04 X5 4.8 SELF LEVELING SUSPENSION PROBLEMS

[Weasel]

With no leaks the compressor almost never comes on... it is for self leveling, so it would come on if you load some extra weight in the back. And what has been the easiest way to find leaks oddly enough is to just spray the bags with a soap water mix in a spray bottle with the car on a lift.

[springdellx]

Thanks a ton man! This is an incredibly valuable piece of information. I think all my air bags are good and 3 of the 4 are new(although its been a few months since I have checked them) but maybe there is a leak somewhere else in the system.

Thanks again!!!!!

[hcz2]

Springdellx

I concur largely with what weasel says but there are a few differences in my case.

Firstly, when your indy clears the "self level inact." message what errors doe he read from the car? The onboard diagnostics which activated the message should give error codes pointing you in the direction of the fault.

In my case over several months I got various faults including;
-CAN bus errors. Suggesting control module error
-constant request for filling. Suggesting a leak or air supply which wasn't buliding correct pressure quickly enough. Mine started as a leak in front nearside strut but when the strut was taken out and submerged in water and infated, no leak could be found. It turned out that it was that strut which was intermittently leaking. It went on so long I had to replace my air supply too. Presumeably knackered by having been over worked by the leaky strut. I too found that when I got in and out of the car I could hear the air supply working. Since my strut and air supply were replaced I only hear the pump working when a load is applied or when I manually raise the car using the driver's control.

My car went down too after being jacked up. Strangely if I drove the car to over 50MPH (VERY ROUGH RIDE) the car righted its self and reinflated instantly but the SLS light stayed on. (So I assumed wrongly that the air supply was fine).

Get a diagnostic done on the pressure of the air supply. The car will test this itself if you use the correct diagnostic module. If there isn't the correct pressure then your air supply is on its way out and the "self level inact." will keep appearing.

Unfortunately immediately after I got mine sorted then the control module went too!

Very expensive repiar bills and it seriously tarnished my enjoyment of the car!

[pezho405]

Bump!!! i need this too

[bumer]

How many people here had to replace rear bags? I thought someone had to swap 3 out of 4. I have only changed my front bags mainly because car was sagging on the front end from the beginning. Also thinking the front bags carry bigger loads and larger in size with more chances to have a weak spot. I realize now I might have to replace rear bags as well to be absolutely sure there are no leaky bags. Besides the fact my X now almost sitting on the rear fenders for a few weeks. Front end stays up ever since I swapped old bags for new once from Arnott. Rear once are cheaper @ 200 a pair, mainly labor. Should not be harder than the front. Anybody who had to update rear bags please let me know.
PS: thank you Weasel for very valuable info.

[sockethead]

I just replaced all of my air bags. Now my compressor is coming on intermittently but at least the air isn't leaking out anymore. The problem is trying to figure out if it's the module or the compressor itself...

[carlosd0103]

under the spare tire will be a 2 cross metal pieces remove that and after that there should be a plastics piece held down with philipps screw remove that and you sholud see the baterry and all the module there around the baterry

[manumarcu13]

my mechanic could not find the self leveling module,so he did a litle research and he finaly found it in the glow box compartemnt area...you will need to take out the whole glow box though...and its gonna be undernith there somewhere...its a long grey box with this part # on it
3714 6773999-01....wich is gonna cost you arround 700$ to replace....good luck to you

[manumarcu13]

hi....just wanted for a while now to get back to yall and let you know that the best way to fix this issue is to just take the SLS out and replace it with the traditional coil/spring susspension..... i had so much trouble and spent so much money trying to figure it out,my mechanic couldnt find what the problem was....so he just converted it to the old traditional way.....
from what he told me,he just ordered all the parts nedded for a 2004 or 2006 on coil,(springs struts etc.....)they fit just right....i end up spending arround 1200$ on the job,but i can finally say i enjoy my 2003 X5 4.4i
plus i sold all the working air components(struts air compresor and back air bags) on ebay,and after doing the math i only had to pay out of my pocket 200$ for taking care of this never ending SLS problem....

[rogerkiu]

The air suspension control module for EHC2 is located behind of the glove box, for EHC1 is adjacent to the battery tray in the trunk. Don't get wrong with this.