air spring DIY
 

:popcorn:Alright, so one of my airsprings sounds just like a flat tire, so obviously is toast. I bought the two airsprings from Tischer for about $300.
I would like to replace them myself, has anybody here ever tried that??
Need some input/tips/help, cause brothers, I'm doing it....sometime next week that is....but doing it.
Thanks!!
2000 4.4i (E53):thumbup:

So the air spring just popped? Is one side sitting lower than the other now?

yeah, at first it would take a while for it to drop on one side, now, you can hear the air hissing out from the left air spring and looks bad...real low on the left....

I didn't know the springs would pop. I always thought it was the bag!?:dunno:

Air spring= bag.

Assuming he is referring to the rear suspension, since that's what the tags indicate.

The OP said he purchased 2 springs. I assumed from the RealOEM diagram that he is referring to Part #1 Pneumatic Springs for the left and right side. Whereas Part #8 is the bag, which there is only 1 of for the rear suspension. Right?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/s/p/258.png

Yup, it's #1 in the diagram, there's a left and right, I would replace both anyways.
Thank you guys,

Removing and installing/replacing rear left or right air spring
 

This may help if you don't have the Bentley manual

Many Thanks!!
Will let you know how it turns out!

By the way... part# 8 in that is not a bag, in that metal hump is the compressor motor, it's power relay (30-87 relay), and air control valving/solenoids.

8 is the pump/compressor.

G-damn. Learn something new everyday!

Rear Left Air Suspension Collapsed
 

Hi guys, so I'm having the same problem with my rear left air suspension...you can hear the air escaping and takes a lot to fill up...so do I need to change the pneumatic spring or can it be something else like a seal? If It is the pneumatic spring then I see in RealOEM that there are 4 different models for it (although 3 of them have the same part number).

NORMAL
SPORT SUSPENSION
2-AXLE SELF-LEVELING SUSPENSION
2-AXLE SELF-LEVELING SUSPENSION + SPORT SUSPENSION

Mine is a 2001 4.4i SPORT so I know I have sport suspension...but what about the 2-AXLE SELF-LEVELING, how do I know if I have that? Thanks guys!

The air suspension is what makes it self leveling. So you would need the bags for with leveling and sport. And 19 times out of 20 it is the air spring that is leaking, but a spray bottle with some soapy water can help confirm this while it is leaking.

Did you DIY? I'd (We'd?) appreciate a follow-up to this. I'm in the same boat and it would be great to know if this is a simple DIY. From the link posted prior, it doesn't seem to be that bad. Just wanted confirmation and advice regarding tips or tricks. Thanks!

real easy DIY, after the car is jacked up and the wheels off it'll take about 5 minutes per side.

yes, nothing to it, I didn't even take the wheels off.....every now and then I will still get the susp, inactive message tho....

Thanks for the follow up guys. I've ordered the springs. One thing though, in the TIS, it says to activate and fill air suspension system using the BMW diagnosis system and to check pressure at the air springs. Do I need to worry about this? I would think the system would fill itself. I was planning to replace the control fuse and allow the pump to do its thing prior to lowering the vehicle. What did everyone else do?

I wouldn't worry about it unless you kept getting messages on your OBC, but in my case, it was plug and play, did not have to do anything besides just replacing the air springs!
Good luck! let us know how it goes....

Will do. Parts en route.

Thanks to all for the valuable information and encouragement. Threads like this make this forum very enjoyable and enhance the BMW experience.

What was the part number from Tischer? I just tried placing an order with them and its $337 for one air spring. I do have a 02 4.6 but assumed the air spring would be the same regardless of the model.

Never mind. Some issue on there end. The part number I need is 37126750355 and it is 157.99. My local dealer wants over $300 for this part.

Hi, can anybody tell me if changing this "pneumatic (air) spring" is a DIY job and do you need any specialized tools? Any idea how big of a job this is (time)? My rear left has got a leak and I need to change this, were thinking of doing it myself.

Thanks,
Raimond

I just completed this work yesterday thanks to the support of this thread. It is definitely a DIY. It took me two hours. Most of my time was spent removing the rear trim panels, jacking up the vehicle and removing the wheels. The TIS pdf on the first page of the thread is all that you need. Anything that is slightly unclear will become clear to you once you get started.

As far as tools, you need:

jack
jack stands
torque wrench
socket wrench
socket extension
10 mm socket to remove trim panel nuts
19 mm socket to remove wheel lugs
phillips head screwdriver
small adjustable wrench or box wrench for "banjo bolt"
small flat blade screwdriver to help remove retaining clips holding air spring from above
pliers to remove air spring retaining clip from below

Good luck!

EDIT: Don't forget to chock your front wheels before jacking!

Thanks Scchang, that's a great help will keep you posted on the progress.
Raimond

You're welcome. Please see edit to my post.

