HOW TO BMW rear suspension air bag replacement F10 5 series

[@910129orre]

can u post the exact bags u got? with push fit conecctions.

[@tad2990]

Also I see you just pushed the air line straight into the back of the brass nut , can you explain this part please?

[@stevel5504]

Great question. This is because the replacement bags are after market items with push fit connections on top so as long as the pipe is cut square, you simply push in to fit.

[@theonlyhowsie4281]

Great video! I have a BMW F11 5 series (2011 plate) and I took it out between Christmas and New Year and had a warning light on the dash with the back of the car basically sitting on its bump stops… I was bouncing all over the place! I went through the same steps to get to the compressor, however completely removed it as it seemed to be working but just not getting enough air into the bags. There's a really good video here on KZbin by "Diagnostic Dan" but I watched to help diagnose any problems with the compressor, and I ended up changing the solenoid which seemed to work. The problem now is that whilst the car will raise within a minute of starting and drives absolutely fine, one side completely drops overnight and the other also dips slightly. I'm going to get to the compressor again and just make sure that I connected the air lines all okay. Then if its still dropping i guess i need to replace both air bags. I've been waiting for the weather in Gloucestershire to warm up! lol

[@stevel5504]

Another trick to tell wether the air bags are leaking is to spray a soap solution on to the air bags & all hose connections, it will start to bubble if you have a leak.

[@theonlyhowsie4281]

@@stevel5504 thanks for the tip! I jacked up the car today and got the wheels off. Use a soap solution to spray over both airbags and also on all hose lines that I could see and get to. All hose lines seem to be okay. I also added a little grease and re-tightens the hose connections into the solenoid block and that connection seems to be fine. The bags however, yes it did manage to find a couple of leaks. More noticeably on the nearside which is the side that drops faster. So I'm now on the hunt for two replacement airbags to swap out with the current parts and will use this video to do the work! Can I ask what brands you went for as a replacement? I must admit I'm looking at as cheap as possible, I was looking at trading in or selling shortly so I'm not looking to spend a lot!

[@stuipooey1]

@@theonlyhowsie4281 I just bought Arnott bags (from Eurocarparts), they are not cheap but are high quality and what was used in the video. Aerosus from Germany used to be a good option but with Brexit its not worth the hassle and they now charge the same price as before with vat sero rated so have effectively increased their price by 20%, pretty shady so I wont be using them again. You can buy cheap Chinese airbags from Ebay and Amazon but i have heard several stories of these failing badly (bag splitting) and if it were to happen at speed it could really ruin your day. BMWs suspension reliabilty is shocking, 40K miles, two new airbags, two adaptive dampers (eyewatering cost and they need coding and calibration so couldnt do it myself) and a compressor solenoid.

[@dorinb4059]

@@stuipooey1 aerosus are still better price then arnott. Quality are similar

[@stuipooey1]

@@dorinb4059 I think you are right, it's just the hassle of getting stuff too and from Europe now. It's an absolute nightmare to return or send anything to Europe as I have already found out (three attempts, correct paperwork, zero success). I hope it settles down in time.

[@davidmittlesteadt1546]

Thanks Steve!

[@kevinbamber6128]

You make it look quite easy not sure would have the confidence to do this . Great video . Drivers side goes down on mine . Just wondered whether to replace one or two priced up arnotts x 2 £422. Wonder what I should pay for fitting if needs be . Any thoughts

[@stevel5504]

It's not too bad but having a ramp certainly helps. I'd say allow an hour to an hour and a half per side if you haven't done this before. If you found this video helpful, please give it a thumbs up.

[@makgconstructionltd6756]

Thx for the video, I'm having this as well on bmw f11 driver side sometimes its normal but mostly its sitting low and I've been driving it couple of month is it bad, been busy with work ,I guess I'm gonna do this week

[@stevel5504]

Welcome. Don’t forget to like and subscribe 👍

[@makgconstructionltd6756]

Yep,so for how long I can drive it?,like I said I've been driving couple of month now,its mostly o er night thing day time normal like at work,thx

[@knulleriboy]

Remember to put the dust bag from the old part on the new one if it didn't come with one. In the video you can see that the part he replaced came out with no dust bag. Strangely that old part is already an Arnott replacement so I wonder why it needed changing again.

[@MohammadMahdiSafdari]

Thanks, it was helpful

[@alanwylde187]

With the Red and Blue pipes on the pump, is it just the blue one that needs disconnecting for both rear wheels or is it blue for the rear left wheel and red for the rear right wheel?

[@knulleriboy]

Should be the opposite, red for driver and blue for passenger, if your car is LHD of course.

[@alanwylde187]

@@knulleriboy RHD for me 😁 it was blue for driver side and red for passenger side. Thanks for the video, it helped a lot!

[@knulleriboy]

And if you have ISTA, I recommend bleeding the air that way. Or do it the quick & dirty way by making a hole in the old bag.

[@tad2990]

Can one not ,just take the fuse out , if the air bags are already deflated ,then you don't have to take off all the covers of the pump ?

[@stevel5504]

Well you could but that's just the same as leaving the car switched off. It's to safely removed the stored pressure already within the system. As with most things, there are many slightly different ways to do this job. I have found this works best for me.

[@popsbmw]

Can you not just drill a 2mm hole in the air bag to be replaced instead of taking all that off and disconnecting the air line from compressor if it's to be replaced it won't be holding much pressure

[@stevel5504]

Great idea, I think that would also work.

[@popsbmw]

@@stevel5504 I did it and it worked fine

[@albania2664]

How much did The bags cost and where did you buy Them

[@pjbissie1]

According to Bmw you may not inflate the airbag while wheels are on the ground (levelling)