X5 REAR SUSPENSION CONVERSION

[MIKEF]

Hi

I'm looking for some advice I have a 2004 53 4.4 N62 sport.

The car originally had air suspension front and rear.

The car has adjustable height with dash button to the right of steering wheel.

Before my ownership the fronts have been converted to standard shocks and springs.

I have been getting a lot of self level suspension inactive messages I'v had various level sensors changed but the problem keep reappearing. My garage who have been doing the work are pretty much at a loss with it.

What I would like to do is ditch the air set up completely and I need to know what is involved in converting the rear using BMW parts. I'd rather not go down the coilover route as I don't think the value of the car justifies the expense.

I'm open to any suggestions and advice.

Many thanks

[graemeX5]

Hi if you pm Raj or do a search for his suspension replacement that should help as he replaced all of his on his 4.8

[Raj]

If you had full air suspension initially and just the fronts were changed to stock spring/shock setup, then how was the vehicle coded out to just show rear? That could be why you keep getting error warnings.

If you are looking to now remove the rear air suspension then all you need is the springs and parts 13, 14 and 15 from HERE

Oh and of course get the X coded out for the error messages. You can get it completely recoded so it thinks it never had air suspension to start with BUT that is a lot of coding work and expensive. I just removed the check control message from the dash.

[Horizon]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E53-X5-Re ... 3f1f9bb0e4

I have found these on ebay, dont know if they are any good, Raj will be able to advise if they are the correct bits
It also says that you can just turn off the fault messages with a scanner.( As stated by Raj ) I think this kit could be a must for me if I begin to get rear suspension problems,

[Raj]

[quote="Horizon"]
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E53-X5-Re ... 3f1f9bb0e4

I have found these on ebay, dont know if they are any good, Raj will be able to advise if they are the correct bits
[/quote]

Personally I'd go with OE bits if just after stock replacement. Not sure ont he OE spring cost but parts 13, 14 and 15 I linked are only about £40 from memory (maybe even less). I didn't need 13 as I went with coilovers.

It's not too hard to replace either but if you are local to Wolves then happy to fit and code out.

[MIKEF]

Thanks for a quick response guys

Horizon thanks for the link I came across these earlier today.

Raj lovely X5 by the way, I hear what your saying but I put about 3k on the car with no probs then after a long drive in heavy rain the sensors started playing up, they were all corroded internally.


Are there any downsides in what I'm intending to do?

Many thanks

[Raj]

[quote="MIKEF"]
Thanks for a quick response guys

Horizon thanks for the link I came across these earlier today.

Raj lovely X5 by the way, I hear what your saying but I put about 3k on the car with no probs then after a long drive in heavy rain the sensors started playing up, they were all corroded internally.


Are there any downsides in what I'm intending to do?

Many thanks
[/quote]

If the X is sat at normal ride height then the sensors will still think the airbags are at the correct height I guess. Interested to know though.

As for the rest, no downside as far as I'm concerned. I'm loving the ride of the KW's and another member off here is going the same route after a spin in mine.

[MIKEF]

[quote="Raj"]
[quote="MIKEF"]
Thanks for a quick response guys

Horizon thanks for the link I came across these earlier today.

Raj lovely X5 by the way, I hear what your saying but I put about 3k on the car with no probs then after a long drive in heavy rain the sensors started playing up, they were all corroded internally.


Are there any downsides in what I'm intending to do?

Many thanks
[/quote]

If the X is sat at normal ride height then the sensors will still think the airbags are at the correct height I guess. Interested to know though.

As for the rest, no downside as far as I'm concerned. I'm loving the ride of the KW's and another member off here is going the same route after a spin in mine.
[/quote]

Hmm I'm worried that its the sensors that are setting of the self levelling warning.

As it stands just now its sitting at the right height its just this warning on the dash I'm trying to get rid of.

Iv had the codes reset 5 or 6 times and they keep coming back do you think i would need to go to the length of reprogramming the car so it thinks it never had air in the first place?

Also if the car was reprogrammed to think it never had air will that make all the level sensors redundant?