OK, just replaced the driver side air spring today. This thread was a great help. It was very easy except for getting the new spring in, would help to have another person but I managed with my long arms.

Someone mentioned they didn't even need to remove the wheel for this job, but I don't see how that is possible. I tried with the wheel on and found no way of guiding the old spring out.

The spring is basically held on by 2 clips on top of the spring and one on the bottom.

I agree that doing this without removing the wheel would be very difficult if it were possible.

I was able to place the new spring by myself by compressing the spring, pushing it up and supporting it from the bottom with a roll of duct tape. I placed the upper two clips then removed the roll of tape, pulled the lower part of the spring down to engage the plastic bottom piece in the hole and placed the lower clip.

What is the roll of tape? I just bought a pair of air spring and plan to do it in coming days, but I do not find any roll of tape on the new air springs. Please give me s hint on this. Thanks!

The roll of tape was just to temporally raise the spring so he could attach the top clips, this will be clear when you do the job. Its not a needed part to complete the job, just what he used to assist in the install.

Just follow the DIY on this thread and anything that is unclear will become clear as you proceed. GL

Thanks a lot for clarification!

On a similar note, can someone share instructions on replacing the front left/right air sping?

Mission accomplished ladies & gents. Thank you for all of your comments and the DIY manual.

After taking off the tire and some minor parts (spare tire, plastic housing for jack accessories), it took 5 minutes to change.

I went ahead and order a door actuator at the same time and repaired that too.

Now my 01 X5 baby feels like a baby again.

TIS: Replacing front left or right air spring strut
 

Here is the TIS and also a couple more to help with air suspension system.

Hi,

I tried to download the documents you posted but they seem to be 1 page one each, wich missing text and phrases...

Thanks

I was printing them as document page instead of complete document.
I uploaded them again. :thumbup:

My turn ...
 

Well, looks like I have a leak in my front driver side airstrut. Will put her into the shop and diagnose a clunking in the same area. Will let them confirm that I, in fact, have a leaky airstrut.

I did some tests using the laptop GT1 and my sensors seem fine. Did a visual inspection near the sensors and didn't see any bent items.

I might have the same problem with the rear driver side air spring. Its weird that I only have problems with the left side. :confused: Recently sometimes the whole left side is lower.

I'd rather have to deal with both fronts or both rears. Might just have to do all four! :yikes:

Well, if it makes you feel any better my rears are starting to leak down too. Of course I only have to deal with the rear as I don't have 4-wheel air. At least I got 97k miles out of them I guess.

No, it doesn't make me feel better. Makes me feel worse that you got the bug too.

I'm just wondering if lowering the suspension had anything to do with it. Well, after the shop looks at it Wednesday maybe I'll have more insight.

Last time I put her in for the clunking I expected multiple things and they put in new balljoints, CV outer boots, etc.

This time I'm fairly confident that the airstrut is bad BUT I think there might be more. The wheel at that strut is locking up prematurely every time I come to a fast stop. Even regular stops can be a problem. We'll see.

Is it that you feel that wheel that wheel clunk back more than the other when the brakes are applied sharply? If so it could be the thrust arm bushings getting weaker, and for some reason one side will usually wear faster than the other... I recently swapped over to the Meyle HD bushings and they feel pretty good.

I guess. It's like the wheel is not securely connected or the strut is not securely connected to the body. There's definitely play. Weird but I don't remember ABS lights coming on but I feel the vibration from ABS when I'm on the brake. Thanks for the tip. I'll mention this to the shop.

Update on front strut availability from Arnott Industries
 

FYI ... I just got the last pair of front air struts from Arnott. They just received stock and only got 3. Two were backorders in front of me. Probably guys from this board! :D

They have 2 more of one (can't remember which side) but not the other.

Well, got confirmation the front driver side air strut has a leak. Shop said dealer friends mentioned that the front left has a history of going bad before the others. They didn't say why.

The clunking sound was from the strut being so low it had no more travel.

Having them replace both fronts with struts from Arnott Industries. Cost for the struts was $399 each plus $38 shipping. They supply you with a UPS return label to return the cores and you receive $100 credit for each core returned.

They mentioned that it would need a ride height adjustment afterwards but I said I'd take care of it myself, of course.

The rear left was low too but they said that it would probably go back to normal. They said the 3 others were tight and held pressure. I hope so.

I think I'll bring the ride height back to stock just in case that's what might have led to the premature failure.

I'll update once I get the X back from the shop.

Anyone have a valve body bad instead of spring.
 

My left rear suspension sags intermittently. Once you open door air compressor starts and fills it.
It must be a slow leak. Everybody says just put in the $180 air spring bag.

Looking at the plastic pipes routing to the an air control block which in turn
goes to compressor seems to offer many fail points. Someone mentioned replacing O rings.

