Nimesis

In this cold and wet weather, I was start get warning ?Suspension Level Control Fault«, every day.
The car is 04/2006, and I hear the compressor every morning, and it?s pumping for app. 10-15 sec.
Then the warning light comes, but sometimes does not.

So, before buying a new hose, I want to checked out in what condition, the hose on my car is.
And as already seen her, (what is behind the plastic cover), I was still surprised, how many send with muddy was on the plastic cover.
But I found out, that my car already have a new model of OE hose, which is wrapped, and which was probably already change by previous owner.(?)
I have checked, and it looks intact.



After cleaning the cover, I was getting concerned, for the foam, which is protecting the compressor, and which was fully filled with water. (moisture problems)




Then when the car was lower form the ramp, the right side was very low, as never before, and the compressor starts working, and didn?t manage to raise it. (app 20sec), then the warning light came on.
I drove home, and there I have restart the engine, and the compressor starts again, this time, he mange to lift it up, whit no warning light.

So in my case, if is not the hose, what else could it be?

Patrick E61

This most likely means that your compressor is going to fail. Mine has been doing the same thing, or has been since July. The only difference with my E61 is that the rear suspension has not been sagging. I get the warning every now and then, and I have heard the compressor struggling, but then it goes away and works fine for a month.

I will change the compressor, the hose and the relay. And after that, I will figure out some way to clean out the area on a regular basis, plus check that damn hose.

mmitev

+1
the compressor most probably already has internal damage, in which case it will be a question of time before it fails completely. so you better start looking for a cheap replacement for the time you definitely have to replace it.

there is a small chance that one of the pipes that lead the air into the air springs has a leak, or a spring (the right one in your case) itself, but this cannot be diagnosed without being sure that the compressor works properly. the way to diagnose the compressor is to measure its output - if its around 15 bar, then its ok.

Tiago

I've been dealing with this problem for two years. Due to the quad-exhaust, the air compressor of my car is installed in other place with extended wirings and hoses. What i know about it is:

1. When you hear the air compressor working and the suspension isn't able to self-levelling, then the common problem is air leak, from hoses or suspension air bags.

2. When you hear the air compressor working after each start and then after 15-20sec it stops and show the fault code, then this means that something is wrong but is still capable to levelling the suspension. The system has a safety parameter that shut down the air compressor when is running for a extended period of time, and at the same time it throws the error that all of you said that are seeing. When this happen, if you restart the engine (and sometimes after this you open the door) you will hear the compressor working again and the fault code will clear. Sometimes it needed more than one restart to levelling the suspension. This process is also quicker when the car is stopped because when moving the air drag will force the rear downwards and takes more effort from the air compressor to lift the rear.

Solution:
Air compressors need to get fresh air to be able to fill the suspension airbags. Now as most of you said, when you take off the air compressor protection you found it with mud, moistures and full of dirty. Like the engines that need a clean air filter to work properly, if the air compressor has a dirty filter it will take much more time and effort to fill the airbags. And by taking more time than normal it won't be able to fill it during the allowed period defined by safety parameter. That is why when BMW put a new air compressor it is all okay for awhile. BMW should refund all of you because the problem is a dirty air filter and not a faulty air compressor

mmitev

Are you saying that the dirt around the compressor obstructs it from getting fresh air?

Because it gets air through the hose and the filter, which exit in the rear wheel arch and the dirt in the compresor housing has no relation to this.. Or am I confusing something?

Also, you don't mention the most common situation where the internal parts of the compressor are damaged from incoming dirt, and can NOT be repaired.
In this case the car legitimately puts up the error message after 40 or 45 seconds (on my car at least), as the compressor is not able to put up the required pressure (as I've written above, 1 bar instead of 15 bar in my case).
Then, only replacing the compressor will solve the problem.

Nimesis

Three day ago, we?ve made a 2 hours journey trip. (mostly Autobahn)
The weather conditions; it was raining, and temp. near freezing point.
And before we left, I have measured the height of the back of the car.
The car have M suspension.
And I?ve measured app. 66 cm ( 26 inch) on both sides.
When loading the luggage,kids + wife, the car was app -1cm (-0,4 inch) lower.
After starting the car, the compressor starts working, and no error occurred.
We covered 10km on Autobahn, and then the ?Level Control Fault? comes up.
I?ve stopped at the first petrol station, and take a look, and measured the height.
I was surprised, it was app. 66cm (on both side).
I?ve restart the engine, and after only 1km, the error occurred again.
When we have reached our destination, have I immediately measured it again, and empty car was app 67,5 to 68cm (26,7 inch) high.
I assume, that this was normal, since the car was loaded before?
After 12 hours, the car was again at 66 cm height.



And today, we?ve made a return trip.
The weather conditions: Sunny, with dry roads, temp. at freezing point.
Before leaving, I have measured it, and it was still on 66 cm.
After starting the loaded car, ( -1cm) the compressor starts working, and no error, all the way to home, occurred.

I?ve managed to capture a sound of my compressor.
Link ->
Is this normal sound, I mean, that it sounds so loud?
So if it?s not the weak compressor, since the car gets its height,
could it be then a sensor or some sort of electronic problem, when car gets wet?
Should the compressor get pumping every time, when the car is up-loaded?


I?ve also measured a co-worker?s E61, without M sport suspension.
And his height was 68 cm (26,7 inch), which is 2cm less, then by my.
And as far as I know, the M suspension is 2 cm lower than normal suspension?



Btw: I was asking myself, where the compressor gets the air, which has @mmitev mostly answered.
So, if I?m getting right, the miracle hose, is meant for supplying air to compressor,
and thin red & blue hose are actually meant for lifting the suspension?

mmitev

- yes, the compressor should pump everytime the car gets loaded, this is how it "levels" the suspension
- your compressor definitely sounds too loud, and works for too long. Like my old broken one. I would say it is damaged and its a question of time before it fails.
- you are right on the pipes (green blue and red)

I guess there is always a small chance that you have a problem with a leak in a red or blue pipe, which is the reason for the error message, but
a) then the car should drop to one side, and
b) I presume only a dealer can diagnose the exact problem
(if this dealer has the knowledge and the will to check and tell you the truth, as most times it will be "new comressor 750 EUR, should I order it Sir?")

DLS

Look`s like I need also to order the compressor from that shop in Germany!
Patrick, have you ordrered it already? any reviews about this store?

Nimesis

In that time, I have contact some of our local compressor service, and none of them was sure, how to test such car compressor, or even how to fix it.
So it looks like, that I'll have to buy a new one.

One of offer on Ebay.de for 385 EURO + PP -> http://cgi.ebay.de/Kompressor-Luftfederung-BMW-E61-37106793778-3720679285-/400142337466?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item5d2a5785ba
I think this is the same seller, as Patrick had already linked to there website, link->Specialist for Air-Suspension
And by them, you can buy for a 30 EUROs, a new (replacing) compressor hose, which is made in one part, link -> Compressor hose

narvselius

Yes, your compressor is working too long; I think it's programmed to stop after a few seconds; that's why you get this dip in the performance as you can hear in the video, but as the reading is too high enough it starts a another round.