Help! Air lines keep blowing off of air springs

**raftel** · 03-29-2020, 07:15 PM

Finally got the opportunity to take the car for a more extended drive. Not sure about the rear end, I've got some issues with interior trim on the tailgate coming apart that could be contributing to the crashing noises I hear. I also need to go through the 2"+ thick stack of maintenance and repair receipts to see what has been done on the car. Thank you Snotty for meeting up today and helping me learn more about my car. While I wait for the airbag to arrive, I've shifted focus to replacing the PCV on my son's e46 325i.

**raftel** · 04-06-2020, 06:01 PM

And now, the conclusion (I hope).

Remember at the beginning of this thread I said that I was converting it back from a coil over installation? Well, it wasn't really a pure coil over installation, as there were separate shocks and springs in the rear. Steel springs took the place of the air springs.

It appears that the steel springs deformed the pocket into which the air spring mounted, and pushed it upwards (by a RCH, as Snotty would say). The upper spring perch was deformed. Not by much, but enough.

I came upon this idea when the new BMW air springs arrived. For fun, with the air spring in the open and not mounted, I tried connecting it to the brass fitting, which it did without issue. That got me thinking.

A little judicious persuasion with a ball peen hammer, and some light taps on the fitting itself secured it to the mounted air bag. I just went on a 15 mile test drive without issue. With a properly sized air reservoir, the ride from the rear is less jittery, but not perfect yet. But at least the air suspension seems to be sorted. Thank you all for your inputs and assistance!

Robert