Anyone had just the air supply tubing go bad and not spring itself??

Hate to do the classic buy the part and it doesn't fix it!

hey tomgtv,
in my case, it was pretty obvious that the problem were the airbags, they had cracks on them, once I replaced them, problems gone :)
keep in mind, that when you replace them, you either need the dealer, or a gt1 to calibrate them.

I replaced the front air struts a year ago and the air suspension has been performing flawless until recent. Occasionally I will walk out to the X5 after it has been parked and the entire rear end of the car is fully deflated and bottomed out. Both sides drop and are fully bottomed out. This only happens occasionally. Does this sound like both air springs in the back are leaking or possibly a leak in the line from the compressor or could it be a ride height sensor?

If your rear bottom rises after you unlock your car or start the engine, then the level sensors work well. I believe it is the leakage, you need to replace both air bag.

yep, replace both rear air bags and you should be good to go. When i tested mine with soapy water, there was a big area that foamed up because the air bag had become porus. Everybody, including the dealer says if one rear bag goes, the other one isn't far behind that's why you should just replace both. Super easy to do... It's just a couple of clips holding the bags in. It will take you longer to get all of the covers off to get to the top of the bags than it will to swap them out...

After I replaced both of rear air springs, I had to use the gt1 to get them levelled, new bags aren't perfect, so you gotta tell the computer if one side is off and level it.

It sounds like leaky rear bags, do both, they are 200 bucks for the pair from Arnott industries. Make sure you don't wait too long or you'll burn out the compressor.

I tought that even if the new airbag is not 100% exactly as the old one, the height of the truck should be dependant of the height sensor, so if the new airbag is 1/8'' longer for example, the feedback of the ride height sensor will tell the controller to put les air in the bag to level the truck.
What the controller tries to do is to get the readings from the sensors as they were during the calibration, unless the sensors are not used the way I think they are?

Thanks for the feedback guys. They don't deflate regularly but then again when the fronts were failing it started that way. It is convenient that they are failing at the same time. I'm not getting the lean to one side like when the fronts failed. Looks like Ill be ordering some new ones from Arnott. The fronts that I got from them have worked perfectly! Does anyone have a DIY for replacing the rear air springs? By the way the X5 is an 05 with 70,000 miles on it if anyone was curious.

Yeah, when I open the drivers door or start the car the rear end pumps back up to normal ride height. It generally stays there so I think the bags are probably getting porous and just starting to fail.

I'm swapping my air ride system for rear springs and am getting rid of the compressor, air bags (3 months old), +1 original one, air tanks hoses, leveler switches and everything else that comes with it. I haven't figured out a price yet but some of you might want to take advantage of this deal and message me.

thanks

Why do you need to replace the compressor and hoses and others? Do they have problem? If only the spring bag leaks, you only need to replace bags, no need to touch other stuff at all. Be noted, according to BMW's instruction, rear spring bags must be replaced in pair, single bag replacement is not permitted. Front air struct is permitted to replace in single.

I'm actually pulling all of it out so all I'll have in the rear will be springs instead of having the air bags, compressor, lines, self levelers.... and I'm selling it all as a pack if anyone wants to buy it. I've got plans to pull my battery and electronics up into the vehicle instead of having them under the spare tire and compressor and then run my exhaust out the center of my rear bumper where the hitch currently is. I'll take progress pics.

Wow, that sounds ambitious! Definitely post pics of that. I have been wondering how to do that as it look neat.

Has anyone had experience with leaks coming from hoses, fittings, bad o-rings rather than the air bag leaking? Just curious...

Nope, mine was just the bags, everything else in mint condition. and mine is 12 years old :)

I just ordered H&R front and rear springs which should be here next week. They will lower my ride an inch but I have a 2" lift on it anyways so I'll be fine but it will handle even more amazingly. I spaced my back tires out 20mm on each side and I can feel the difference. The stance look better also.

Question for Gofast guy,
Where did you get your wheel spacers and lift kit?
Thanks!!

The lift kit I got from Fluid Motor Union in the states. Great guys to deal with and it fit like it should right out of the box. And the spacers, surprisingly enough came off my E36 M3. I had to get the centers cut a bit deeper (about 1/8") so they would lie flat on the hub but the center hole was the same size and then I just bought the right length/strength bolts. I also had to drill the bolt holes bigger as well as I recall. I'll take pics before I install the springs.

If you do that, you will spend lot of money and you will be living with warning signal for the rest of your life, not only the warning of 'self leveling susp. inact', but also some other electronics failure warning. Eventaully, you will mess up the whole electronic system of your car and zero resale value. Think it again before you do it.

