04 X5 4.8 SELF LEVELING SUSPENSION PROBLEMS

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by rogerkiu

Do you mean you had to replace the rods only or the sensors?

I meant the rod only.

[LedoJaime]

I tried to post this message earlier without success, but here it is again.
2003 X5 4.4i. I recently receive this message “SELFLEVEL SUSP. INACT” , after driving on a pretty rough road with lots of gravel. So I checked the fuse box located in the rear trunk compartment, in front of the right tail light and found fuse # 87 (30amps) blown. I replaced it with a 30amp “Easy ID” because they light up when blown. As of today the problem seems to have gone away, but I will keep a close eye on it for the next week or so. My total cost was $3.95 plus 30minutes to investigate the fuses, buy them and replacing the one. This worked for me and I hope it also helps you. Good luck………..

[TriX5]

Mine went on the blink last week. When I turn the ign. key to p2 the TPMS light goes off and then on again. A few seconds later the SLS inactive mssg comes on. Last week I drove off and after a few miles it went off and on Sunday it was fine. On Monday it refused to work at all and the left front starts to sag. (I haven't replaced that bag and that is why it shows there first I guess)

All fuses are fine. I tested the pump by itself and it works. The relay in the fuse box works when tested out of the car. I activated the relay that is mounted to the side of the battery with 12V and the pump comes on fine. Today I took the panel off the passenger side to check the valve block.

UPDATE
There are three connectors on the valve block. Clearly the front one controls the front air supply, the rear one controls the rear axle. The front and rear valves work fine (the top pin in each connector is gnd, the other two are for connectng the individual bags to the systems pressure). I now think the middle connector activates a valve to allow air from the struts/bags to flow back to the compressor via the main feed line in order to release air from the bags. I can see no other point to this valve in the center of the valve block.

Before I have the codes read at the dealer I am checking the level sensor output on each suspension corner. I found a post from CivDiv outlining how to check the sensors and I checked the right rear and right front sensor which are ok. It is fiddly but can be doneby taking the sensor of the frame and realsing the arm.

If the other sensors check out ok then I must conclude the fault is the EHC behind the glove box. What I do not understand is why the TPMS light comes on?

[X5Driveruk]

Surely if its sinking it's a leak. I knew mine was not leaking as with the sls inac warning up the compressor is disabled so after a week with the light on it did not lower. Yours I would say is leaking on that front corner and I'm pretty sure the valve block has feed for front and back and accumulator so if accumulator is empty it diverts air straight to bags then tops off accumulator after

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by TriX5

Mine went on the blink last week. When I turn the ign. key to p2 the TPMS light goes off and then on again. A few seconds later the SLS inactive mssg comes on. Last week I drove off and after a few miles it went off and on Sunday it was fine. On Monday it refused to work at all and the left front starts to sag. (I haven't replaced that bag and that is why it shows there first I guess)

All fuses are fine. I tested the pump by itself and it works. The relay in the fuse box works when tested out of the car. I activated the relay that is mounted to the side of the battery with 12V and the pump comes on fine. Today I took the panel off the passenger side to check the valve block.

There are three connectors on the valve block. Clearly the front one controls the front air supply, the rear one controls the rear axle. The middle connector is a mystery to me. The front valves work fine (the top connector is gnd, the other two are for adding air or releasing air it would appear). I concluded that both front bags are controlled by a single valve. Same must be true for the rear bags. I wonder how L/R balance is achieved? Maybe just the stabilizer bar?
I got interrupted but tomorrow I will test the rear valves.

Before I have the codes read at the dealer I will check the level sensor output on each suspension corner. Any one have thoughts on how to check these sensors?

If the sensors check out ok then I must conclude the fault is the EHC behind the glove box. What I do not understand is why the TPMS light comes on?

According to the documentation I have, there is one solenoid valve per air spring or strut for a total of 4, plus another one that acts as a main suppy valve. But, when working on the system with Inpa, there was no possibility to activate individual front air struts. The only choice was to activate front axle up or down. For the rear, it was possible to raise or lower the RL, RR. I suppose there is something in the software, or in the wiring that connects the control of the two front solenoids.

[TriX5]

Yup, the right front is at the end of its life but that is not the cause of the SLS inactive warning. When my left strut was leaky the compressor did not come on and it was low even when driving. The car never gave me a warning about the corner being low or the system pressure being low.

I strongly suspect that at thispoint the EHC is bad but I still have to check the left sensors before getting it checked at the dealer. I just want to eliminate everything else before testing the electronics and attempting a reset.

This is the link to CivDiv's post on testing the level sensors.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ax-height.html

[civdiv99]

If you want info on bench testing the height sensors I can put that together with some pics. Let me know.

[FITZUNI]

WHAT OTHER PARTS DO I NEED TO CONVERT AIR SUS TO KW COILOVERS?

[TriX5]

civdiv, that would be superb. I still have to do the left side.

Thanks in advance.

[rogerkiu]

Originally Posted by FITZUNI

WHAT OTHER PARTS DO I NEED TO CONVERT AIR SUS TO KW COILOVERS?

My opinion is that do not try it. It costs you lot of money (more than repairing your air suspension) and leaves you more lights and warning up in your car.