2005 BMW 4.8is AIR LEVEL PROBLEMS AGAIN
 

i have a 2005 x5 4.8is, ive been having so many problems with this damn suv, im to the point im tired of messing with it and ready to sell it!. ive had it to 2 shops and 1 BMW dealer and none of them can figure out whats wrong with. first i replaced the air ride supply control module with a used one and had it reflashed, that worked for a day then i took it to the dealer i spent 600 dollars there and they said the module was fine but it needs a right rear sensor, so i had them replace the sensor, so when they went to reprogram it they said that the module wouldnt program and it needs a new module (which is almost 800 dollars) but i got one off ecs tuning for 660. had that programed and now the left front sensor is reading back wards. has anyone ran into that problem? if so please let me know. thanks

I've had meny problems with mine too. i just replaced my two front sensors. the front sensors are the same right to left and i think the tech needs to tell the car what side its on. It took my tech about a half hour or so to set up the everything with the system. what is yours doing exactly? Is it falling down or one corner going down?

right now its pumped all the way up in the front and rear, they are saying that the left front sensor is reading negative voltage and thats causing it to set the light, im just tired of dumping money in this thing. ive spent 1600 on it in the last 2 months and the air ride has been a headache for 4 months!!

so far we have narrowed t down to not being the module since its new and we have swapped the left sensor with right front sensor and it still reads negative voltage, i shoulda stayed with GM then i could scan it since i have a tech 2

Mines been a headache since day one. just spent about the same on mine and I did all the work my self. 2 front sensors 2 front bags and a pump. come to find out after i bought the pump and the old one wasn't bad just making noise because it was loose. where are u located? I never bought a scan tool so i bring mine to avenue imports here in palm beach. they tell me whats wrong and i pay him just for his time he spends with his scan tool. he has a GT1.

My ride height knock on wood stays perfect but my height controller doesnt work, I replaced 2 arnott struts and havent lost air in any of the corners to date, the previous owner replaced the control module.


i think if i replace the compressor my ride height should work, it's probably fried from being overworked when the front struts were leaking.

So here is some help for you guys. Not sure if this will help. All this is from the service history. LF front strut failure and all the shit that the dealer replaced. The dates is the complaint date and the repair date.

01/11/2010 FRONT SPRING STRUT, AIR SUSPENSION (LF) LEAKING
01/18/2010 FRONT SPRING STRUT, AIR SUSPENSION (LF) LEAKING
01/21/2011 AIR SUSPENSION - TRACK ROD LOOSE
04/08/2011 ACCUMULATOR/VALVE UNIT, AIR SUSPENSION (LF) PERMANENT
MALFUNCTION
05/05/2011 AIR SUSPENSION - AIR SUPPLY UNIT PERMANENT MALFUNCTION
05/05/2011 Air supply system for air suspension (LF) permanent malfunction
06/20/2011 AIR SUSPENSION - AIR SUPPLY UNIT PERMANENT MALFUNCTION

So after all of this, and the previous owner paying $50 per visit under CPO, he still paid $350 out of pocket to get it fixed.

All this really tells me, is that the dealer mechs don't know what they are doing either. It seems like they are just replacing shit, and hoping for the best.

With all these issue, and if someone is dropping over $1k into this system, it might be a good idea to switch to coils, and have someone disable the air ride in the computer.

After reading all these posts on the issue, it looks like the following happens.

First, your air spring fails. Car drops. So related components are now air contaminated, which means moisture contaminated. Also your compressor is working overtime to keep it inflated. So, if you neglect the issue, your compressor will fail. I also suspect that your valve unit will fail as well. Think of it like this, if compressor is working a lot, that air, is hot. Aluminum valve unit and fittings start expanding, also leaking. The car also tries to auto level, this I suspect is also done through the valve unit. I am sure it balances the pressure side to side. With leaking shit, I suspect that valve unit working like crazy to keep the car level. Look above, at service. Dealer kept dealing with the left front spring non stop. Accumulator failed, and valve unit failed, I am sure as a result of not addressing the issue promptly.

If your car is jacked up, I suspect the valve unit took a dump, or some sort of electrical relay. Something is not letting it dump excess air.

Why is this system so retarded? I just don't understand why it fails so often and so drastic.

But I have to say, if your car drops one spring, you need to disable the damn compressor right away, not drive the thing, and replace the spring asap. If you keep driving, you are probably going to make other components fail.

rc im in indiana and slickgt1 i havent replaced any of the air struts yet

its letting air out it just wont level since the left is reading negative voltage, im going to run 3 new wires from the sensor to the module and see if that fixes the problem because if it does then theres a break in the wires going to and from the sensor to the module

Seems that the 4 corner air suspension is problematic. I have over 150k miles on my stock '03 4.4 spt pkg X5, even having used the X for thousands of miles fully loaded and towing a 6k lb trailer all air suspension components are original. Was wanting to find an X with the full air system when I was shopping for my X, but now I'm glad I couldn't find one I wanted to own.