Self levelling system failure warning.

Leslie · Post by **Leslie** » Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:38 pm

If its making a noise its not the fuse ,mine was blowing the fuse as it had jammed .Spray soapy water over the airbags just to confirm you have no leaks but if they are new then they should be fine . I have to do this on mine yet and would be buying the Arnott bags too .Id also take the plastic cover off the compressor and check for leaks where the red and blue pipes go in the solenoid and the back of the compressor too as mice can chew the pipes.
The alarm relates to the suspension not reaching full height in a certain time I think, mine alarmed after about 2 mins or less . If the compressor got louder then id say its probably on the way out ,mine didn't last much over a month after the alarms started and they appeared much more frequently as time went on till it was every run.
You can buy a new piston ring and head kit (about £35) for the AMK compressors on Ebay but although the piston ring does wear ,bearing can fail too and that's probably what happened mine then a piece went though the piston. The bmw/amk genuine ones have a date on them which Id look at , if its 10 years old then its got to be on its last legs. You might find its an aftermarket cheaper aerosus one like mine had and there are no parts for these as far as I know. Yours sounds like you have no pressure build up in the system , when mine failed only one side went down , I guess its tries to raise the low side but there is no pressure so it drops instead. If the compressor is running but its not lifting and you can't find any leaks it has to be the compressor.

devm69_x5 · Post by **devm69_x5** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 1:05 pm

the thing that's confusing me- and I agree about the fuses etc. is the level of noise I hear from the car- I know its hard to tell where exactly the noise is coming from but its definitely coming from the driver side of the engine bay- not from underneath passenger which is where I thought the compressor was located, I have been reading about the solenoid valve block- arnott one below which I was thinking might be in that location of the engine bay but been finding it hard to tell from pics/youtube stuff about the x5
I don't want to replace the compressor if the noise isn't coming from the compressor itself ? make sense ?

https://www.arnotteurope.com/catalog/pr ... ategory/2/

devm69_x5 · Post by **devm69_x5** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:35 pm

just realised- that the compressor for a RHD car in UK will be under the driver side which is where the noise is coming from, so going to get a new compressor from arnott- looking at the P-3221 compressor with solenoid valve- lot of the compressors talk about needing to replace the relay as well- does anyone know which one that relates to ?

Leslie · Post by **Leslie** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:54 pm

The relay I think is in the rear fuse box and its black, I didn't replace mine . If it was faulty the compressor wouldn't run id have thought .
Yes on uk cars the compressor is under drivers door behind the sill and easy to reach.
This shows where the relay is supposed to be but buying the relay and bracket and valve block puts the cost up £100 :

Good video how to here but those 4 pipes under the pump were not on mine so easier to access:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVzQr6qJpHk

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-E70-2 ... rk:13:pf:0

devm69_x5 · Post by **devm69_x5** » Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:10 pm

I ended up buying the Arnott P-3221 compressor, would have done myself if I had time or ramp- hours work at the most by local mechanic and all done- Seems to be actually better than before but maybe just down to how bad it felt driving it with no air, like driving a fairground ride bobbing up and down on any bumps. Anyway all good now. I didn't change the relay either and mechanic though was only needed to keep warranty which mines is out of anyway ie new compressor old relay could screw up later down the line.
So I now have the old compressor which is original BMW (AMK), you can get a repair kit which would I think could do myself to bring it back to life , but issue might be testing it before selling it.

if anyone interested in the old compressor for maybe someone who has the same issues which I am sure will be lots of you, then can sell on. would be a decent way to get it rebuilt on the desk then swap out if your getting any compressor noise at start up or driving, as it will definitely fail at some point soon.

Leslie · Post by **Leslie** » Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:56 am

The ride sure is rough with no air as you are on the bump stops. Glad you got it fixed there is a repair kit yes but it may not fix all the problems like worn bearings it will only restore lost compression with a new piston ring and cylinder head as the bore is in it and can wear badly too. I now think they have a life of about 5 years if you are lucky ,mine was the 3rd at least and just turning 10 this month.

Leslie · Post by **Leslie** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 7:46 pm

Well the compressor ran for what seems like about a minute tonight as I moved off uphill then level system failure appeared not long after , doesn't appear to be down at the back at the minute , car starting to self destruct now at high mileage it seems, one fault after another

Air suspension been perfect since I put a compressor in almost exactly 4 years ago. I hate having to fix the same issues a second time when you keep a car too long

Leslie · Post by **Leslie** » Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:33 pm

Well if I wait 30 secs before moving off no alarms as it take the compressor that long to pump the system up again but now if the weight is on the rear due to a hill etc the left rear goes down overnight or even in a couple of hours , it wasn't going down on my drive as it slopes of a little forward and too the right meaning the weight is shifted more to the right and front overnight so was masking the issue.

Have ordered an Arnott replacement not a cheapy which will likely fail again in a year as they are about half as thick rubber in them .
One headlight has went out now too in sympathy this morn

I have adaptive xenon's so I hope it's just a bulb , have just ordered a D1s Osram Xenarc replacement .

2023 not off to a great start

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