[bitcosmin]

Hi bitcosmin

I've also just started using ista+ to update my car G12 7 series. Last week I've updated complete I-level and as part of the procedure after finishing the coding I was required byu ISTA to calibrate vehicle height sensors - putting the vehicle on a completely flat and level surface, all doors closed, laptop and yourself out of the car & with a precise measuring tape carry out the measurements as indicated by ISTA on all four wheels.

This calibration function tells the car the real level condition of each side, encodes it to the module & then recalibrates itself according the predetermined height value that BMW established for your vehicle.

This function can be called up any time in ISTA through Vehicle management/Service functions/Chassis and suspension/Electrocnic ride height adjustment/Ride height adjustment

I'm not sure if you'll have the same menu structure for your car. quite possibly yes.

Although there's a big difference, in your car F11 there's only self-leveling air springs on the rear axle

Thanks! I will try these days, even if I did it few days ago, with no positive result: the rear suspension goes back to that low position (only few cm above the tyres level)! I have no idea why that happens, but I strongly believe that the problem might be a physical deviation of the height sensors on the rear axle!

[arturo_spain]

Hi

From your post I wasn't aware that you already did the calibration, I thought you only carried out the test routines of the air springs (filling, draining, etc..).

My experience after doing my first calibration on unlevel ground was a totally messed up height distribution where one side was upto 2cm higher that the other. I repeated the calibration on a totally flat place, with all doors closed (passed the cables through the window), made sure no extra weight in the car & used a large caliper to measure precisely as required.

After the last calibration I locked the car down & after one hour I test drove it around for @ 20 min stopping, parking, locking and opening & driving again after which I remeasured the space between the wheels & the fenders finding it correct and equal

Regarding coding, I got myself a powersupply (GYSFLASH 102.12), an original BMW Icom Next & a calm afternoon wihtout any duties to attend to. I flashed completely to next ILevel (Nov. 2018 to March 2019) without a hitch.

[bitcosmin]

Can you please descrise here for me the entire procedure of calibrating the air suspension? What I’ve done was with ISTA+: “height adjustment” and “inflate air suspension” (on a completely flat surface). Maybe I did something wrong or did not! Thanks a lot!

[arturo_spain]

Hi

First, empty the car of belongings which could affect the weight (kids chairs, toolbox, etc..). Park the car in a totally flat and even surface, align the front wheels as much as possible, stop the car, lock it so the suspension settles. Open the driver door, connect the cable to the car and pass it through the window to the laptop outside of the car, close all doors & trunck.

Run ISTA, carry out a complete identification and error check, make sure no errors exist (like suspension in workshop/pre-delivery height), after this go into "Vehicle management/Service functions/Chassis and suspension/Electrocnic ride height adjustment/Ride height adjustment"

It will then guide you through the procedure of asking you rim size, then measuring from the bottom center of the rim to the fender, the measure it asks is in millimeters (for example 65,2cm = 652mm in ISTA) and the order in which it asks for the measure is front left wheel, rear left wheel, rear right wheel, front right wheel. after you input the measures in order it will recode these into the module. You must orderly end the procedure and the open ISTA car session, lock down the car.

Open car, drive it around, lock it, wait for the suspension to settle & measure to confirm it's even or almost even.

Whatever you do, DO NOT delay the measuring during the calibration procedure, do not put weight on the car, lean/sit on the vehicle.

Hope it helps

[bitcosmin]

Thank you so much but what is so unclear to me is what is that programming really doing. I did it last time ascertaining  4 different heights, corresponding to all 4 wheels, in mm as well, finished the job and, surprise: nothing positive happening but the susspension went down again to it s original height, so low that you can not put your index finger between the fender and the wheel (for both wheels on the rear axle). Due to this halucinating fact I took the process from the begining putting back the original values, which were in place before starting the height adjustment process : 616 mm for the front axel and 618 mm for the rear axel. In real life the real measurements, for my currently 17 inches mounted wheels, were: 574 mm rear left, 584 rear right, 623 both front. I must confess that 3 doors out of four were opened during the process ... oh, and something very important I believe: after that process the EHC module reported an error, which ISTA+ said it was not a real error, but a warning ”transport mode activated”. I deleted the fault and everthing is fine now! Weird isn t it? I will try it again these days! 
I need to clearel understand what is that measurement telling to vehicle: those measured mm are currently the height of the vehicle, so the EHC should command the increment of  that height to a predefined/standard value or those measured values become a standard height, written in an module and the vehicle will do nothing to alter the height and just take them as good? I remember that before starting the process ISTA was attentioning me regarding the Height adjustment process, saying that the process must be initiated only if I replaced the ISM module for instance and some other situations but nothing about changing the air spings on that axle. Thank you so much for your precious help!

[arturo_spain]

Hi

Make sure that transport mode is NOT active, go into the actual module through ISTA and disable it, not only erase the error!!!

