Help or I will kill the mechanic.-self lev.suspension
 

ok i bought my car not too long ago and it came with self leveling susp.inactive light on...I bought it being promised they will take care of that.Now after 2 days in the shop the dealership gave me the car back with the same issue..they also had a paper showing 1800$ in repairs..wouldnt be surprised if it was a fake one.
He also said that it was working right after he picked it up from the shop but on the way to the dealership it magically broke down again BUT there is a separate small battery that operates the self leveling suspension in the back of the button that operates the suspension and if the battery is low then the suspension just stays on the middle setting being unable to move up and down.
I havent signed the service papers yet but i brought the car home since i need it for the weekend but monday is going back to them.
Now what the dealership told me sounds like major BS.What do you guys think?I have never heard of a separate button in the car having its own battery ...

That battery thing is BS... Sorry, never heard of it.

When the self level inactive comes on it usually means that something is causing the pump to not turn off or on. Fuses, ride height sensors, bad pump etc... If it was working but now isn't, it probably isn't a bad pump. I'd find a new mechanic. Stay far away from dealerships... we don't call them stealerships for no reason.

im not paying a dime.that was the agreement before i bought the car.Im buying if they fix.We signed papers on this agreement and they need to fix it at no cost on my side.I dont remember last time i went to a dealership to fix things...probably never.
anywho..its going back..worst part it..they wouldnt even give me a loaner..bastards

At least they are fixing it free. Not many dealers will do that for an 8 year old, used car. I bought my X with known problems, but I used those problems to seriously lower the sale price (they were asking over 13, I paid 8 grand plus title and plates)

Consider yourself lucky. I wouldn't complain too much if they are fixing it all at no cost to you.

Was it a written promise? Not sure what you mean by have not signed service papers. I am assuming the retail contract, right? If the promise was written then they have to fulfill the agreement. If you have not sign the retail agreement contract then you should bring it back to them.

Not complaining just venting a little...i had the option of buying it for 15000 out the door$ as is but i was afraid the bill would have been huge with the suspension and paid 16500k and have them fix it.Oh that includes a sensor in the passenger seat too thats acting up..triggers passenger airbag off light...Im more mad that they cant get it done from the first attempt, they call it good then make me bring it back again..

it was a written promise i do not believe anyone nowadays without a written promise..got burnt before..

They should be able to read the fault code in the suspension system, unless it's not a BMW dealer that you buy it from. In which case, bring it to BMW dealer for diagnostic.
I have the fault when I bought mine. It related to the battery going bad due to being park for a long time. I replace the battery, clear the code and all is good.

that would make sense..car sat for a few months..Ill have to see if i have to option of bringing it to another shop and have them pay for it

Tell them they need to fix it or you will bring it back and get the deal unwind.

Check the voltage of the battery, check the output of the alternator. Do a search for hidden OBC functions. You can read both with the display under your gauges.

A sudden drop or spike in alternator voltage can cause all types of errors. Anything from self level to 4x4, to ABS to the red battery light. Same thing with low voltage from the battery. These cars are as sensitive as a menopausal woman when it comes to voltage.

Tmv I think I'm having the same issue since the car sat for a few months..I just had a long talk on the phone with the manager...I told him there's no such thing as a separate battery operating the suspension .i told him a battery might be due since it sat for some time and we had to jump start it when I first test drove it..he agreed to buy a new battery.awesome..why was I so mad for?i forgot..all good brothers..

They also agreed to give me a loaner next time I bring the car in..how come they weren't so nice the first time?

Who knows... just take the loaner and the free repair and smile. :)

Will do for sure!

Is it an actual BMW dealer that you purchased it from?

Hey man, I had air susp problems when I bought my X.

Let me tell you, first off, theres no magic spare battery for air suspension. If the dash is lit up with the error, there is a fault in the system.

I would have the dealer scan the EHCII module for errors, and smoke test the system to be sure you dont have a leak at any of the bags. My front air struts were both shot when I bought the car in December of 2011, replaced with Arnott and all is well.

However, if you have leaking bags and drive too long, the pump gets overworked and the pistol seal on the compressor gets worn out, so you have to repair the compressor in order to keep its operation "within spec" of the module.

If you need any help let me know as I basically had to learn all this myself after I bought my X, and replaced the air struts and compressor to get it working again.


If there are faults in the module and they can scan it for you please post here, more often than not I've seen BMW dealers guess at air suspension issues.

No it's actually a dealer that have a shop they work with..if it was a BMW dealer none of this would have happened.

