Increasing ride height when going through heavy rain with deep water.

915M · 09-10-2023, 01:00 PM

I was driving in heavy rain and there was deep water. It was all sudden so I did not think much and increased height of the car to the max and did not have any problem. But I am not sure it was right thing to do.

Is it safe to raise car up driving through heavy rain with water around 30cm(1foot) deep?
I am wondering any water can get sucked into the air suspension system if there are water around it.

nZtiZia · 09-10-2023, 02:10 PM

there are videos that show the fording depth of the X5. certain suspension levels are dependent on vehicle speed.'

there's a recent thread of a guy who drove through mere inches of rain and had issues afterwards, so he brought it to his dealership. they won't cover repairs under warranty. they're blaming him for driving through "too much" water that caused water to infiltrate the transfer case.

hope you don't face a similar situation.

jad03060 · 09-10-2023, 03:15 PM

The manual has the specs on how deep you can ford water and how fast you can drive through it. If you abide by those specs, you should be okay. You should not barrel though deeper water as that can push water where it shouldn't go. That extra inch or two you can get with the air suspension in theory could help a little. I do not know where the air inlet for the compressor is, so I'd want to do it before entering the water, not while in it.

bloozemanAZ · 09-10-2023, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jad03060

The manual has the specs on how deep you can ford water and how fast you can drive through it. If you abide by those specs, you should be okay. You should not barrel though deeper water as that can push water where it shouldn't go. That extra inch or two you can get with the air suspension in theory could help a little. I do not know where the air inlet for the compressor is, so I'd want to do it before entering the water, not while in it.

Yep but to the OP with the situation during a monsoon thunderstorm in Tucson (know it all too well as grew up in Nogales, went to the UofA in Tucson and then ASU for grad school here in Phoenix) he was in inches and BMW still walked away.

09-10-2023, 01:00 PM	#1
915M Second Lieutenant 88 Rep 208 Posts Drives: BMW X5 50e Join Date: Feb 2023 Location: NYC iTrader: (0)	Increasing ride height when going through heavy rain with deep water. I was driving in heavy rain and there was deep water. It was all sudden so I did not think much and increased height of the car to the max and did not have any problem. But I am not sure it was right thing to do. Is it safe to raise car up driving through heavy rain with water around 30cm(1foot) deep? I am wondering any water can get sucked into the air suspension system if there are water around it.
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09-10-2023, 02:10 PM	#2
nZtiZia Major General 4674 Rep 8,722 Posts Drives: eVeRyOnE mAD! Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: neither here nor there... iTrader: (0) Garage List 2021 BMW X5 xDrive 45e [9.88]	there are videos that show the fording depth of the X5. certain suspension levels are dependent on vehicle speed.' there's a recent thread of a guy who drove through mere inches of rain and had issues afterwards, so he brought it to his dealership. they won't cover repairs under warranty. they're blaming him for driving through "too much" water that caused water to infiltrate the transfer case. hope you don't face a similar situation.
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09-10-2023, 03:15 PM	#3
jad03060 Major General 3184 Rep 6,835 Posts Drives: X5 45e Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: NH iTrader: (0)	The manual has the specs on how deep you can ford water and how fast you can drive through it. If you abide by those specs, you should be okay. You should not barrel though deeper water as that can push water where it shouldn't go. That extra inch or two you can get with the air suspension in theory could help a little. I do not know where the air inlet for the compressor is, so I'd want to do it before entering the water, not while in it.
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