HELP!!!! Inactive Suspension that wont go back up...

[gelafont]

i'm in a dire need of some help and suggestions here. I have an 03 X5 4.4 with the full active suspension w/ button on left side steering. Over the w/e I had my friend changed the two front rotors and brake, while on the lift I also had him checked this funny noise coming from the driver side rear wheel driving. This noise is not a squeaky sounds, nor a wu wu sounds, but more like a peck, peck, peck sounds that gets louder and constant as speed increased, and it's only coming from that single driver side rear tires. To replicate the noise, he had me start the car on the lift, and shift it to drive to replicate noise. While accelerating on the lift, i noticed all the lights started to come on the display includind the "Inactive suspension" message and a "max speed limit" message with a 35 or 45mph. I told him about it and disregarded the message and continued with the testing by taking the back tire off (accelerated some more, all messages are persisted) and finally narrowed it down and concluded the rear noise is coming from the rear wheel bearing, and it's going bad.

After putting the car back down from the lift. We noticed it went all the way down, and literally sit on the tire. Expected the car to go back up as usual, I drove it around slowy, all the light eventually went off, except for the inactive suspension message, and there were no green light showed on the left side steering button. We checked all related suspension fuses--glove compart and rear trunk (no blown fuses), unplugged battery for hours, drove it around again. Despite all efforts, the car is determined not to go back to normal level, the air pump won't buldged. It still sits on the tires, and wont go back up.

Any help and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated before i resulted to go to the dealer and get charged an insanely hourly charges to just reset or reprogram this thing. tks in advance!!!

[James 4.8is]

Well, it looks like we’re on the same boat! Went for a 4wheel alignment and after that I have the same message in my display tried all the fuses. All are ok, relay in back ok, but came across there is another relay under the air supply tank under the spire tire. Will be checking that today! If ok there is only one thing left. The ECU AIR SUPPLY CONTROL UNIT ($800 white box) in back where the spear tire is. Will keep you informed! P.S. Did you get yours fixed and if so, what was the problem?

[Blue4.8is]

Originally Posted by James 4.8is

Well, it looks like we’re on the same boat! Went for a 4wheel alignment and after that I have the same message in my display tried all the fuses. All are ok, relay in back ok, but came across there is another relay under the air supply tank under the spire tire. Will be checking that today! If ok there is only one thing left. The ECU AIR SUPPLY CONTROL UNIT ($800 white box) in back where the spear tire is. Will keep you informed! P.S. Did you get yours fixed and if so, what was the problem?

James, very interested in where this relax under the air supply tank is. could you please point it out? I found a relay for the air suspension in the truck right side compartment by the fuses ( relay #6 according to realoem ) but could not locate any other relay that you are talking about.

PS. It seems that the X5s with the air suspension in the rear only have the relay right on the air compressor but not for FULL air suspension such as my 4.8is

[James 4.8is]

Originally Posted by Blue4.8is

James, very interested in where this relax under the air supply tank is. could you please point it out? I found a relay for the air suspension in the truck right side compartment by the fuses ( relay #6 according to realoem ) but could not locate any other relay that you are talking about.

PS. It seems that the X5s with the air suspension in the rear only have the relay right on the air compressor but not for FULL air suspension such as my 4.8is

Sorry, for the wait. It’s not under the pump. It’s beside the battery on the right side to rear side under a black plastic panel. Hidden from everyone. (WHY? ) And as for the price of the BMW PC hook up it depends on how well you know your service department at BMW. I paid 500:-Swedish Kroner (about $80.00) He reset and recalibrated the hole system. And as a bonus I had him lower it! We took a standard ride height of 710mm (28”inces) at all 4’s. Then we took a lowered ride height of 680mm at all 4’s (26 ¾ inches) then we raised it back to the standard height and manually set the values to fool the system to 740mm at all 4’s (29 1/8 inches) so the system thinks 680mm is the standard ride height of 710mm so my standard is now 680mm! And my 4x4 ride height is 710mm and lowered all the way down to 650mm. “OBS” These are my ride heights! Yours may vary from these! So do your own measuring to find yours.
To sum things up:
4x4 height: OEM: 740mm Mine: 710mm
Standard OEM: 710mm Mine: 680mm
Lowered OEM: 680mm Mine: 650mm

P.S. make sure you are on level ground!
Use an alignment rack to do this!!!
We took the measurements from the wheel arch to the lowest point of the rim!

P.S.S. BMW online WDS: WDS BMW Wiring Diagram System - X5 E53

[Blue4.8is]

Cant find that black box...

[James 4.8is]

Originally Posted by Blue4.8is

Cant find that black box...

It should be under this "BIG" black box! You cannot miss it! Lol...

[TriX5]

Did you check if there is 12 V going to the pump? There is a white plug on the pass. side of the trunk. Take your spare tire out and remove the plastic cover so that you can get to the plug with a DVM.

There are a couple more people who have a problem similar to yours on the board. None have solved it yet but for at least one guy the ride height is maintained, he just cant go to the high or olow setting.

I would first check voltage and open the pumpkin to seeif the compressor is operational.

[James 4.8is]

Well, my friend. Just spent the last couple of hours ripping apart the back of my X5 trying to hunt down the problem with the air suspension. Checked the high amp fuses. All are ok. Checked the black relay (Under the compressor on the right side of the battery) it seems to be ok. Now it looks like a trip to BMW! (A wallet emptying visit!) Got a strange feeling it’s the little white box (ECU Air supply control unit)!!! Damn it!!!

[TriX5]

Wish you good luck! Judging from the threads here dealers have not been all that successfull at resolving issues around the air suspension.

What stumps me is that the system pops up with "Airsusp. Inactive" on my 4.4 (rear only) from time to time but nothing is wrong and I ignore it.

On 4.8 the pump was clearly not running and the LF was low by an inch, causing real scary problems under braking and the system is completely silent..... There seems to be no pressure sensor in the system which is odd as loss of pressure could cause severe handling problems. I just don't understand the logic of how it behaves.

[gelafont]

Sorry for the late response. I tried just about everything you guys did there. it was to no help. So, I took it to the dealer and explained exactly what went wrong and for them to clear and reset the module. They came back telling they tested all individuals components and all are okayed except for the module that is unresponsive. And it needed to replace for them to fix. They quoted me $989 for the ECU II module plus labor and to reprogram it which would total for $1400 and done--btw the module costs cheaper from Alabama dealer. I needed a second opinion, I declined the work with the stealer--paid the 200+ for diagnostics, yea they claimed they put more hours; and took the car back and have my friend scan it with an aftermarket tools. After many attempts, he was able to clear/reset the ECU module--pump kicked in, and pumped all 4 airbags, the message from dash is cleared, and the suspension button is lit and at Normal level. I was able to raise/lower it. However, I noticed the passenger rear one is not fully back to normal. I suspected that rear bag may have pinched from the back and forth driving from the stealer.
I will keep you guys posted... tks all!!!