Well, that was a couple of years ago though... I've looked at thousands of cars since. I will ask my shop foreman if he remembers that one.

thanks much - any help appreciated.

Update - the contoller was replaced after a couple of days of the dealer being unable to fidn the issue. The new controller fixed the issue. Pick it up tomorrow and we'll see how it drives. So out of three new parts (two front sensors and controller) two of them were bad (one front sensor and the controller) as new parts. Not exactly a sterling commentary on bmw quality conrol.

Well, sometimes it is hard to find the cause of the oddball problems... we are all just humans ya know. But glad to hear it's fixed.

Another update...

Took car home on Saturday, drove it out to eat Saturday night, turn back to look at car as locking it remotely, and see that the left side is sagging somewhat. Get home and measure it and sure enough both left wheels are two inches closer to the wheel well rim than the right. The height adjusting suspension will not work intermittently (the light always flashes indicating it thinks it is going up or down but half the time it does not move - and yes i have the engine on). When it does work it seems to level the suspension out but always after driving it a little it has returned to leaning to the left. Back to dealer where it sits now, and after one day they have no clue and have put out a call to their "Field service rep" whatever that is.

Anyone have any ideas based on these new symptoms - it can't be both left sensors or airbags simultaneously, so could one being out cause the whole left to sag rather than just the wheel with the broken sensor? I did read one guys problem where one sensor was out and it caused the whole side to sag, not just that wheel.

Any thoughts/insights welcome...

Andrew

The field service rep is basically the shop foreman for the whole region... the main mechanic go to guy for all the area's dealers. My guess is still on the bags. They get dried out over time and get riddled with small leaks, enough that when you spray them with dish soap/water mix they start turning white with tiny bubbles. And when they get brittle enough they sometimes even get a tear in the bottom turn of the bag. Which usually only leaks within a certain height range... too high or too low and it won't leak. But according to realoem.com the rear bags are only about $40ish each, and could be a diy. But if you are under warranty, let them worry about it.

Hopefully a novice tech has his head up his butt on this problem and the FSR pulls it out in one quick jerking motion. It's happened to me before...:D

OK - here's the latest on this.

If you recall the issue is that the anti-lock brakes kick in way to early and the DSC kicks in on corners when it should not. The car has air bags on all 4 wheels and the user-controlled suspension leveling.

I went thru two new front level sensors and three new controllers (the expensive part in the back that includes the computer and compressor) before it appeared to be "fixed". All this over about 4 weeks at the dealer, about 2 weeks ago.

Over the last week its been exhibiting the same symptoms, where the front left wheel is too low to the body (i.e. the gap between tire and wheel well is too small compared to the other side), and the brakes and dsc have been kicking in early. But no dash message.

Yesterday i start the car up and i get the "Self Leveling Suspension Inactive" message and its been there ever since. Now here is the interesting part.

The car now drives great. I can rocket around corners and accelerate from a stop into a turn and the car drives like a BMW should. It sticks to the road. I can slam on the brakes and be pitched forward into my belt without the anti-lock brakes coming on. The thing drives awesome.

So, what sensors are ignored when the car goes into this mode. Cause its those sensors (or the computers reaction to them) that are causing all the issues. Perhaps front wheel speed sensors - not sure if there is one on each wheel or not.


Any thoughts and insights welcome.

At this point with the suspension inactive message, it would be the perfect time to bring it back to the dealer and have them re-diagnose it on their dollar. And depending on their diagnosis there may be a possibility on pressing for a partial refund of the parts replaced last time that may or may not have actually been faulty (depending). Make sure they get things straight as you already paid them to fix this once, and don't let them charge you for re-diagnosis either.

Good luck!

It is going back to the dealer this evening. And i have not paid a dime yet - just alot of driving back and forth and a major pain in the ass.

My issue is they have tried three times already to fix it, to no avail. There is not much reason at this point to believe they will fix it this time.