Hey, I'm a tech of a different brand but i'm about to lower my 2006 xB. The rears look like cake but i have a question for the front... Can you leave the tire/wheel on to change the spring? I do this on many other cars i work on. I remove the central strut nut and lower the entire assembly with a jack under the tire. I then replace the spring and jack it back up, line the strut up with the hole, jack and then put the nut back on. I sometimes have trouble "corkscrewing" the spring off the top of the strut inside the wheelwell, but i works 99% of the time. What ya think? I never used to do it this way until an experienced guy show me and saved me hours of work.

 

I did with the wheels on, but only because the dang tire shop over torqued them and I couldn't get them off. Its doable, but you'll have more room with the wheels off, plus its a whole lot easier.

 

The struts come out of the xB so easy, I would recommend removing them. Doing so makes it much easier to be sure that the keyway at the strut bushing is aligned properly when reassembling the struts with the new springs on them.