Considering air bags on my E39.....can I get some advice???

[AlpineE39]

Like my post says guys. I took a ride today for the first time in a car on bags. It was a newer model Jetta. I have to say, it was amazing. Made me decide to finally put my car on air. Problem is I don't know much about it. My car is a 99 5 2 I and it's currently sitting on BC coilovers. I was looking at a few kits on Bag Riders and so far I like the one with the Auto Pilot VA and the manual kit, mainly cuz of the price. After speaking with someone, I was told the manual paddle valve kit is fine for my car, but I m not too convinced. Can someone explain to me the pros n cons of doing the manual kit vs the Autopilot VA kit?

Sorry for the noob question guys.

Thanks

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

The big difference here is that V2 will offer air pressure presets, whereas with a manual system, you'll have to watch your gauges to see how much pressure is in the bags. Bag pressure is not a perfect measure of ride height, but it's an alright approximation. If you like the idea of being able to press a button and have the car move automatically to a given pressure preset rather than having to make adjustments manually and watch gauges, then V2 is a good option.

If you're considering paddle valves, do know that they dump air from the bags into the cockpit, so they are extremely loud and air that has been sitting in bags doesn't always smell awesome. The V2 manifold has a dump port, so you can route the air wherever you like, and even put a dump muffler on it if you're looking for quiet.

Another advantage to V2 is that since the valve block is mounted remotely, you wind up with a lot fewer air lines to run all over the place, though there is a bit of (easy) wiring. Cramming all the air lines to run paddle valves is not always an easy task in a modern car's interior, though it's doable.

Keep in mind, there is a middle ground, which is manual management with electric valves. This solves the problem of loud dump air in the cockpit, and is typically cheaper than V2, though you do not have any pressure presets. If you're okay with looking at gauges and making manual adjustments to change the car's ride height, this is a good way to go.

[MonsterMazda]

I am bias towards the AutoPilot V2 because I have it. I must say I am very pleased with the digital management and the install was super easy/straight forward (I have a Mazda3 though). I can only imagine that the manual management must be quite the task to install in comparison with the V2. As far as using a manual setup, I don't think reading gauges and stuff would be TOO much of a hassle if it is all installed properly, with the digital setup though you can set so many presets on the V2 which has been nice in my opinion. There are other features as well such as checking compressor times to see how many hours they have on them as well as a bag leak alert that detects if your bag is leaking.

Sam knows his stuff though! I wouldn't let the manual management intimidate you too much if you want to make it work with your budget!