxford green/black/manual
2021 p575 SVR, BR green/vintage tan

Yesterday I was walking down a road with a number of speed bumps spanning the width of the road, and watched as an L405 went over the, with lots of wheel movement and no obvious body movement. The same happened with the newer RRS a few days before.
When I drive over those same bumps I can feel the body move up and down by about 1/2 the height of the speed bump. There is another speed bump set at an angle so you hit it a wheel at a time. When I hit that my car rocks back and forth with each wheel going over the bump.

I would expect the CVD on both FF’s to perform fairly similarly?

I also tried the bumps with DSC disabled, with little or no difference. Does disabling DSC definitely disable CVD? There are comments on threads that it should… but is there a definite Yes or No?

At the moment I feel that my issue is a little different to the OP so will continue down the route of investigating my possible causes. I’d like to get further down the path before going for non-CVD struts. Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

I suspect that your shocks are worn-out, noting however that the L405 has an upper wishbone whereas the L322 has struts and therefore a direct comparison may not be too indicative.

Acknowledging that mine's shocks get a hard time, I first recalibrated them at 65K kms then again at 90K kms because the ride had deteriorated each time although they were still good enough for slow speed bounce to still be controlled. I then replaced the rears at 108K kms when they became useless after towing my van at speed on rough roads but persisted with the fronts until just under 140K kms. I recalibrated after replacing the rears and again after replacing the fronts to accommodate the better-performing shocks just fitted. I fitted Bilstein all round.

It might seem counter-intuitive that apparently firmer shocks provide a better ride but new ones perform as expected by the ecu whereas worn-out ones don't. The CVD ecu applies pre-programmed reactions to wheel movements - it doesn't adjust calibrations on the run. Recalibrating the ecu re-establishes appropriate reactions but once the seals have worn enough to warrant recalibration, the worn seals will soon leak more making the last calibration inappropriate.

I suggest replacing the cheaper, easier and quicker to replace rears first to provide confidence to then spend more on replacing the fronts, not that the fronts are difficult to replace.

Cheers GraemeS, my initial thoughts were to replace the ageing struts and the plan was to do that now my rear bushes have been replaced. However reading this threat and a few others, they have casted doubt in my mind. I’d rather not spend £££ replacing struts and finding the ride is still frustrating.

If I do continue with replacing them with CVD struts then I’ll do the back only as easier and cheaper than the fronts. Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

I replaced the rear dampers with bilstein ones (155k miles and on the originals) and it made the ride worse so swapped them back.

I’m sure it’s something electrical but nobody can find what. Even replaced the wiring to the front struts with the Land Rover repair kit due to a previous botch job. No difference.

Also marginal difference when during off traction control which disables the system (apparently) 1995 4.6 v8, green/tan (long gone)
2005 4.8iS X5, blue/black
2011 4.4 tdv8, black/black (gone)
2003 3.0d X5, Oxford green/black/manual
2021 p575 SVR, BR green/vintage tan

This is probably not related to your issue, but. I bought my 2012 TDV8 just over 18 months ago.

I was very disappointed in the ride, it was quite harsh in fact, nothing like I expected at least.

Over that period I lower the car to access mode every day when used and have accidentally put it in high on occasion. I was only thinking last month that it rides so much better now than when I first had it.

I wondered if that it had been left in the normal mode for years perhaps. Now the bags get more movement, I can only think that that has helped perhaps.