With air suspension pumps working overtime, the relays have shown to stick in the long run, causing even more frequent pump failure. What's a $10 relay?

 

In my situation the electrical short in the windings was immediately blowing the fuse, therefore no chance of the compressor working overtime.

 

Thanks for all the feedback and discussion!

 

I think I pissed off my X5 with this comment. Got an air suspension fault this morning.

 

Did you end up getting a 4.8is? You'll get more of those as the weather cools and gets wetter out.

 

I got a 4.6is with rear air suspension only. Every 4.8 I looked at was leaning to one side.

 

heh! Yep. I'm glad warranty took care of everything for my 4.8is. I'm glad it's gone too! Rear air is much cheaper and simpler to work on. The module "only" costs $150. Rear airbags from Arnott are relatively inexpensive.

 

I'm not referring to the S Classes for which I believe is a different part from the E's. The prices I gave for new parts from MB and not a rebuilt or refurbished.

 

to the OP, i was at my dealer y'day and asked the exact same question to the SA and a Tech. Both said the same thing, the Porsche air system appears to be more robust esp compared to MB. I personally seen many (dozens) of MB slammed to the ground. Its pathetic. The SA mentioned that failures he's seen are almost entirely linked to the compressor. Said that the compressor starts to slow down, meaning it not responding fast enough to the road conditions. Anyway its something i've been thinking about during my search. When it works, its nice, but when it fails its gotta be a PITA and not cheap.

 

Had an X5 with self leveling rear air. Sold it 10 years old with never a problem. Was impressive loading 1000lbs in the trunk, with no drop!

Did not get air on new Cayenne, have not yet loaded it, should I expect sagging with springs?

 

The compressor on the Cayenne doesn't respond to road conditions, their is a accumulator tank that the compressor fills up and that is used. the compressor only runs under the conditions of a high & low pressure switch to tell it when the accumulator tank needs charging? Somebody tell me I'm wrong on this?

 

that makes sense. A 2ndary device preloaded w/ air would response much more quickly. tks

 

Exactly how it works.

 

That's correct. Same for other makers. It's just how the system is implemented that differs per make.

OES for the compressor is WABCO for Audi, MB, VW, BMW, Porsche, Land Rover

For the struts, it's Bilstein for most (at least for MB, I know, I haven't cross-referenced the CTT's).

 

X5's with 1-axle self leveling are much less problematic. There isn't an accumulator tank and the system is much simpler. The rear air is for different load conditions and do not have height-selectable function. 7-series and some 5-series wagons have 1-axle (rear) self leveling.