im sure its a common problem

[teknix]

i have just purchased a 2001 x5 sport 

and some times the dash says that the self levelling suspension is inact

but other times it works fine 

any advise would be welcomed 

when is shows the suspension is hard as nails but most the 

time is smooth as silk

[Greydog]

Morning Terence 

Welcome to the Forum

First when you say the suspension is hard as nails it hasn't gone down has it? If it has then you have a leak as well as pump not running. Normally if the "susp inact" message is on the air bags are inflated and don't deflate so ride shouldn't change?

The "suspension Inactive" warning most times is caused by low battery voltages, however if your battery is healthy and the charging system working properly then you can check the sytem which is not as scary as many think.

Inside the boot right hand side check the fuses (1) 7.5a and (1) 30a my 4.4 kept randomly throwing the warning both fuses were fine but I changed the 30a no more issues ???

Check the air suspension relay located with the pump under the dome

Check the level sensors your car like mine is getting on in years the level sensors have a knee joint if it starts to stick it can cause the problem as the car thinks one side is at a different level. WD40 to free it up then some spray grease to keep it free (chain lube) worked for me. Also if someone has worked on it and replaced them wrongly (the joint should point to the outside of the car) they cant work correctly and will throw the fault.

Dave 

[teknix]

Hi Dave sorry for the delay in my response (wife has been in hospital) 

the suspension has not gone down it stays at to me looks a normal height.

i have checked under the boot covers and found the big pipe that should go to the 

shock on the passenger side is disconnected i have no idea how or why but 

this weekend i am going to strip the boot panels out and refit the pipe and see what happens

fingers crossed this is my problem.

[Greydog]

Morning

If the big pipe to the top of the air spring is off that will be it also the suspension will be down as it can't hold air. There should be a locking clip at the end which pushes over the air spring which locks it in place some are plastic so check it's not missing or broken. Sounds as though someone has been in there if the car has been driven on the bump stops it will be rock hard lets hope the air springs are OK.

Hope your wife is better

Dave

[teknix]

thank you Dave the old cow is fine now lol 😄 

and i had a big surprise in the boot after stripping everything out i found i have springs

not air bags!!! must be a conversion so maybe need to find a way to remove the warning

from the ecu?

 

[Greydog]

Ha Ha that will do it removing the Suspension Inact message is a "check box to disable" you need a friendly soul with INPA or BMW 1.4.0 or similar you can select which check warnings are displayed at start up.

I don't understand why people are scared of the air suspension systems and swap them for springs when the air systems are simple to work on particularly the rear only self leveling systems on most X5's. 

The wife doesn't read the forum then He He

Dave

Should have said if you find the friendly soul if the look at the LCM module you can see all items in the "Check Control" just un-tick the suspension