When you calibrate you are NOT setting the actual height of the vehicle, as the height per se is an actual predefined hidden value set by BMW. What you are doing is "training" the "blind" height sensors as to what the real height is in each corner, once the module knows your actual real measurements (input in mm.) it will then calculate how much it needs to correct itself up or down in order to acheive the predefined height set by BMW for your vehicle. That's why it's of utmost importance that you input the precise real measurements you're obtaining


In your vehicle it can only correct the rear as the front does not have airs prings. Just out of curiosity in ISTA and with your vehicle, does the calibration procedure ask you for measures of all four wheels?

[bitcosmin]

Just out of curiosity in ISTA and with your vehicle, does the calibration procedure ask you for measures of all four wheels?

Yes it asks for the front axle values as well! So what I understand is that I must put the real measured values for both axles, meaning all 4 wheels! If the rear left is 584 mm then that is the value that it must be reported in ISTA! Thanks again! I will check the transport mode, if is still active I will try to deactivate it and then proced with the calibration! 
P.S Do you have any idea where can I find the transport mode in ISTA?

[arturo_spain]

Just out of curiosity in ISTA and with your vehicle, does the calibration procedure ask you for measures of all four wheels?

Yes it asks for the front axle values as well! So what I understand is that I must put the real measured values for both axles, meaning all 4 wheels! If the rear left is 584 mm then that is the value that it must be reported in ISTA! Thanks again! I will check the transport mode, if is still active I will try to deactivate it and then proced with the calibration! 
P.S Do you have any idea where can I find the transport mode in ISTA?

In my vehicle the transport mode is under Chassis/Suspension, in yours (i've input your VIN in ISTA+) it's under maintenance, see the attachment

It's important that you close doors & trunk since the height control system is activated by open doors & tailgate expecting weight to be transfered to/from the vehicle and running precalcaculation routines.

To acheive the standard height you must always indicate the real measure. Based on this information the sensors will know which side needs to be raised/lowered and by how much


As a side comment and for information after you've correctly acheived you standard height. Today I've been at the BMW dealer and asked about changing the standard predefined height to a lower/higher value, their reply was that officially it cannot be done, but unofficially they've showed me on another 7 seven series how trick the system to do it. You have to run the height sensor calibration and carry out the standard procedure but when inputting the measurements you add/substract to these the amount of milimeters you want to lower/raise the car. Say you want to increase the standard height of the rear axle by 10mm, so if the rear left wheel measure is 657mm and rear right wheel measure is 652mm you substract 10mm from these and input into the calibration 647mm & 642mm. This will "trick" the sensors to be believe  the car is lower and will raise it : I haven't tried it yet though

[bitcosmin]

I don t know but something strange is happening with my vehicle I believe or with the software of some internal modules. I must confess that I have sweated a lot today! Why? The answer is very simple: after connecting the ENET interface to the vehicle I have forgotten to start the ignition on and went straight to start the ride height adjustment. Complete identification, all fine, but suddenly a good bunch of modules within the modules tree were displayed in red colour (CPU not responding) but no error reported in ISTA    . God, Santa Maria and Jesus Christ  ! After a few seconds I realized  that the Flex ray Communication (CAN BUS) is not available while the ignition is turned off, so I turned the ignition on and everything came back to normal, the Green status of all red modules (No faults). I believe that this is the reason, cause after turning the ignition off again I had the same issue, so my conclusion is that the Flex ray Communication with some of the modules is not available with the ignition turned off (at least I hope I m right). Ok, so lets  go to Vehicle Management/Service Functions/Electronic ride height Control/Ride height Adjustment and surprise: the only two options for my vehicle are: ABL Ride height sensors: Start-up and FUB Ride height adjustment. The second measure, FUB Ride height adjustment, is actually doing nothing, is just informing that I may proceed with the operation only respecting some conditions. The first measure, ABL Ride height sensors: Start-up,  is actually doing the height adjustment of the vehicle in a weird manner. First time tells me to measure those distances, for all 4 wheels, with the unloaded vehicle, whilst the second measurement asks to do the same but with the loaded vehicle. Strange! I put the exact measured values in those ISTA fields and it seems that something went good, finally,  so the vehicle”s ride raised a little. However it seems that my vehicle needs a software update, I strongly believe!

P.S. The transport mode is not activated, by the way.
P.S.S. Do you think that the ”Flex ray  Communication incident” is normal due to the fact that the ignition was off during the testing? Everything is working fine, with no errors in ISTA! All modules are green (No faults). CTEK MXS 10 was doing it s job in Supply mode during the diagnose! Your opinion?
P.S.S.S Thanks a lot! I truly appreciate your help and kindness!

[arturo_spain]

Hi

Yes, AFAIK the comm bus error is normal as the car went to sleep while being online with ISTA. If the ignition is turned off during diagnosis only, nothing happens except cutting off communication with you laptop, another story is switching off during module testing which will force you to start over, but during coding it's quite dangerous if it catches you while updating/writing to a module.

You have to activate Diagnose mode (3 fast clicks on the ignition, you will see a message) and plug the driver side seatbelt so the car won't go to sleep.

Weird about Ride height adjustment, in my vehicle that's where the calibration routine is. I'll look up your vin again

Carry out the software update, but make sure your voltage supply is in order @ 14v for @50-70A