Rear Air Suspension programming incorrect?

[Mujahid]

Originally Posted by bawareca

What safety factor? Everyone's car goes down after after it is shutdown and locked.Only your stays up.See the pattern?

Huh?

[mart_dev]

I think it is purely coincidence that you found your suspension to sag once you had disconnected the compressor while it seemed to remain "up" when the compressor was not disconnected. If as you suspect, the compressor periodically pumps up the arse when it sags during the course of an evening while locked up in the garage then trust me, by morning you wouldn't get any response from the battery...it's just coincidental. Be grateful your compressor has not burnt out. You caught it in time now get it sorted pronto.
Cheers and good luck.

[mart_dev]

Question: You mention a faulty ride height sensor. Could you explain why?

...and just to set your mind at ease, my X5's rear suspension certainly doesn't sag when the car has been left undriven for days on end. Perhaps the other guy who remarked differently has a slow leak he is unaware of?

[bawareca]

Originally Posted by mart_dev

Question: You mention a faulty ride height sensor. Could you explain why?

...and just to set your mind at ease, my X5's rear suspension certainly doesn't sag when the car has been left undriven for days on end. Perhaps the other guy who remarked differently has a slow leak he is unaware of?

I answer to the OP's title: "Rear air suspension programming incorrect".
If the air springs have a leak and the car is turned off and locked(not necessarily)the rear end will sag sooner than later,because the air pump will not start when the car is asleep.If his air pump runs on all the time that is a malfunction,not a programming issue from BMW.
There may be a cases when the rear will sag only a little bit,mostly invisible for the eye.Same as how sometimes a tire deflates to a certain level and may not loose more pressure for a long time.But that is rare and more exception than a rule.

[mart_dev]

Right you are...

[ard]

Question: Is the air pump a two channel pump? So each bag/pump is an unlinked circuit? or is there a check valve or something? Since one side can leak and settle irregularly, I assume they arent tied together...

[bawareca]

There are valves that control each side separately.Air pump is a simple air compressor.

[Mathematicz]

Originally Posted by mart_dev

Hey MO, sorry so late chiming in. Boer I had the same fault. Exactly the same reaction. Exactly the same response you are displaying...namely utter disbelief at the potential cost of replacing BOTH air springs when every fibre in your body is telling you something else is at play...there isn't. Trust me, your air springs are BOTH damaged. The reason the vehicle remains inflated is simple. It was explained to me by a qualified person that due to the way the air springs work ( they literally roll up and down over themselves on a conical shaft) they tend to fail at the point where the fold-over originates. I duly did as instructed by said qualified person and waited until my rear air springs had been fully inflated, climbed under the vehicle and sprayed the air springs with a soapy solution. Sure enough a froth began to form over multiple seams which were not immediately apparant to me. As to why the vehicle doesn't always sag overnight or within a few hours? Believe it or not I found an explanation for that too. In my case the leaks were due to cracks in the fabric right at the point where the rubber rolled over the conical plastic portion of the spring and this would often result in the leaks being sealed by the resultant pressure.

In fairness to you and anyone else who reads this, this is obviously only my experience and I don't doubt that it is possible for there to be other plausible explanations but in my experience nothing that I've been through with my vehicle is specific to my vehicle...there is nothing to suggest that my X5 is special is what I'm trying to say. It therefore stands to reason that the most likely of causes is the most frequently experienced and seeing as how Arnott bother to manufacture an aftermarket air spring for the X5 it stands to reason that they do it because there is profit in it.
Raise your hands all those who've read this and have had your rear air springs replaced at some point.
I wish you were a little closer to my neck of the woods because I would gladly help out.

I want to second what he said. I just got both air bags replaced yesterday (on Oct 3, 2014), with a rear alignment...$850.

I'm still getting the " Level control system malfunction" error. I did some research before checking this site and my question is; Dose anyone know where the "ride height sensor is located? I read something that it might need to be replaced. The repair shop said that my pump was good, it was just the air bags.

[mart_dev]

Assuming you've had someone clear the fault code or you've done it yourself and it reappears, it therefore most likely (although not a guarantee) there is a mechanical/electrical fault with one of the ride height sensors. You could manipulate the sensors manually to see if they send a signal to the control ECU to lower/raise the body. I have done this in the past after swapping out my springs...definitely not a scientifically sound practice but it worked for me. Vehicle in the fully raised position (engine off but car still "awake" - wriggle under the vehicle and gentle manipulate one of the sensor arms...if you've manipulated it in the correct direction for lowering, it will let some air out, and vice versa for raising.

Hope it answers some questions. Like I said, not a proper way to do things so please do it carefully.

[Mathematicz]

Originally Posted by mart_dev

Assuming you've had someone clear the fault code or you've done it yourself and it reappears, it therefore most likely (although not a guarantee) there is a mechanical/electrical fault with one of the ride height sensors. You could manipulate the sensors manually to see if they send a signal to the control ECU to lower/raise the body. I have done this in the past after swapping out my springs...definitely not a scientifically sound practice but it worked for me. Vehicle in the fully raised position (engine off but car still "awake" - wriggle under the vehicle and gentle manipulate one of the sensor arms...if you've manipulated it in the correct direction for lowering, it will let some air out, and vice versa for raising.

Hope it answers some questions. Like I said, not a proper way to do things so please do it carefully.

I haven't gotten the fault code cleared, I thought the ECU would read that its working and just clear itself. How or what tools would I need to clear the code. I just got the X5 like 6 month ago, I had a Q7, i'm new to BMW.