@RB thanks for your reply.ill def have them check it as it might be much more involving than just the battery you just never know.they said they replaced the airbags but they say a lot of things with no papers in their hands.
I'll def shoot you a pm and /or post here what's wrong when It gets fixed..

the only separate battery in this car (besides the keys) is in the alarm module, or, to be precise, in the siren... on a newer car it is fresh and perky, but as the car gets older and nobody really changes that battery, and all it does, just a peep... but that battery does NOT affect any other performance of the car and the modules within...

if the garage doing the repairs is not a BMW dealer, nor a BMW specialist, they are shooting in the dark - the self-level suspension throws specific codes that can be properly interpreted for a correct repair...

there are a few major components in the system, the pneumatics and electronics... the fault can be in either...

as you take the car from the dealer, and if the car is not to your liking, throw the questions here, on the board, you probably will get an answer within an hour...

oh, and on the contrary to what they might tell you, the new battery does NOT need registering to the car... it just has to be of the proper size, and given that you have the "is", it has to be the biggest (i think the H8 is the one) - if they stick in a tiny baby battery, you will have problems... tell them, if you are buying a battery from a retail outlet, you get 3-5 year warranty and that is what you want with the one they stick in - sometimes new batteries come defective off the shelf... well... more than sometimes...


If you have a chance to read the error memory off the car, get a complete print out for your reference and later do another read out, to see if any of the codes come back...

I'll go to my mechanic tomorrow and see what he says..I'd like to get my own diagnose programs..i know back on the e38 forum Iceman the moderator was selling installed INPA,progman..he would even provide a laptop or you could have sent yours in and have everything installed then shipped back.. etc
Where did you get yours at?i like to work myself as much as I can on my car and the right diagnose saves time and money

bought my inpa/gt1/sss/tis/navcoder/ncsexpert off of ebay from Romanian something for 40$
cleared my suspension code that I bought the truck with that the dealer said 2000$ to fix, 1 year later air ride works perfect no codes

Do you happen to have a link to that Romanian seller on eBay?im interested.

bmwfanatiq
is the name of seller
good tech support
just read instructions for ez instal

Good Luck. And :xoutpost: :D

Does that 40 dollar setup include the cable and software? or just the cable? I thought the cable and software was closer to 80 bucks? Just curious as I'm getting ready to order.

;)

both

Sweet.

Comes with both. I bought a dedicated Dell D620 laptop on ebay for 80 bucks as well, came with fresh install of windows XP, cleaned and clear 60 gb hard drive, and for 120 bucks my "romanian software laptop" works perfectly, most guys on here having troubles connecting to the car and such is because you're installing on your laptops with a bunch of other shit on it, firewalls, virus programs, etc.

The software runs much smoother on a dedicated laptop in my opinion and you can get something fresh for about 80-120 bucks on ebay all day long. A small investment to make in order to tell the dealer to shove it if you have to get diagnosis done, I'd prefer to diagnose the issue and DIY, or if I can't accomplish it, at least bring to my trusted indy to perform repairs and not waste time chasing issues.

Anyone use the OBD II to 20 pins round adapter with the software and hardware from Romania? My X still uses the 20 pins for the majority of the modules, although it does have the OBD II connector for SES DTC.

I haven't personally, do you already have the software suite from him? IIRC he sells the package with a 20 pin adapter and the USB cable as a separate auction for perhaps $20 more?

I have the suite from the romanian guy, and its amazing, I had some trouble installing it originally, but i emailed him, set up a time, and he remotely configured my laptop, (while i was sitting in my X) and walked me through the whole thing. I would recommend plugging a battery charger into the X, because when youre sitting around for a couple hours tinkering with settings and scans, it draws down the battery quite quickly, or maybe i just have a weak battery in mine. either way, i connected a charger, and plugged in my laptop as well, and it is easy to use. the TIS is nice as well.

for what its worth the battery voltage drops quickly whether you are coding for 5 minutes or an hour. Lots of electronics running with key in position 2, I find that sometimes for quick diagnostics its easier to keep the X running.

Too many times I load up DIS and it gives me the "battery voltage too low cannot scan" error lol.

Thanks for the info I'll order it today !
Does it have to be Windows XP or Win 7 will work as well ?

Windows XP 32 Bit works best, it will work on Windows 7 just tougher to get installed I believe.

If you go on his auction make sure your laptop fits the specs, I.e. have at least 1.5ghz processor, 40 gb of free hard drive space and at least 1 gb ram.