Selfleveling Suspension inact. - another one!

[jaynana]

getting this message from yesterday  :'(

usual suspect - battery is only 2 months old, not been through any other electrical drama in the recent past either..  got this yesterday am, stopped car, restarted - msg came up in a few secs. started car last ev. - msg present. started car today am - msg present.

so where do i start..

1. will certainly hook up diagnostics and try clearing errors first - but unlikely. cos i know if the error is not present this msg usually goes off on restart.

2. thinking of replacing the level sensors first - item 19 here and for what its worth 20 too. should be a diy job for dummies i hope..

any other thoughts, short of coil-overs??

[Steamyrotter]

If it is holding the level OK and you cant find the fault...
Just turn the warning off in the inst cluster settings

[jaynana]

yeah, holding level ok

warning off from inst. cluster - on diagnostics or in the obc hidden menu? i guess they both do the same thing?

[Steamyrotter]

May need something a little more powerful / risky...
NCS Expert or similar

[alan11]

I've had this same problem.  It was caused by water getting into the load space and into the battery box (which has no drain holes), soaking the electronics that are adjacent to the battery (ie under the spare wheel, under the compressor 'hump' and under the black plastic cover held in place by three crosshead screws).  The self levelling suspension module (EHC) in my car was partly submerged, but enough to destroy it. It must have been under water for weeks because over an inch of water had accumulated in the battery compartment. The water was getting in via the rear RHS tailgate light, where the outer lens had split away from the remainder of the light fitting.

I bought the BMW 1.4.0 scanner (by PA-Soft), as advertised on the Web, and used it to turn off the warning message on the dash.  At present the rear suspension is up but not completely level, but without the EHC working, the self levelling system will not work.  I've now drilled some 6mm diameter holes in the bottom of the battery compartment to ensure that water cannot build-up in there again, and I've fixed the light cluster.  I'm now considering replacing the air suspension on the rear with coil springs because a new EHC unit is very expensive (for what it is) and if you just read these forums, you quickly begin to realise that once the air suspension starts to go wrong it's a money pit.

Alan

[jaynana]

a lot of helpful info in this thread

[jaynana]

Sounds like I might be let off lightly this time