Self levelling suspension inactive...

[MIKEF]

Hi New member here

Have a 53 4.4n62 X5 and after my first 1000miles this message has popped up.
The car has 4 wheel air suspension and is riding too high at the rear the dash control is also inactive.
I have had it scanned at a local(Glasgow) German car specialist who has tested the compressor its running and unloading when instructed from the laptop. The only error message on the diagnostic was front load sensor receiving too high a voltage.

This will be a secondary/winter vehicle for me and i intend on keeping it a while so would be interested to hear from anyone who has experienced similar symptoms.

As I'll be keeping the car for a while I would seriously consider converting to a standard suspension set up be it oe equipment or coilovers. I know quite a few owners across the pond have done this but I would love to hear from anyone in the UK who has gone down this route.

cheers

Mike

[Raj]

Hi Mike,

Welcome aboard firstly.

As for the suspension, if the dash switch is not illuminated then I'd be inclined to think the control module may be at fault.

I've a 4.8is with full air suspension and I've had quite a bit of it replaced. Now had the OSF air bag go so am going down the coilover route. I'll be removing all of the air suspension components from my motor so if you need anything to repair yours then let me know.

Cheers,

Raj

[MIKEF]

Thanks Raj

Do you have a realoem link to the part?

When are your components available and do you have an install date along with prices?

What coilovers are you going to be using kw?

Cheers

Mike

[Raj]

[quote="MIKEF"]
Thanks Raj

Do you have a realoem link to the part?

When are your components available and do you have an install date along with prices?

What coilovers are you going to be using kw?

Cheers

Mike
[/quote]

Hi Mike

Will have to have a look for the part number.

As for install, next Saturday is the hopeful date at present.

I'm going the KW variant 3's route.

Cheers,

Raj.

[MIKEF]

Good stuff Raj

The car is booked back in again on Thursday so I'll keep in touch re parts. Do you have prices in mind?

Mike

[Raj]

Depends on which part etc as most are only 18 months old, etc.

Pm me your number and we can chat about it.

[malc1950]

This has just appeared on the display on my 2004 e53 facelift auto diesel , the car is sitting ok and feels ok when driving , i cant find any faults with my 1.4.0 scanner relating to the suspension, help needed  :doh:
fuse ok,  Malc     

[X5Sport]

Is it there all the time, or has it cleared again?  It is not unusual for this fault to appear when the battery is starting to go bad.  If you don't already do so it is well worth switching the ignition to Pos2 (all lights on), counting to three and then crank the car.  When the battery starts to fade the modules may take longer to boot correctly and all kinds of wierd things get thrown up to frighten drivers. 

My E53 used to throw this one and the Trans Failsafe error until a new battery was fitted.  The starting current used to drop the battery volts to a point where the computers twitched and fell over momentarily.  No fault codes ever stored.

Richard

[shadrack]

[quote="malc1950"]
This has just appeared on the display on my 2004 e53 facelift auto diesel , the car is sitting ok and feels ok when driving , i cant find any faults with my 1.4.0 scanner relating to the suspension, help needed  :doh:
fuse ok,  Malc   
[/quote]
as x5 sport says, i got this after my car was stood for 5 weeks (battery went flat) anyway i jumped it off and it was fine for a week but kept throwing up this message, i too had no fault codes and no visual affects of inactive sus, so i gave it a night on the trickle charger and weeeeeeeeeey it was cured, this was 4 months since now and not seen the message again!

[malc1950]

Thanks  for both your comments, the fault has been there for 2 days now, i suspected the battery to as i went away for ten days when i got back the car started first time no problem , but weeks later 25 min with my ignition on the battery went flat , the wabasto heater is showing signs of a low battery also, i fitted the battery 8 mths ago a Bosch S4  had it drop tested 3 weeks ago and the garage that did it said it was ok but i still have my doubts, will trickle charge it at the weekend and see if the heater fires up and the fault goes away,

[X5Sport]

If you're ever in the position of either not using the car for a while, and/or only doing short journeys then I thoroughly recommend the CTEK 8-stage 'conditioner/chargers' as they do wonders for these batteries.  I have one of the older models and keep all three cars topped up (we both work from home now so journey's not long enough to keep the batteries topped up), and we know these beasts are power hungry!!

BMW chargers are rebadged CTEK units.

R

[malc1950]

Yes i think that's my problem now i have finished work and where i was doing 40 miles a day to work and back some days i don't use the car at all or just a short trip to the shops and back and to make it worse i go away 4 or 5 times a year for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, i think i shall take your advise and invest in battery condition charger, i did what you said regarding starting the X waiting 3 seconds with ignition on then start it and the the display fault  for the suspension has now gone    :victory:

[X5Sport]

This CTEK is the later version of the one I have.  They're often on a deal somewhere which brings the price down to something more reasonable......the MXS 5.0 is a lower output option to consider if you do go down that route...

Charges the car battery in about 12-18 hours depending upon condition.

Richard

[malc1950]

Thanks Richard i have seen them on ebay will order one next week , i am going to put the x on charge for 5 or
6 hr later on to see if the wabasto will then fire up with a fully charged battery  :holdbreath:

[storminmike]

Sorry to bump this but my HIDS seem to be provoking the self level message?

It may be a co-incidence but the car starts fine...no problem at all and does 2x25 mile journeys a day. I've noticed that if I start it then a few seconds later put the HIDS on I can drive off.....and then the self level warning comes on. This does not happen in daylight whatsoever.

The fault can be cleared with engine off key out and restart...weird that the battery seems to have way enough oomph.....coincidence?

Facelift rear bags only....no droop by the way...the car that is