DIY Guide, Rear air spring replacement

[Honda]

Originally Posted by aforget

The hose could be leaking air.

Which hose?

[BDO]

Originally Posted by aforget

The hose could be leaking air.

The mechie who maintains my car says it’s either the hose, or the valve. I’m not sure which valve or what it does.
Couldn’t have happened at worse time of year. I hope driving it like this doesn’t kill the compressor.

[E90325M]

Thanks for the great BMW community.

Replaced mine with the Arnott at 75K miles (8+ years car) a coupe days ago, drove some times and it was no issue at the moment. Final height is about 32 inch with 469M wheel.

[aschmidt]

Cool stuff, also replaced 2017 with Arnott, no problems so far, regardless of angle car is parked on the driveway.

[Garth2079]

Superb write-up. Thanks, this gave me the confidence to give it a go.

I had trouble aligning the new airbags into the top slot. Eventually I realised someone could see the top of the hole from the boot (trunk) and guide me in from above. Doing it by feel wasn't working out for me but with a helper, it took a few seconds.

My OEM airbags were both fully deflated by the time the replacement Arnotts arrived from the USA to Australia (which was an exceptional 6 days for US$40). So I just pulled the fuse before the car tried to pump up the rears which saved me that parts of the job. I did have to use ISTA to inflate the new ones, but with hindsight I could have partially lowered the car so the height sensor realised they needed inflating (but not enough to squash the airbags).

Not sure if recommendations are allowed but RockAuto shipped them at a good price, low postage, and pre-billed the GST to avoid customs dramas. It's my first time order with them (I'm not affiliated or benefitting from saying this) but they are on my list of browser bookmarks for the future.

[shimmy23]

Rockauto is solid. i've bought from them many times and they're my go to right now.

[JeffZhang]

hi guys, I have a question about desiccant beads. does it have to be 1-3mm? I noticed it's hard to find 1-3mm from amazon.ca. 2-4mm is pretty popular though.

[assirjalal]

Mine had problems on and off for a while and after I returned from a long holiday I noticed the bags were sagging.
Never went back to normal.
I changed the bags, the sensors, and the battery (It was bad). But it’s still sagging and refuses to inflate/go up.
I have no idea what the problem is now and what to do. I have already spent hundreds of pounds already and the BMW dealer near me charges £290 just for identifying the issue.
Can someone point me in the right direction please?

[RED_Y_]

Compressor gone bad or leak in the line/fitting?Can you hear the compressor working and pumping air?
Also check the relay:
https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1641660&page=3
And the valve/replace the beads:
https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=30

[CMYACHTIE]

Originally Posted by Kessler35is

Has anyone tried baking the Desiccant in the air compressor rather than replacing it?

Curious if the Desiccant that is in from the factory is rechargeable by cooking off the moisture.

I read you can by putting them in oven at 200-250 max for 2 hours or so.

[CMYACHTIE]

So I just finished replacing both air springs and in my prep read somewhere, don’t remember where on you tube or.
Where after positioning the new spring in the top, just started to refill the springs and forced it to seat in the bottom on the wheel carrier, which I decided was easier than for instance using a jack to raise the carrier to meet up with the bottom of the spring.

I would recommend strongly against the first method as mine went horrible wrong on one side.

I also found out since that you can just pull at the bottom of the spring to extend the spring to meet the wheel carrier and then begin the fill process. (By the way I used my Foxwell).
And afterwards spend a lot of time to correct the problem by disconnecting the bottom of shock and swaybar link and then put my body weight on the wheel carrier to fit the new air spring……didn’t enjoy this at all!!

Fortunately the new Arnott didn’t seem to have suffered from the ordeal and thus far is performing as it should.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by CMYACHTIE

So I just finished replacing both air springs and in my prep read somewhere, don’t remember where on you tube or.
Where after positioning the new spring in the top, just started to refill the springs and forced it to seat in the bottom on the wheel carrier, which I decided was easier than for instance using a jack to raise the carrier to meet up with the bottom of the spring.

I would recommend strongly against the first method as mine went horrible wrong on one side.

I also found out since that you can just pull at the bottom of the spring to extend the spring to meet the wheel carrier and then begin the fill process. (By the way I used my Foxwell).
And afterwards spend a lot of time to correct the problem by disconnecting the bottom of shock and swaybar link and then put my body weight on the wheel carrier to fit the new air spring……didn’t enjoy this at all!!

Fortunately the new Arnott didn’t seem to have suffered from the ordeal and thus far is performing as it should.

Thanks for the heads up on this. I suppose another option would be to release the pressure back at the compressor. Either way, ugh.

Glad you got it!

[CMYACHTIE]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Thanks for the heads up on this. I suppose another option would be to release the pressure back at the compressor. Either way, ugh.

Glad you got it!

Yeah, I know that would have an alternate method but I didn’t really want disconnect those connections unless necessary, afraid it’s gonna introduce another potential leak.

[PGH_X5]

Just completed also with the nice quality Arnott springs and this fantastic write up.

A few tips:

1. Save some frustration on removing the old springs by simply breaking one of the tabs on the bottom instead of trying to squeeze both to release. Either pry with a screwdriver or tap a screwdriver with a hammer. Once one tab is free it will release. Two second process.

2. How in the world are some of you pulling the new spring down and into place? Mine wouldn't budge so I simply put a jack under the control arm and lifted until it was close, seated by hand then lifted 2mm more.

[momoboy]

Originally Posted by PGH_X5

Just completed also with the nice quality Arnott springs and this fantastic write up.

A few tips:

1. Save some frustration on removing the old springs by simply breaking one of the tabs on the bottom instead of trying to squeeze both to release. Either pry with a screwdriver or tap a screwdriver with a hammer. Once one tab is free it will release. Two second process.

2. How in the world are some of you pulling the new spring down and into place? Mine wouldn't budge so I simply put a jack under the control arm and lifted until it was close, seated by hand then lifted 2mm more.

Good tips! For #1 I didn't even bother to break the tab. Slipped prybar between bottom of airbag and control arm and it popped right off. For #2 it really wasn't too bad pulling it down (and I'm"older") Grab with two hands and pull down. It is tough to budge it but once it budges it pulls down fairly easily. I honestly thought it would be harder. Maybe I was lucky?

[CMYACHTIE]

Originally Posted by momoboy

Good tips! For #1 I didn't even bother to break the tab. Slipped prybar between bottom of airbag and control arm and it popped right off. For #2 it really wasn't too bad pulling it down (and I'm"older") Grab with two hands and pull down. It is tough to budge it but once it budges it pulls down fairly easily. I honestly thought it would be harder. Maybe I was lucky?

I second the tip for #1, that’s how I did my second after getting frustrated with the first side accessing those taps underneath, and was amazed how much easier that was!