A good day for all things airy fairy

[brucemillar]

Folks

Mrs Millar's BMW X5 4.8is (yes that is the V8 so she is forgiven) developed a problem. Yes it's true, its not only Mercs that fail to behave to order.
It has 4 corner air suspension that is a nightmare of complexity but, when working as designed keeps a 2 ton V8 planted with virtually zero body roll or understeer. It's true. IT is quiet a strange sensation to drive this thing as just hunkers down and remains level at almost torpedo like velocity. Anyway, it broke......

"Air Suspension Inactive" and it was. The car refused to raise or lower itself, preferring to sit in a default state that was gradually eeeking it's way towards the bump stops.

Never one to shirk a challenge, and being as it was not my car. Out came the spanners. It uses a Wabco compressor, much loved by Rangerovers and Audi's alike. Open up the housing and what do I find. A melted live wire to the actual motor. It was easy to spot tat this had chaffed through the insulation on one of the shocked rubberised screws that hold the hole thing in place. So I patch in a new bit of wire. Still no go...

No power to the motor at all.

All fuses are good (there are four fuses)
All relays are good (there are two)
Fuseable links are good.

Jump it straight from the battery. BINGO. it lives. But no power.

A visit to the BMW forums brings luck when somebody tells me that if the motor overheats the computer shuts down all power and it needs a computer reset @ £xxx from BMW.

Out comes my magic BMW iCarsoft. WHoohooo. It finds the suspension, but tells me it has zero errors. I clear the errors that I do not have, and BROOOOOM everything starts to work. The car goes up, it goes down, it does everything a car should and more. I am now into excess brownie point land. Then I notice the compressor is getting rather hot. Hmmm just as I am thinking, ouch this is hot. It shuts down again. MOre hours on various BMW forums tells me that compressor will be shot as it is over x years old and they burn the piston rings out, especially if they have been overheating.

A kit is available from a lovely chap known as (I am not making this up) Bag Piping Andy bagpipingandy.com

Onto ebay and £25 and three days later kit arrives with beautifully laid out instructions, colour photographs on the procedure(s) a new piston ring, and set of 'O'rings.

Today was the day. Mrs Millar agreed to join me as we went in. SHe knows that glazed look that I develop when confronted with a book of instructions. She bears witness to many brand new tools that lie destroyed where I started it up then read the book. I mean, Instructions are really the first sign of defeat are they not?

Anyway. To cut a long story even longer. She took over. I was assigned to taking her comands "pass me that spanner" "get me the wire cutters". After twenty minutes and her not once swearing ar throwing things around the garage (she will never make it big) she only went and fixed the bloody thing. I mean properly fixed. To add insult to injury she did not have any nuts and bolts left over and all of my tools were where she placed and not where I usually drop them into the under tray.

So now we have a beautifully balanced and poised X5 with my beautifully balanced and poised wife. She never ever ceases to amaze me at every turn. Why she married me? I have no idea, but I am so glad she did.

 

[toolman1954]

Congratulations to Mrs M for her rebuild of the compressor pump and for supervising yourself as sous mechanic. I am pleased that the kit of parts did what it was supposed to do. Only recently the Indy I use told me my pump for the Airmatic was getting weak ( last replaced in 2010 according to the service info ) and I had in mind to get a parts kit to rebuild my own pump, rather than pay out over £100 for a new one. seems the bagpiping man will get some business from me.
Quite unrelated is the fact that that the dogs vet in Aberdour is a bagpiping man, aka "Cosmic Piper". Nice man, but Jack doesn't like him, especially when he pokes things up his ar*e end.
Also pleased to note that your Icarsoft also played a part in fixing the BMW. That will have soon repaid its initial cost. I dread to think what a BMW dealer would have charged you. About the same as a MB dealer I suppose.!

Steve

 

[zipdip]

But Bruce it was just beginners luck,everybody knows you have to have a couple of things left over ,she will learn.

 

[brucemillar]

Steve

I have to say the kit he makes and supplies is really quality along with the very detailed instructions. It's fiddly rather than difficult but an immediate improvement which you can actually witness. Prior to doing this, the car would take a good 30 secs or so to raise up from the low (kerbing) position to it's mid - road position. Now it just shoots up in about 10 seconds - thus saving the compressor from overheating and cutting out. Each time it overheats it is a computer reset. My local BMW Independent charges £60 for that with the BMW main dealer charging £80. So yes, the iCarsoft has paid for itself in one job alone.

I'm not sure why it does not find an error when the onboard monitor is displaying "Suspension Inactive" and it has cut out? Very odd as it does ask if I want top clear any errors? When I say yes, he suspension immediately starts working and the onboard error clears.

Here are the details for Bagpipingandy: http://bagpipingandy.com/

Certainly worth giving him a call if you have a compressor getting lazy. All of my previous Range Rovers would get tired and nobody was doing this at that time. I am toying with wiring up a led from the compressor to the dashboard so that we can see if it is running all the time (punctured air bag sign) you cannot hear it in the boot. BUt constant running is killer for the pistons & seals.

OH. I believe he is located in Inverness or thereabouts ;^)