Air Bags to Springs ride report

[GOFAST GUY]

This was a project I had been planning to do for a long time and finally i had the time, help and shop space to pull my air bags and replace them with 3L X5 springs. I had heard that by taking a spring compressor, compressing the springs and then banding the springs with 4 hose clamps, you could just pry down on the lower control arm, slide the airbags out and slide the compressed springs in, and it worked. My buddy was a little freaked out at the idea of handling a compressed bomb but we tested the pipe clamps for pressure stretch or failure and they seemed to hold the spring together so we continued with the project. Once we got the spring compressed and the pipe clamps on, it went really quickly. Once the spring was in place, we put another jack under the control arm, jacked up on it taking the tension off of the pipe clamps and removed them one by one. If someone really wanted to speed up the process, he'd get 8 clamps, four for each spring and just cut them with tin snips once the spring was in place. I drove my X5 home last night and I was surprised by the ride quality. It wasn't nearly as hard as it had been before which was a nice change. Everything feels good cornering wise and best of all, I'm finally rid of a slow air leak that has plagued me for over a year!!!

[Big "J"]

That is awesome!!

Did you have to reprogram the ride height module to stop the ride height alarm?

[theblue]

^
what he said.

[swissfrank]

Nice mod, but curious why you chose to replace your air springs? I replaced both my air springs for $155 and it was at tops a half hour job....

[rph74]

I did this as well, and it was money well spent. 700 bucks after paying a shop to install springs and BMW to reprogram the error message. Rides the same, and no worries about random air system failures or quirks.

[Skyline]

^^^^Bannir ce trou du cul !

[en2siast]

I replaced all 4 corners, best thing I've done since purchasing the X. Had the SLS Inactive message, rough ride, bad sensor. So instead of fixing and paying a grip to get it done properly, I just diy'd the 4 corners, 4 hours in the driveway. Ride extremely well now.

Only thing I have to figure out is how to get the SLS message off the dash.

[rph74]

Originally Posted by en2siast

I replaced all 4 corners, best thing I've done since purchasing the X. Had the SLS Inactive message, rough ride, bad sensor. So instead of fixing and paying a grip to get it done properly, I just diy'd the 4 corners, 4 hours in the driveway. Ride extremely well now.

Only thing I have to figure out is how to get the SLS message off the dash.

I had mine done at a dealership in the suburban Chicago area. Here is my saga:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...usp-error.html

Good luck!

[en2siast]

I appreciate all the info and knowledge gathered on this forum. Saved me quite a bit money thus far from the DIY's I've done.

I've finally been able to disable the Inactive SLS message on the dash using NCS expert.

I coded the GM3 so that it would not report the message on the dash.

If anyone is interested and have NCS Expert, I'd be more than happy to provide information on what string to modify.

If anyone is local to the Richmond area, I can assist with this and do some coding also.

I've coded a few things today on the X using NCS, such as remote window rollup, DRL disable, one touch up and down with doors open, Fogs on with high beams.