S8 Springs & things

[gapthree3]

Well as my 2001 S8 weekend car of 3 years has now turned in to my daily drive, nay 30K business mile car (Hurragh for fuel cards) & I need to get the suspension up to scratch.

It's covered 188K and the front suspension is original appart from 4 lemforder top arms at 145K (previous owner). The track rods are clunking and there is movement in the n/s bottom arms. ABS lights up early on bumps. Time to invest.

I plan for a Meyle HD suspension kit for £430 from german car parts in Leeds. New outer and inner track rod ends (lemforder) and front anti roll bar bushes from Audi. I will also invest in new top mounts for the dampers.

I plan to use Audi OEM front dampers, not sure which of the multiples it will get dependant on chassis number. I bought rears and they turned out to be sachs and red in colour, the fronts are red so expect Sach too. I'd be happy to hear of a better recomendation, bearing in mind I want to retain the ride quality and my filings in my teeth. Prime use is on the M-way. Bilstein B6 get a recommend in Norway but I'm sure the roads are very different there or how they would respond in the UK.

The one I'm scrathing my head over is the springs. Has anybody swapped old standard springs for new and found an improvement? My springs are not sagging cracked rusty or broken. My independant garage says they are high quality and should not go 'off'. I'm inclined to retain them if that is the case, but as the front's coming apart if there is an advantage to change them I'd consider it. They have boinged for 188k!

Last question: Has anyone changed the rear anti roll bar bushes and 4 links found an improvement? They look fine but I did this on a 95 saab aero front and back and it transformed both the handlind and ride. Just wondered if it would do the same on the S8?

Hope to hear from those sitting more comfortably now.