E39 Self levelling Suspension Info

[scott180gtb]

Just got back from a trip down south to find the wife has been on a wrecking spree again.

The warning light is on for the self levelling suspension on the touring.

I've checked the fuses. The rear end has not sagged at all and I can't hear any air escaping so I'm assuming the bags are o.k.

With the engine running and the doors shut standing on the tow bar does not kick the compressor into life.

A google search has mention the wire loom to the level sensors could be at fault.

Could dropping the battery connection reset the dash light?

Has anyone any experience with one of these turds.

[Brianmoooore]

Bought one last year, where the current owner had just plugged in the fuse for the suspension occasionally, when the back end began to look a little low.
Found that part of the insides of two solenoid valves had been removed, the contacts of the relay on the pump had welded themselves together, the ECU had been flooded and was totally corroded inside, and someone at sometime had probably dropped the rear frame without disconnecting the level sensor wiring, ripping the wiring to one side apart. This had been repaired with crimp connectors, that had now corroded up and were making poor or no contact.
A spare ECU and a faulty, but complete pump came with the car, and I had parts of an old E39 rear loom around, so these provided all the bits I needed, and I treated it to a pair of new links from the suspension to the sensors as well, which gave me fully functioning rear suspension.

[scott180gtb]

Just thought I would update this for some advise.

The warning light has been intermittent for over a week now. I have had the car plugged in only to find that there is no faults stored.

The level sensors give a voltage out dependant upon the load and a live test proved that the sensors are o.k.

This might sound strange but when the warning light is on there is no indication that the indicators are working when indicating from inside the cab. They are blinking outside but the dash is not blinking. Also the self locking doors have started to lock the minute you crank the car over.

This all points to a control module to me. Has anyone had any experience of this.

[Andyboy]

Don't these turds come up with an OMG pixel warning of doom?

A conversion to coils sounds like a plan.

[scott180gtb]

Don't these turds come up with an OMG pixel warning of doom?

A conversion to coils sounds like a plan.

No pixel warning Andy.

How sensitive do you think these things are to a weak battery.

I had to jump the thing of from the trusty vag two weeks ago. Could low voltage cause this type of fault?

[DanThe]

The alarm on mine was playing up after being parked for about an hour, battery was shagged and wouldnt last 10 minutes with just the ignition switched on.
Now its been sat at work with the battery dead for weeks I hooked it up to the battery charger temporarily so I could open the tailgate and I now have warning lights galore with an indicated outside temp of -40 or something

[pacerpete]

The alarm on mine was playing up after being parked for about an hour, battery was shagged and wouldnt last 10 minutes with just the ignition switched on.
Now its been sat at work with the battery dead for weeks I hooked it up to the battery charger temporarily so I could open the tailgate and I now have warning lights galore with an indicated outside temp of -40 or something

Sales battery FTW !

[scott180gtb]

The alarm on mine was playing up after being parked for about an hour, battery was shagged and wouldnt last 10 minutes with just the ignition switched on.
Now its been sat at work with the battery dead for weeks I hooked it up to the battery charger temporarily so I could open the tailgate and I now have warning lights galore with an indicated outside temp of -40 or something

Sales battery FTW !

I might have one cheap Dan

[DanThe]

The alarm on mine was playing up after being parked for about an hour, battery was shagged and wouldnt last 10 minutes with just the ignition switched on.
Now its been sat at work with the battery dead for weeks I hooked it up to the battery charger temporarily so I could open the tailgate and I now have warning lights galore with an indicated outside temp of -40 or something

Sales battery FTW !

I might have one cheap Dan

Pete you c00nt, maybe thats why the earth lead and clamp were loose, I have a new one innit

[Brianmoooore]

E39 electronics are very sensitive to a failing battery. Get it changed.

[maxfield]

E39 electronics are very sensitive to a failing battery. Get it changed.

Agree with that.

I had all sorts of funny issues with electrics on an E39 when the battery wasn't tip top, heater, CD player etc

[scott180gtb]

Had a full day in the garage to day so I pulled the cheap and nasty Halfrauds battery out the car for a slow charge.

It took about six hours for it to charge fully. Slapped it back into the boot to find all the problems stated above gone.

Took it for a 20 min run and then the indicator problem again but no SLS warning.

There is some stuff on the net about the ignition module wearing the contacts out.

I can't see this being the SLS because the car does not drop over night.

Its in with an indy tomorrow so fingers crossed.

[wellard]

This problem may be down to the precheck the electrics carry out own start up.there is a service function on dis that delays the precheck,there is a conflict with the radio iirc.does the indy you use have dis or autologic and if he has get him to do this first.this should stop the ehc warning coming on.
The indicator problem may be down to a faulty lamp check module, another symptom is the main beam lights sticking on.

[Andyboy]

Had a full day in the garage to day so I pulled the cheap and nasty Halfrauds battery out the car for a slow charge.

It took about six hours for it to charge fully. Slapped it back into the boot to find all the problems stated above gone.

Took it for a 20 min run and then the indicator problem again but no SLS warning.

There is some stuff on the net about the ignition module wearing the contacts out.

I can't see this being the SLS because the car does not drop over night.

Its in with an indy tomorrow so fingers crossed.

Still sounds like the battery is borked. It only needs one iffy cell to flag up a problem. Nowt wrong with Halford batteries as they're rebadged Varta. The battery is giving you issues so I'd fit a new one before going any further - you can always keep the old one as a sales battery when you trade it in.

[Brianmoooore]

It only needs one iffy cell to flag up a problem. Nowt wrong with Halford batteries as they're rebadged Varta. The battery is giving you issues so I'd fit a new one before going any further

Exactly, there's more to a battery than holding a charge for a few days. The low internal resistance of a good battery stabilizes the whole power supply on a car, keeping the voltage stable at the right level an suppressing spikes.
Charging up a duff battery might be OK on a Morris 1000 and the like, but not on an E39.
I was lucky when I bought mine - it came with a massive two month old Bosch S5 (5 year warranty) neatly bolted into the battery compartment.

[scott180gtb]

Agreed

It was only a temporary measure for the purpose of test. I will be at Euro tomorrow for a new battery and a thermostat for the e30.

[scott180gtb]

New battery fitted this morning.

No faults as of yet. We have been out for a good 50 mile trip today and all seems good.

Fingers crossed

[scott180gtb]

Just thought I'd update this.

The new battery has been in for a week now and I'm pleased to report zero problems.

One thing I have noticed is that the average mpg has took a jump from 27mpg up to 33mpg

The car has been doing the exact weekly school run as previous. I have reset the long term average in the past but it always dropped back to 27mpg

Could a dud battery load up the alternator enough to drag the mpg down this much?

I'm falling back in love again with the big stinky derv burner.