E39 touring air ride questions

[LIFTED RESEARCH GROUP]

HI.. I have a 99 528 wagon with SLS rear system.

I heard we can reuse our own oem rear bag with a air ride system.

I know i have to remove the oem system and recode the SLS.

After that, all i need is front air struts, management system and air system.

Do anyone have any idea on how to use the oem rear bag on a new air ride system?

Thanks for any info.. Mak.

[Alex@BagRiders]

Hey Mak! The air lines running to your rear bags are metric (I think they are 6mm) and you will need to convert them to a standard size like 1/4" with fittings like the Parker Composite Union Converter.

Once you have a standard size line coming from your rear bags, you can then connect them to the manifold or valves of your choice. Basically you won't be using any of the oem parts other than the bags. Hope this helps!

[LIFTED RESEARCH GROUP]

Hi Rali! Thanks for the info! Have a few more questions.

Do i need to recode if i leave the oem kit in the wagon?

There a reservoir tank on each air bag in the rear, do i need to take them out (plug the connector) or just leave it the way it is? Will it affect the raising and lowering?

Is there any more info on a DIY on a e39 wagon?

Thx for your time! Mak.

[Alex@BagRiders]

You will need to disconnect your bags from the current oem system (reservoirs, compressor etc.). I'm not sure how the oem system will react but you may be able to fool it in a way where it thinks the bags and reservoirs are still connected (have the reservoirs capped and pressurized). I'm not 100% on that though..

Pretty much, you'll be getting a management package that has a compressor, tank, air lines, manifold, controller, etc, and you just need to run air line from the front air struts and your rear oem bags to the manifold.

I don't know of any DIYs but bagging the rear of the e39 is pretty straightforward once you have it all apart. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

[antiks]

Bumping this thread up -- i'm about to start on this and was wondering if anyone has actually re-used the rear bags on their air setup? thanks!

[indiejack]

Having bagged my 540iT weeks back I can give you insights.

I went with AutoPilot v2 and AirLift 30-way adjustables up front, rears have RE5's and the universal dcups. An Instagram user called iceboxxcustoms makes a fitting for the stock bags that is plug and play http://instagram.com/iceboxxcustoms but I opted for a replacement easier to get should anything go awry give this is my daily. The only worry I had was rear fabrication but it was just bolt and go in the end and used all factory holes for air lines.

The car ride great up front but the rear stock shocks suck when you hit bumps. I just installed Koni Yellow adjustables for the rear and set them to just a quarter turn from softest and it rides great.

Ask anything you'd like and I'll try to help as best as I can.