There won't be that much that is going to chance really. H&R sells the rear spring kits with load leveler arms to trick the computer so you don't get that error message coming up on your dash. As for the location of the computers and battery; if everything works out, they will live about 8" higher into the vehicle then they did before and the moving the exhaust to the middle in just custom piping. My X5 is going to be 10yrs old in January and we all know our toys are not profittable investments and we need to enjoy them. Working on my vehicles keeps me focused on projects which is a tremendous source of stress release for me.

Understood! Have fun!

Now, for almost an entire week my rear suspension has not deflated and bottomed out when left parked... Has anyone else had an experience where the air struts have been inconsistant with loosing air? Is it just sometimes the air bags are in a position that makes them leak and other times not?

One other question to those that have done this job. How did you deflate the system and did you take the fuse out. Did you just loosen the banjo screw like it says in the diy for letting any air out of the system? or was there more to it?

Fuse must be taken out before doing anything on air suspension. My 4.8is also acts like what you said, sometimes the right front drops around 10-15mm, sometimes it holds well. No idea why it acts like this, but I believe it is caused by minor leakage of the air bag, so I am planning to replace both fronts this weekend. Also I am planning to replace both rears sometime later, although they are not leaking, 8 year old vehicle, I guess the time is coming soon.

Our x5 did the same thing before we replaced the air bags. They all went bad within a couple weeks of each other.

To get the air out of the fromt ones, the air will just bleed off as you lossen the air line. The rears, I just yanked the air line off after removing the clip that held it on... your not going to have any weight on the air bag by the time you get to this step.

I assumed that the bags are just leaking. The fronts behaved like this when they where failing. Some days they would stay inflated and other days they would loose all air pressure.

Sockethead: did you remove the fuse when you did the rears? I don't understand what difference it would make to remove the fuse but to be precautionary.

I disconnected the battery. The tech at the dealer told me to do that. he said that the suspension system actually has a sevice mode that the techs use when working on the vehicle. I guess the point is that you don't want the system to see that it's all out of whack while swapping out the parts
I noticed that on my 4.8si, the only fuse I could find for the air suspension was a 5 amp fuse in the panel in the glove box. The two fuse holders for the air suspension in the rear were empty...

Removing the fuse or disconnect the battery prevents from unwanted action by the air system. In some cases, the air bump or the self leveling system acts when you lift the car or when you deflate the air bags, it will results in burt air bump or air accumulator.

My rear air springs arrived today. I was looking over the PDF on how to install them and have a few questions from those who have done this job. Is there anything that fastens the bottom of the air spring? Is it just the clips and air hose on the top that need to be removed and then how does it come out?Just trying to get an idea of the removal process so any information is appreciated.

Impossible! There is a fuse of 30A in the right side of the trunk, the subwoofer side, the most front one. In my 04 4.8is, the fuse is right there.

There is one big clip on the bottom of the air bag and two clips on the top...and the air hose on top. Once you get the air hose off, you can just squeeze it like a balloon to get it out.... it's that easy. It will take longer to get all of the plastic crap in the spare tire well out of the way to get to it :D


Haha that's what I say but I couldn't find one... I'll have to check again in the morning...

Hi Guys,

I'm attempting the rear air driver side air spring replacement. I got the part today. It came in 3 parts, bag, metal O-ring and top metal cap with nozzle and studs.

I got everything unhooked and the old bag out. but now I can't figure out how to get the metal O-ring over the lip of the bag and over the metal cap that leads to the hoses. Any ideas?

I literally spend 3 hours trying every which way to get that thing on there.

Thanks in advance!

I have two rear air springs and a compressor for sale if anyone needs one.
G

Update: I just used an 5"-6" O-ring clamp like you would find in any plumbing application and some rubber sealant. It's now working fine, suspension is where it's supposed to be and the dreaded "Level Control System Malfunction light" is gone. I honestly have no idea how the original ring thing was supposed to go on the bag. If anybody knows I would still like that info as I will be doing the right side I'm sure in the very near future.

Looking at the air springs from Arnott (that is where a lot of folks had gotten their springs from) I see that the part number for rear bag on 2-axle level system is listed as 37126750355 and 37126750356 and these two parts come up in the RealOEM as for the 4.4 and 4.6 models...

The bags for 4.8iS (what I would need) comes up as part number 37121095579 and 37121095580, even though on the diagram they visually look the same.

any idea if the Arnott's rear bags will fit the 4.8iS?

Is there a DIY with the pictures?

I think the rear are so easy to change that no DIY is necessary. Take out all the stuff from the trunk. You will see the air lines go into the springs. Disconnect battery, remove air line, unbolt the sucker, and replace.

I think Arnotts part numbers are correct.

If you look at this link, part number 37116761444 is for the 4.8is.
New RIGHT Front Air Spring for 2000-2006 (w/ 4 corner air leveling ONLY) X5