Self Levelling Help--525ixT

[GM525]

Hello.
Do you know if I can adjust the ride height on my 93 Touring with L.A.D Self levelling suspension? The back end is very low compared with the front.
Also does anybody have a spare tool tray/back trim panel in grey?
Cheers

[cjones]

Yes you can. The device which is connected to the rear anti roll bar and adjusts the hight was jambed on mine.
94 525ixT

[George M]

yup...10mm box end wrench on the U bolt that connects the LAD reg. valve to the sway bar. Best to pre-mark and adjust with the car running...backed onto ramps.
SAFETY FIRST.
HTH,
George

[shogun]

in English and German with pics.
Look for Niveauregulierung which is the German word for LAD.
There is also a detailed description with nice drawings and wiring diagrams
for the EDC and LAD, all detailed explained for training courses for BMW technicians. It's in German language, but a lot of drawings and function diagrams.
Hope that helps.

[George M]

Erich...Thanks for your tireless effort for all the great links and information you provide. Say hello to Mike for me as well.
Best Regards in the New Year,
George

[GM525]

in English and German with pics.
Look for Niveauregulierung which is the German word for LAD.
There is also a detailed description with nice drawings and wiring diagrams
for the EDC and LAD, all detailed explained for training courses for BMW technicians. It's in German language, but a lot of drawings and function diagrams.
Hope that helps.

Got under 525ixT and adjusted the easy way.Give it good roadtest.Think Ive overdone it a bit.Looks like an Audi Allroader.Need to tweak it down a bit.The values given in Bently Man when measured against car seem too low.Do you think it would be okay to have it slightly higher than spec say about 15-20mm or would this cause damage due to constant fluid pressure?
Is there a value for front ride height check? Mine seems a lot higher than other Tourings.
Thanks for your help and excellent info :D

[shogun]

there cannot be an overpressure.
Overpressure valve opens at 130 bar.

Front height has no influence by LAD, as it only works on the rear suspension.
EDC is a different thing, works on front and rear, comfort and sports, but that is a complete different system and is electric whereas the LAD works with a hydraulic system.
That's all I know from the E32, guess E34 is the same.

Do not know the normal height of an E34. But that should be known by some people here.

[Bill R.]

Flange on the wheel , at the center of the wheel to the bottom edge of the lip on the fender is 611mm +-10mm on the 525ix at the front, at the rear on the 525ixtouring its 535mm +-10mm. These figures are with the stock 16 inch wheels on the touring ix...
http://www.bimmernut.com/~billr/images/touringixsuspension.jpg

[lesage]

1992 525iXat (UK): now that the cars got nice new front struts, handling has improved immeasurably (goes over speed bumps without the suspension crashing. However, have noticed for a while that theres a tendency for it to eject some pentosin from the top of the reservoir. Is this fairly common? Or an indication of simply the system going through the limits of travel--perhaps over these same speed bumps? Or should I suspect the accumulators? As I said, the ride now seems fine...no bouncing, no hard 'limit-reached' feeling at the back that I can notice

[shogun]

Go once more back to my page and the drawings there. In my opinion there cannot be such a pressure coming from the bombs, because the regulating valve is in between. Maybe something there might be wrong.
Here is a schematic drawing made by IceTea from the roadfly E32 board showing the system he made for a 750 E32, when he was looking for bleeding points or flushing points. Maybe that helps too
http://members.roadfly.org/IceTea/Illustrations/BMW%20750%20E32%20Hydraulic%20System%20Schematic.j pg

[Bill R.]

your system, thats the h31 brake system... Yours should be a regular vacum brake booster and the self leveling system separate... In your case the fluid level can only be checked with the rear end raised off the ground so that the wheels hang and then the fluid level should be a maximum of 5 mm above the wire screen in the reservoir.. any more than that and it would be considered overfilled. As shogun said I don't see any way that bad pressure accumulators would cause the level to be too high. It would have to be a bad check valve instead and if that were the case I would think the car would settle overnight when the fluid level would raise... On the h31 brake system with the hydroboost master cylinder you have to leave the key off and pump the brake pedal at least 25 times before checking the fluid level, but as i said I don't think you have the h31 brakes on your car..

[lesage]

I'll have to check the level the way you said, Bill. Up to now, Ive simply checked to see if the oil level just surfaces above the base of the filter in the reservoir, the car standing parked and to top up if its not showing . Occasionally, if I check after driving, the reservoir 'mysteriously' fills up *above* the target level and, clearly, the level check is only very approximate, the way I've been doing it, and I guess I may have overfilled sometimes

Am I correct in thinking that letting the rear wheels hang the way you described causes oil to withdraw from the reservoir and go into the system? Or isnt it as simple as that?

Thanks Bill -- and Shogun

[Bill R.]

1
I'll have to check the level the way you said, Bill. Up to now, Ive simply checked to see if the oil level just surfaces above the base of the filter in the reservoir, the car standing parked and to top up if its not showing . Occasionally, if I check after driving, the reservoir 'mysteriously' fills up *above* the target level and, clearly, the level check is only very approximate, the way I've been doing it, and I guess I may have overfilled sometimes

Am I correct in thinking that letting the rear wheels hang the way you described causes oil to withdraw from the reservoir and go into the system? Or isnt it as simple as that?

Thanks Bill -- and Shogun

[lesage]

In fact, my Owners Manual just states to check level with vehicle 'unladen'/ oil 5mm over bottom of strainer

[phildg2000]

Hmmm.... I didn't know that e34's had self levelling rear suspension. Was this an option? Anyway, te reason i ask is that i test drove a 92 525i Japanese version this afternoon (i'm in Manila) and i got a check code of 'Suspension Leveling'. What would this message mean? I put the car on a lifter to check the rear but the suspension looked normal - with springs and shock absorbers. What would self levelling suspension look like? The ride seemed normal though. Any inputs?

Thanks,
Philip

[Qsilver7]

Hmmm.... I didn't know that e34's had self levelling rear suspension. Was this an option? Anyway, te reason i ask is that i test drove a 92 525i Japanese version this afternoon (i'm in Manila) and i got a check code of 'Suspension Leveling'. What would this message mean? I put the car on a lifter to check the rear but the suspension looked normal - with springs and shock absorbers. What would self levelling suspension look like? The ride seemed normal though. Any inputs?

Thanks,
Philip
...and I believe the e34 M5 also had rear self leveling, too.
If you go to the online parts database and work your way over to REAR AXLE then choose LEVELING DEVICE.... never mind, here's a link to the diagrams of the leveling system...click the diagrams and they explode into larger ones with a part number index below it: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=HJ63&mospid=47414&prod=19951100&hg=33&fg=50