Uneven suspension when car is turned off.
 

I bought a used 2003 X5 4.4i X5 about six months ago. I never noticed that happening before but I may have over looked it.

When the car is turned off the wheel well on the driver front is bout 3" lower than the driver side. When I unlock the car to drive off I notice that the car raises itself back up on that side about 5-10 seconds after the car has been unlocked.. I have the automatic height suspension system.

Is this something to be concerned about?

Ambro

I have the same problem before. It is a tiny leakage at the airspring. Replace it, it will be leveled.

Thank you littlefrog for the response..

I just had my vehicle serviced because my "self-leveling suspension is inactive" error message came on. I told them how the driver side front was low, but all they did was change out the sensor for the self leveling suspension. I wish they would have fixed this as well as now the car is out of warranty.

Ambro

Thanks to Littlefrog I got this fixed. They found a leaking air spring which was replaced and they also found a faulty left front level sensor which was replaced and calibrated air suspension. The dealership took care of these things for free even though my warranty expired 2 weeks ago.

Glad that you found my input useful :)

good catch littlefrog:thumbup:

I just noticed my passenger side sits lower then my drivers side lately.
Great, another trip to the dealer. I have had my 06 4.8is for about 2 months now, and its been to the dealer 3 times already. Im starting to think that X5s are not great cars/trucks.
My M3 is 4.5 years old, over 100K and it only been to the dealer twice since I have owned for minor issues.

Got the same headache with my 4.4 2006. Being twice in dealers workshop problem not solved. The car is still there.

Im going in this Monday to get it looked at.
My passenger side is about 2" lower all the time now, its getting worse.

youre wrong
the x5s ARE great cars and trucks. Can you believe the my 2002 BMW X5 3.0i has 350,986 miles and it is still running.

So far I aint that impressed with mine.
I owned my M3 for 4.5 year, have about 40 track dates on it, and it has seen the dealer less times then my 06 4.8is which has less then 40 000KM on it. Hopefully things get better.

They will.

Mabye you just got the wrong one. It happens. I went through 3 MB ML55's to find the right one

What ultimately happened? My truck has the same symptom.

Ranger, my X5 has adjustable height suspension. It does this via airbags struts. The dealership wanted to try all these other options via trial and error while I pay for each error.

I finally took the car into a bmw mechanic, they replaced the airbag strut on the passenger side which has a very slow leak. It caused the car to lean to one side over night until I turned the car on, then it tried to level itself when I turned the car on but it never leveled completely. After it was replaced now the car never leans.

Ambrosius - would you happen to know how much the job was? I know they covered it as warranty but I was hoping the price would be on that job order.

Thanks!

another board member just had his x over 200k miles. I thought that tops everyone here. now we have a winner.

in average you drove about 150 miles every single day? if average speed is 50mph(which is pretty high), you spent almost about 1 yr on car in total for the past 7 years. :wow: that's something.

Cost to fix suspension
 

I have an '01 4.4 w/ sls. Both the rear bags were porous and needed to be replaced at a cost of $722 last month from indy shop. When the bags failed, the car was bouncing so much on the way home from work I thought I was going to puke! Imagine my horror when last week the car was sunk down in the back in the morning. The shop found no leaks, but determined that one of the check valves or control valves in the pump must be leaking by. I was told that the valve is part of the pump so entire pump needs replaced at $822 for part alone. The car is constantly in need of costly repairs ($9000 in past 2-1/2 years). I might pinch off the line that leaks by and do without the sls. With the new bags, once it is pumped up, it seems to ride level and handle well. I'd appreciate any advice, as I'm sick of pouring good money after bad into this car. Thanks.

How about changing them to coilovers? Or those Schnitzer sport suspensions? I know they cost around $2500 if I'm not mistaken. But if I'm going to spend more than a $1000 to have the air suspension fixed, I think I'll just have to go the alternative route - coilovers or sport suspension.

Any suggestions? I'm open for anything. :D

That's awesome, you probably have the highest mileage X5 in the world, or at least close to it...can you post a pic of the instrument panel

just about the only and the biggest problem my 4.8is has, replaced both front air suspentions, and still have selflevel susp inact error, have to change compressor now, it ALMOST SEEMS LIKE BMW SELLS US THEIR CARS TWICE, FIRST TIME WHEN WE ACTUALLY PAY FOR IT, AND THE SECOND TIME WHEN WE REPLACE ABOUT 50% OF THE CAR LITTLE BY LITTLE

Sorry if I cause any confusion.
My old, blind cousin entered a 3 instead of a 2.
So, it should have said 250,986. I sold the car a long time ago, and got a 2005 X.

Hopefully, ill get my new one up there.

they drive awesome
 

they drive freakin' good....140,000 miles on mine.....(4.4i, 2000)

It turns out that mine has the opposite problem. The strut extends and stays out. It's done it twice now. The dealer "recalibrates" something, it's good for a couple weeks and then happens again.