Mike

[Horizon]

I dont think you will need to get the X reprogramed/ coded to tell it there is no air suspension. It is a simple job to tell the check warning system to ignore the air suspension checks,( after you carryout a spring conversion ) as it is not a safety problem, or a fault that requires limp mode to protect the vehicle. A few members have BMW 1.4.0 scanners that can remove the in dash warning messages. so even if the sensors are faulty it wont matter. ( if the warning only comes up once in a while, if you get a scanner for 30 quid off Ebay you can reset the warning yourself . Windows Xp is easier than windows 7 to install on your laptop. I got a cheap laptop on win XP to use with my scanner, as my other is a works one )

[MIKEF]

[quote="Horizon"]
I dont think you will need to get the X reprogramed/ coded to tell it there is no air suspension. It is a simple job to tell the check warning system to ignore the air suspension checks,( after you carryout a spring conversion ) as it is not a safety problem, or a fault that requires limp mode to protect the vehicle. A few members have BMW 1.4.0 scanners that can remove the in dash warning messages. so even if the sensors are faulty it wont matter. ( if the warning only comes up once in a while, if you get a scanner for 30 quid off Ebay you can reset the warning yourself . Windows Xp is easier than windows 7 to install on your laptop. I got a cheap laptop on win XP to use with my scanner, as my other is a works one )
[/quote]

Thanks, nothing to lose really as the conversion can be done for under £200.00 Ill get the parts ordered up and aim to have it completed hopefully by the end of next week.

Is there any value in the parts ie compressor, brain, bags... I'll be removing these as a matter of course, I dont intend on selling the car and i cant imagine anyone reinstating air suspension due to the cars value.

I'll update the thread as I'm sure there will be others our there in the same boat.

Cheers

[Horizon]

You could put the compressor on Ebay, and even the airbags if they look OK, that will recoup some of your expense.
Some members on here have sold their OEM sat nav bits and bobs to fund a decent aftermarket head unit, as the OEM ones are old hat/dated.
Look on Ebay to see how much compressors are going for, maybe cover some of the costs.
P.S. I wouldnt worry about selling the car without air suspension, I would think its a plus if anything.
To be honest I didnt think mine had any air suspension at all until I joined this site.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-E53-E3 ... 2a23b5bfb2


There you go job paid for

[MIKEF]

[quote="Horizon"]
You could put the compressor on Ebay, and even the airbags if they look OK, that will recoup some of your expense.
Some members on here have sold their OEM sat nav bits and bobs to fund a decent aftermarket head unit, as the OEM ones are old hat/dated.
Look on Ebay to see how much compressors are going for, maybe cover some of the costs.
P.S. I wouldnt worry about selling the car without air suspension, I would think its a plus if anything.
To be honest I didnt think mine had any air suspension at all until I joined this site.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-E53-E3 ... 2a23b5bfb2

Cheers, I'm not fussed about resale as the X is ran alongside another car and I'll be keeping it till the engine or box goes. And to be honest if i was looking for another I would welcome one with a documented conversion.

[Raj]

As I mentioned earlier, you won't need to get the complete reprogramming done but it is an option. I just coded out the check control message from the dash but errors will still be logged in the memory. This method will not stop errors being thrown up onto the dash in extreme circumstances, as an example I had to load the X up with 35 packs of laminate (which weigh a bloody fair bit...lol). As the back end dropped quite considerably the sensors still saw a massive difference in level rear to front so I had the errors still ping up and stay on the dash telling me not to exceed 35mph. The thing is if you have OE xenons then you can't just bin the level sensors off as they are used for the auto levelling on the lights and some of the readings are used to help calibrate other electronics like DSC, etc.

I tried to remove the control unit too and found that I had the 4x4 dash error, DSC warning light, ABS light, etc all up on the dash as soon as I started mine up.

The conversion on the rear is simple enough and you can sell bits off like the compressor, airbags, accumulator and valve block to get some money back.

[JAMMA]

I converted the rear of my x5 to coil springs a few months ago. I removed everything to do with the air suspension and switched off the dash error with the BMW scanner software. The car has been spot on since.

[Horizon]

Hi Jamma
Have you got a link to the parts you purchased. This will be a great help to members wishing to carry out the same conversion.
As mentioned above those who have done it are pleased with the ride quality, also if you can recall costs etc that will be a great help. Thanks