Compressing a strut to get wheel back on...

[NittanyX5]

This may seem silly or funny but I was removing the skid plate from the bottom of the X5. To get to a couple of the six hex bolts, I found it easier to remove the front wheels. I put one wheel back on, went into the house and when I came back to the garage, the rotor for the other wheel was so low that I cannot get the wheel lined up to the correct height to reinstall the wheel. I don't know if the suspension tried to level itself and overcompensated for the missing wheel or what. The bottom of the rotor is about 4 inces from the floor.

My question is: how do I get the strut to contract or go back up? I have a 2-ton jack in the front of the truck raising the X5 by the block that is right in front of the skid plate that I removed. I also have two 2-ton jack stands that aren't occupied yet.

2001 X5 4.4i

[Qsilver7]

If the jack is still under the car...is it extended as high as it can go? If not, why not jack the front end up higher?

Also, if I was jacking the X5 up from the location you describe...I'd place my jack stands at the 2 front jack pad locations to save my bacon in case the hydraulic jack were to fail or leak and lose its lift.

If the jack is lifted to its highest postion...then I'd insert the jack stands beneath the front jack locations to hold the vehicle up...then lower the jack and place a suitable block of wood etc that will allow the jack to lift the vehicle higher when placed back under that front jacking block location you originally had it.

Or, can you take the factory jack and place it under the front jacking pad next to the location you need to mount the wheel? That would also give the vehicle "lift" so that you can get the wheel mounted.

BTW...I've only had my e53 for about a week...so I don't have a lot of images from the owners manual yet to insert into my posts...but I assume that the e53 is like every other BMW I've owned...there should be jack pads on the body's from right behind the front wheels and right in front of the rear wheels? See the pic below from my e39's owners manual showing the jack pad location:

[NittanyX5]

somehow compress the strut. My jack is as high as it can go. Will have to get a big chunk of wood to place on the jack or preferably a jack that can lift higher. Can't believe the strut and rotor drooped so low that I can't get the wheel back on.

Looks like this guy had the same problem:
http://www.rs25.com/http://www.rs25....t-go-back.html

[Qsilver7]

If using the factory jack in the closest jack pad still won't get the vehicle high enough...and you don't have anything around your home...stop by your local hardware big box store and have them cut you off a 6" piece of a 4x4 (like for a fence post). That's usually just a few dollars per foot.

[epdarks]

Just carefully put board under the lower control arm, jack the control arm up and that will allow you to put the wheel on. Since the shock won't be under a lot of compression, it shouldn't take much force. I did this on the rear of my M3 once, but I'm guessing there is a risk of bending the arm, so go slow.

[Skyline]

I am assuming you have air springs all around?

It's kind of funny that BMW stole most of this troublesome air suspension system from the Range Rover. One feature we did NOT get that is in the Rovers, there's a button for changing a tire. When you want to lift the car, and NOT have that air strut extend the suspension, you push that button.

What I would do at this point is to jack the car as high as possible from the front center. Then put one of your jackstands under the front subframe on the side of the dropped wheel. Then move your floorjack to the side factory jack point closest to that wheel, and jack the car up. Hopefully, that will get the car up high enough to get the wheel back on.

[jgold47]

I've had this happen before. I had flat tire and where i stopped on the side of the road was tilted. I only had the factory jack and when I got the wheel off, the suspension dropped too low to get the spare on. Had to call a tow just to lift it up enough to get the wheel back on.

the problem is that you are obviously not up high enough. working on suv's kind of sucks because most lifts wont give you enough clearance at full extension. I hope you are not using the factory jack, at all, for anything. You could try getting another jack and just lifting the suspension back into place. Actually, thats probably all you can do, since you cant get your current jack back out to use a block on it ( please dont use a pine 2x4 block, you will shat your pants when it starts to crack)

You can buy a high lift floor jack made for SUV's. probably not a bad investment.

[NittanyX5]

lifting pad to get the jack to go higher. It was just enough to get the rotor holes aligned with the wheel's holes. Now I can get back to the valley pan and valve cover job that I was supposed to be working on.
Thanks Q!!!

[epdarks]

Originally Posted by NittanyX5

lifting pad to get the jack to go higher. It was just enough to get the rotor holes aligned with the wheel's holes. Now I can get back to the valley pan and valve cover job that I was supposed to be working on.
Thanks Q!!!

Valley pan is no joke. Good luck and wrench safely!

[NittanyX5]

deflated when I parked in the garage. Right after that, I started jacking up the vehicle (using the BMW jack) and I then heard the suspension system moving after I had stepped into the kitchen. When I went back to the garage I guess the self-leveling suspension tried to compensate for the failing rear suspension bag and the front jack. Slightly damaged the running board as I was able to get that factory jack off in time before any major damage. Used wife's vehicle to rush out and get a floor jack.
Now, in addition to my valley pan and valve cover gasket job, I have to replace the rear bag. I'll have the Indy that replaced the other rear bag 6 months ago replace this one.

2001 BMW X5 4.4i 168,000 miles