Rear Air Spring Replacement - with photos

[amor]

i would like to thank kiwi for the pictures of DIY air spring of Arnotts i just did mine last firiday . i had my left side sagging or lowered for one month until the right side got affected as well. i followed the procedure and the toughest parts after removing the plastic covers of both sides were the pins inside ( gold color) around the tube and the clip at the bottom of the air spring. it took me 2 hours but a the end it it was worthwhile instead of being robbed $900 by the dealer. the only isssue is the car did not level up. i took it to the dealer on friday for the cause and today i was told it was the vertical sensors that need to be replaced and i talked to the tech myself and he was schocked after telling him that i myself changed ther air spring . he concurred that the air compressor was fine and the ait springs are fine and the sensors are the issue.
parts # 2[(37-14-6-784-697), (37-14-6-752-797) and the price to put those is $ 737.88 before tax i believe. i will purchase the parts at bmwmercedesparts.com and try to find some one who has the tool to recalibrate the height.
NB: any x5 owner should educate yourself about your car cause there are lots of stuff that can be done without the intervention of the dealer.

[jcp240z]

Don't do it. Those parts from ECS tuning are about $200 total for both sensors and both rods. If your suspensions was working before first verify the rods did not go over center. If they are both bad you can swap them yourself easily. Wow, stealer is right

[nyum96]

Didn't see it noted but vehicles with a rear load tray will have to remove the tray and then the support rods giving access to the plastic covers protecting the reservoirs. Took me an extra 30 minutes w/o issues removing the torx screws (with thread locker). Thread locker was a pain.

[amor]

thanks for the quick response. i do not intend to have the dealer do it. however, i am very happy to see this morning that the rear is back to a height level. i can not say for sure what level it is since i did not see the back that high for a montth. i will measure it to see if it is right i am happy sofar. the self level suspension was on before the rear sagged and now it is still on flashing because of the height sensors according to the dealer, [perhaps it was due to the sagging that deviated their positions. i will check tomorrow and thankk jcp240z for the web and i am familiar with it and others. bmwmercedesparts.com has them for $ 180 and i have friends who work at bmw i will try to use their discount if i can. i love my x5 but with a price. i also hear a clank noise in the front left side that appears to be the ball joint or the cv joint. my steering angle needs to be changed also and the dealer quoted me $587 and i know that the sensor cost $264 @ bmw and bmwmercedesprts has them for $200. my only issue is to calibrate them after wards. i am going to work on the self level in order to eradicate that flashing note in the cluster. any proper advice how to proceed to change the rear sensors or do i have to deactivate the fuse again ? cause my bentley manual does not help me on this thanks

[romeokc10]

Good write up, I replaced mine today on my 2002 4.6is with 192K miles on them, left side was leaking down overnight. Bought the Arnott sport springs on Ebay for $99 each, install went without a hitch, easy as heck.

[amor]

It is great and happy for you . keep up with DIY as much as as you can. my level suspension is down and I believe it is the rear sensors according to BMW. After the diagnosis , it was high but after that I heard a sudden puff I am not sure if it is the new air spring or else that went back to low level like there was no spring at all. I parked it for now until I figure out what is the matter with it . It is really a pain after all.

[esntrk1]

A very special thanks to X5Kiwi and everyone else on this forum. I love my e53 and I was able to solve my rear suspension problem using this forum thread. Just last Thursday night my left rear air spring failed. I checked forum, double checked the part numbers at realoem and ordered from Arnott with overnight delivery. They arrived this morning at 10:30 am. I was afraid to tackle the job myself at first. I almost paid an Indy $430. to do it. The indy couldn't get to it for another three days. I said "screw it" and went after it myself. Low and behold it was a piece of cake. It took me three hours but I was very careful. Started the truck up and boom it leveled right back out. I'm good to go. Proud owner of a 2005 4.8is!!

[Kjon4]

Great job! I am motivated to do this myself. This happened to me the other day. Air springs started hissing etc... I ordered rear L and R air springs (sport) from arnott. should be here in couple days.
Is it possible to do this one side at a time?

[amor]

It is possible to get it done individually but you are better off doing both of them at once. Let me clear one side and the other while the car is in jack stands I had my tools from harbor freight and you need jack stand and floor jack and 10 mm socket and also 10 mm open wrench to slowly let air out on the reservoir as you loosen the bolt to listen the hissing sound as the air oozing out for 2mns . When you remove the pipe from the air spring you have to pull the black contour edge with a plyer toward the back. It is important to be gentle with black contour at the she of the pipe cause if u break it u have to buy anew reservoir that comes with the pipe ( it is not sold separately). It happens to me now I am waiting for my reservoir and height sensors to get my level back and my friend had just installed GT1on his laptop to help recalibrate it. If you are replacing the air spring , there is no need for recalibration. My case is different cause the sensors needed to change. Take your time and get familiar with your x5 it is worth it cause u will save $ 1000 from the dealer.
NB u can either disconnect the battery or remove the fuses 30a and 25a check the numbers when the car in jack stand . When done with air spring , put the fuses or connect the battery as the tires slightly touch the ground. Do research on it

[Kjon4]

Thanks armor. Need all the help i can get. My springs will arrive tomorrow and am really nervous but excited to do it myself. Glad its only the springs im replacing.
The local dealer in Az quoted me $1100. LOL!! Yeah right! Now gotta go and buy jack stands since already have floor jack and all the tools needed for this job. Thanks again