Bastard! I've been away at the IOM classic TT all week, I got back yesterday, jumped in the F11 to find the rear of the car riding like a skateboard. The rear of the car looks about 2" lower than normal and is rock-solid with no suspension travel at all. Further, when you switch the car off I can hear a small electric compressor whirring away (that I have never ever heard before) and a hissing sound. I Googled BMW air suspension failure and found that this is a very common fault indeed with cars being affected with as little as 15,000 miles on them. Further research shows that the rear has a self levelling air suspension system with an air-strut (bag) on each side and these become holed. Like I say, it looks really common; http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/5-series-touring-f11-2010/?section=good I haven't even taken a wheel off yet but I am certain that this will be the case with my car. The bags, I am lead to believe, are £380 each from BMW and that they want around £600 per side to do the work. Given their obvious poor reliability, I see no reason to replace these the OEM as it would seem unlikely that a pattern part could/would fail sooner - my car has just turned 32,000 miles and is our family car and driven as such. I found this site; https://aerosus.co.uk/bmw/5-series/f07-f11/bmw-5-series-gt-f07-f10-f11-rear-air-spring-assembly.html who have been very efficient via online chat. I have ordered a pair, paid the extra for next day delivered from Germany and with a £10 discount code I found, they have cost £258 delivered. They have checked compatibility via my VIN and confirmed they will happily take them back within 30 days if they are not required. My mate owns a garage which I have the free use of on Saturday mornings including the ramps. My plan is to receive the parts tomorrow and fit them Saturday morning at the total cost of £258. I found this fitting guide http://arnottinfo.com/manuals/A-2780.pdf posted in another thread by member snrbrtsn . If my parts come with a guide I will scan them or paste a link here as well. Wish me luck...
As you already discovered Sean (snrbrtsn) is your man as he has replaced his on the 5GT. My own 5GT had this exact issue 5 weeks ago, I was fortunate enough that the warranty covered it and I got a brand new F10 to use in the mean time. I'm sure Sean will be along soon should you need any advice.
Sitting in Charles de Gaulle passing time Replied via conversation Re fitting instructions, these are available via the Arnott Air Suspension website, select car model and a link to fitting instructions will be available Ps If you can change the vanos on an M5 c/w valve stem seals you can fit airbags 8 & 10mm spanner to remove level sensor and tuck away, depress the tangs in the lower mount and quarter turn on the top mount, remove bag and a single 10mm brass nut secures the air pipe, these are colour coded blue and red. Best to replace the Fixing nut and sealing washer Installation is a reverse, but be sure to support the weight of car then put ignition on to inflate bag, this way compressor doesn't work so hard
Thanks for the replies. The Aerosus bags arrived today overnight from Germany at £258 all in, I will fit them tomorrow morning and will post how I got on. I'm intending to re-use the brass nut and seal given that I did not think to order replacements and tomorrow morning is my window of opportunity to use my mates 2 post lift. There is a BMW dealer nearby and so I may call them and see if I can get some on the way over there. This seems like a relatively easy job - famous last words....
Copied from conversation: I believe, though haven't checked, the arnott site suggest discarding the bellows that covers the bag, I installed mine with bellows and think it offers additional protection from gravel and dust that's thrown from under car, possibly not the Arnott instructions though do advise refitting. I'm also reluctant to believe in the need to replace both sides, I'd almost certainly suggest you have the typical near side grazing and deflation which will effect both sides, as such I'd be changing the near side only and keep the other unit as a spare allbeit I've run the Aerosus bag for almost three years so testament to their durability in comparison to OEM. Once you have done one you'll amaze yourself at the simplestity, expect first time to take take circa 1 hour, second time round you'll half that time..... Good luck and keep us informed of progress! Ps The new bags will have a white plastic 10mm Ferrell c/w crimp seal in the air hole, placed to allow the hose to be fed in then nipped up, no need for additional parts though your correct, when you remove from the old unit, the fitting comes with the hose so n real need to remove / replace. Grab that window of opportunity!
Thanks Ian, such kind words, I'm simply too tight to pay the dealer, (front brake discs & pads this weekend maybe, x2 9mm Allen keys poised and ready, to eliminate the slight shudder when braking, knowing full well it may be a control arm bush, but jumping in with two feet and an overly actively iPad)
Seemed like they have not improved from my old e61,but the Range Rover P38 must have been the worse car ever for consuming air bags. Surely should have sorted them out my now.
I have had 6 BMW's with self levelling rear suspension and never had a problem with the airbags until 5 weeks ago on my GT. Maybe the quality of the latest ones has gone south?
I think it's more to do with the plastic undertrays / efficient dynamics packages which effectively spray all the 5hit to the rear subframes If your bored google the effects in the wind tunnels and see where the debris swirl, what is interesting is that both sides of the pond (left & right hand drives) suffer LHS deteriation, so doesn't justify reasoning or beliefs of camber angle etc and lays rest to the crap design & they do it because they do logic!
All done, yes it was just the nearside one as suggested - I did both comfortably in 2 hours taking a lot of care. I can't quite believe how easy it was, everything on my old e46 was a pain in comparison. My Aerosus units came with the additional cover and new pipe fittings and I used the lot. I'm very impressed with Aerosus and their product but they did not come with any instructions so the Arnott instructions were very handy. One thing I did note is that the Arnott instructions tell you to undo by twisting clockwise and I'm pretty sure the opposite is true - no big deal but they take very little effort to twist undone so if it's not working, twist the other way. Thanks for your replies, especially snrbrtsn for posting the Arnott instructions.
Ian out of interest did BMW replace both of your air springs under warranty or just the faulty one? I am pretty sure the ones on my E61 are leaking slightly causing the rear to sag about 7-8mm overnight. It is booked in for them to investigate if they are leaking and if they are going to be covered under my Mondial extended warranty or classed as wear and tear... The thing is I will have to pay my £250 excess even if they are covered. Looking on the Aerosus site I can get a pair delivered for about £180 and even if I get the local indie to fit it is only £60.. If BMW tend to only replace one - it seems worth my while to get the pair from Aerosus
They only replaced the passenger side. My warranty is only £100 excess so it was a no brainer. I do see your predicament though. There is no need to change both, but you may have a leaking hose if both sides are sagging?
Thank you for the reply. I think it is the passenger side that is leaking as that seems to drop more and drag the drivers side down a little also.. The hoses look okay and BMW replaced the compressor back in November last year noting that the air struts looked a little perished.. On reflection I think I may get a pair from Aerosus and get them fitted.
