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Rear passenger side suspension low

Discuss your latest mods or ideas, and anything to do with the BMW X5 (E70).
celica

Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by celica » Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:27 pm

[quote="Graeme"]
It happened to mine about 6 weeks ago.  From memory, a replacement part from BMW was about 240 +VAT.  I got an Arnott unit  for half that from Europarts delivered to the workshop in an hour.  It took my indy mechanic less than half an hour to fit and that included checking the other bag, compressor and pipe unions.  Total cost - less than that for the BMW part. It's a straightforward process and the change does not affect the sensor that controls the variable height of the rear.

Arnott have a good You-tube video to show how it's done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WXxrI5QFdk
[/quote]

Brilliant
Thanks
Will check euro car parts

Came back and was fine with it being parked up several hours, so will keep an eye on it

Will it affect wheel alignment?

Graeme
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by Graeme » Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:32 pm

Examination of the leaky bag on mine with soapy water solution showed a small row of holes along the line where the bag folds as it's compressed/stretched. If you push the sleeve of your sweater up your arm you'll see it fold, pull it down, push it up etc and it will fold at the same place.  On the suspension bag this folding will eventually cause a weak spot in the rubberised canvas along the line of the fold.  The soapy solution on mine showed the other bag was intact.

The leak is slow, so the compressor will pump the car up quickly and it will take several hours to deflate.  I can't see why it should affect wheel alignment as the sensor controls the  compressor to hold it level front to rear.

Graeme

pcdee
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by pcdee » Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:20 am

[quote="celica"]
[quote="pcdee"]
[quote="celica"]
If it's one of those parts then not too pricey
Will find out how much from dealer

Wonder how long it takes for a competent mechanic

But here is how it looks

Image
[/quote]
Got mine done 2years back at Mr Clutch for under £100 for both.
Took them under an hour.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
[/quote]

£100 for both parts and labour!?
[/quote]
Just labour mate.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
X5 E70 3.0D SE

celica

Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by celica » Wed Mar 23, 2016 7:28 am

Thanks, hope my local go to mechanic will be similar or less on labour
What part did you use?


I can't find any on eurocarparts

Anyone know if it affects alignment

Graeme
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by Graeme » Wed Mar 23, 2016 9:54 am

I can't answer your question fully except to say I know he phoned Europarts in Darlington and they had one in stock which they delivered to him. It was an Arnott manufactured part.

celica

Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by celica » Wed Mar 23, 2016 10:05 am

Thanks

I see arnott on google, they are cheaper than BMW supplied but more expensive than eBay apparently oe quality ones

Graeme
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by Graeme » Wed Mar 23, 2016 11:24 am

Well, it was a case of "needs must..."  because the car was needed the next day to carry quite a load.  The part was there, the BMW part was also available immediately at twice the price.  Searching Ebay and getting delivery would have taken a couple of days.  The Arnott part from Europarts  is warranted, and when checking it on arrival it was identical in size and fitments to the defective unit,  so it seemed the most cost effective solution when time was of the essence.

99ron
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by 99ron » Thu Mar 24, 2016 3:14 pm

Hi Celica. You're not having a good time with this X5 are you. :'(
The rear air thing is another one of many common X5 failings. I did mine a while back.
See http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... #msg112817
Bought from p38spares. see also this thread...
http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... #msg121519

I'd do the pair, if one has failed the other will follow.
Took my indie 1 hour to do both! BMW I think charge 2.5 hrs of silly rates.
3.0SD E70 M Sport.
Z4MR E85

celica

Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by celica » Thu Mar 24, 2016 6:59 pm

Thanks both

And yes not too much luck as of late

Also first car which has been problematic as much as this which is annoying

Thanks for the links

Might go for the aerosus
As they are cheaper than arnott, German made with 2 years warranty

pcdee
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by pcdee » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:11 pm

[quote="celica"]
Thanks both

And yes not too much luck as of late

Also first car which has been problematic as much as this which is annoying

Thanks for the links

Might go for the aerosus
As they are cheaper than arnott, German made with 2 years warranty
[/quote]
I have Areosus on mine. 

They are cheaper and I've had them for over 2 years now without any issues.

I ordered through Amazon Germany.


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X5 E70 3.0D SE

celica

Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by celica » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:46 pm

Pcdee
Thanks

I'm still waiting to hear back from mechanic

Not much reviews on aerosus vs arnott which made me start thinking on quality

But a single arnott is about £190 whilst can get a pair of aerosus for same money

Decided to stay away eBay non branded ones though

Looked through ECP and GSF but nothing

celica

Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by celica » Wed Apr 06, 2016 10:34 am

Updated in the following thread for reference

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 482.0.html

Intravenous de milo
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by Intravenous de milo » Wed Apr 06, 2016 1:32 pm

[quote="pcdee"]
[quote="celica"]
If it's one of those parts then not too pricey
Will find out how much from dealer

Wonder how long it takes for a competent mechanic

But here is how it looks

Image
[/quote]
Got mine done 2years back at Mr Clutch for under £100 for both.
Took them under an hour.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
[/quote]

Same happened to mine, bought a pair of airbags from ebay for about £70, fitted by my local mechanic £50 although he could not fit one of them as the profite was not the same as the other side and air pipe would not stay attached. Fortunately, not the faulty side and he thought the non-faulty one had been changed within the last year.

I too had a Celica before the X5 - I miss that reliability!

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Yaz40D
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Re: Rear passenger side suspension low

Post by Yaz40D » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:25 am

Mines just went 2 nights ago. Noticed it was leaking gradually over night for a few weeks. But Saturday night there it came up with a warning "system level failure" and the rear passenger side just dropped. Luckily was less than a mile from home. Called in a favour and got it fixed yesterday (Monday). Part was from euro I'm sure and I paid all in £214 that's labour included. Think that's not to bad considering I was expecting nearer £400 to £500. Took less than an hour to do at local Indy.
2010 X5 xdrive40d in Bronze

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