Another Air Suspension Problem
 

I have dealing with trying to resolve the air suspension inactive error for the past 6 months and still have not resolved it.

replaced compressor once and rebuilt compressor
replaced reservoir in the rear and the air strut of the front R and both rear

I still have the following errors, but the more frustrating part of all of this that my INPA is in German! Can anyone decipher the following fault codes?

I know the first one is reservoir pressure remains constant when reservoir filling is requested but I am not sure about the second one.

I'm guessing the second one is telling you that the compressor is overheating. That is the usual case when the reservoir pressure remains constant....the compressor keeps trying until it shuts down from overheating. Either way the compressor is the issue here.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

I had the German to English with INPA, can't recall what I did (it was easy but a few years back).

FOUND THIS - which seems familiar.

1) Go to folder C:\INPA\CFGDAT\
2) Open file INPA.ini using notepad
3) Edit the VARIANTE to ENGLISH and LANGUAGE to ENGLISCH

[INFO]
VERSION = 5.00
DATUM = 16.02.2004
VARIANTE = ENGLISH

[ENVIRON]
DRUCKER = WIN
PEM = JA
LANGUAGE = ENGLISCH

or this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-foqaN-nSE

The second INPA error code (104) indicates a problem with the left rear. You wrote that you replaced the reservoir in the rear, which one? Perhaps you (only) replaced the right one. The reservoirs are cheap and easy to replace.

When I replaced the airbag on the L rear the black clip broke that locks in the reservoir hose to the air bag, i could not find a replacement clip so I ended up replacing the reservoir with a used one off ebay with a good clip.

@rody1285

This helps. INPA says you have an issue on that corner, perhaps you have an air leak from the used reservoir or accompanying hose. Spray bottle with soapy water or similar may help you pinpoint a leak.

When you leave the car parked for a notable period of time, is the LR corner lower? Regardless, park the car and pull the compressor fuse (rear fuse panel). Leave for a day and check if the LR has sagged as a result.

I was in the office form 12pm to 5pm and this was my readings:

Update Please see this video, I found a leak, can this be the problem???
Distribution piece part#37226754486

Also I checked all the other connection points where the hoses attach including the hoses connecting to the accumulator under the car. No other leak found??
:dunno:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKkKVdSJ6CM&t=27s

Replaced the distribution piece and installed a brand new compressor. I cleared the error and everything is now working. It has been one day and the error has not returned.

HOWEVER, the car is dropping when parked for greater than 6-8 hours (the rear is worst). When I open the door, the ride height instantly restores. I think there is still a leak.

I checked
- connection to rear air bags (air tight)
- distribution peice (air tight)
- accumulator (sprayed the connection of the hoses to and from the unit, no bubbles).
- rear airbags replaced with ones from ebay in May of 2016, here is the listing
for BMW E53 X5 00-06 Rear Air Suspension Air Spring Bag 37126750355 37126750356 | eBay

The bags still seem new could these air bags be the culprit? I sprayed the bag and didn't see bubbles.

Long and short is the following - when you clear the codes what ones come back after the new compressor? Both?

The "accumulator filling pressure remains constant" is a compressor code. So you shouldn't be seeing that with a new one.

If it's dropping down on one corner overnight it's leaking down and my money is on a faulty bag. I have Arnott replacements for 5 years and no issues.

Thanks for the reply,

Since I installed the new compressor and distribution piece the codes are now gone. I think the problem was that my used compressor and rebuilt compressor was too weak to satisfy the filling request of the reservoir. So now the new compressor fills the unit in 1 min to about 15 bar no problem, no error. (I have the new compressor for 2 days now)

However the MAIN problem is that the car is still sagging in the morning. The reservoir pressure is used to refill the bag every morning, thus causing the compressor to work to refill the reservoir back to 15 bar which in turn can wear out the compressor again.

Please see this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUvxM48eENc.



I think it may be bag since I already inspected all the all other air hose connection points.

Yep - honestly any indy can do a quick smoke test of the system to see whats leaking - I guarantee you one of your bags are bad - are you the guy who emailed me and went with an aftermarket Ebay replacement that weren't made by Arnott?

But if you are sagging overnight, there is a leak in the system and 99% its the air bag - do the pair with Arnott's ($200)

Yeah I emailed like a month ago, I was trying to reach out to you about this problem as you seem to have a wealth of knowledge about this problem and X5's in general. I emailed the seller of the bags and am waiting to hear back, I have a warranty on them and I doubt they will refund me so I might have another aftermarket pair... If by some chance I get the refund I will purchase the Arnotts.

This has been one of the most frustrating issues.

Keep us posted - for what its worth sometimes the "email me" feature gets in my junk mailbox - you can always PM if needed and I can send you my email and we can go from there but yes I think you fixed your compressor issue now you need to fix the leaking bag so you don't burn out the new one

Solved:
After a 6 month nightmare, the air suspension issue has been put to rest.

My issue was that the compressor was weak and burnt out. The compressor became weak and over worked because the new (aftermarket) rear bags were faulty causing air to leak over night. I tried to rebuild the compressor with the rebuild kit twice, but this is not the solution. If the compressor is weak the reservoir fills at a slower rate resulting in an "inactive message"

- I replaced the bags with cheap ebay aftermarket and that was a bad idea!!!

- Long story short:
New compressor, and 2 new Arnott bags in the rear and my troubles are gone.

^Glad to hear finally resolved - and as I have been saying for years on this forum, if you have sagging overnight and leave it too long you will not only be replacing the leaking air bags, but buying a new compressor too. The compressors are extremely sensitive to being overworked.

In 5 years of ownership and activity on this forum I have only seen leaking air bags and burnt out compressors, and very rarely a level sensor (which usually throws a code or jacks one side up higher or down all the way), and once in a blue moon the module itself.

Otherwise the system is great you just need to troubleshoot efficiently.