[muffin86]

All the kudos goes to this thread:

Canadian T3 air suspension retrofit

Figured I should start a thread about my current project. I'm going to retrofit the air suspension in my 2015 ExecLine R-Line. I will document as much of the retrofit as I can here. I'll try to includes as many pics as possible, as well as part numbers and wiring diagrams. I currently have...

www.clubtouareg.com

I thought I at least do a little write up on how I did the retrofit and supply all the sheets I used as well. There were some head scratching moments, but it's all working now.

Parts list I used:

Part #	Description
7P1927135	Height Knob (center console)
7P6927127L	CDC/Lock Switch (center console)
7P6927347	Control Module Bracket
7P0907553	Control Module
7P5616039	Air Struts LHS FR
7P5616040	Air Struts RHS FR
7P5616020	Air Struts RHS RR
7P5616019	Air Struts LHS RR
7P0616006	Compressor
7P0698014	Valve block
7L0698349	Valve block bracket
7P0698007	Full compressor assembly
7P0616201A	Tank
7P6959511K	rear loader switch
7P0616213	height sensor FL
7P0616214	height sensor FR
7P0616571	height sensor RR
7P0616571	height sensor RR
7P0907508A	acc sensor
7P0907508A	acc sensor
7P0616706D	Black Pressure Line
7P0616708 (A/B)	Suction Line
7P0616785A	Suction Line 2 (might not be needed)
7P0616719G	Violet
7P0616762C	Green
7P0616763E	Red
7P0616764D	Yellow
7P0616657A	Black Exhaust Line
7L0616758	Valve Connectors
7P0616047	Grommet 4
7P0616860	Grommet 1
7L0616757	Push on Connector for Tank

Electrical Connectors (need to double/triple check these, but this is some of them)

Connector Part Number	Description
1J0 972 483	Acceleration Sensor Connector
8E0972416B
1J0973752	Compressor
8E0971980	Connector for Height Knob 7P1927135
4H0973712A	Height Sensor the "A" is important
A0015452703	Control Module Connector 48pin (Mercedes Amp Wiring connectors)
A0015452703	Control Module Connector 30pin (Mercedes Amp Wiring connectors)
1J0973715	Solenoid
8E0972712	Trunk Switch
1J0973703	Compressor

 

[muffin86]

Part 1 - stripping down the car. I probably did overkill and might not be needed, but I stripped it down to metal pretty much. Used mostly ElsaWin to figure out what to remove first and where those "hidden" bolts are sometimes.

 

[muffin86]

Part 2 -

Stripping stuff outside. Wheel arches, under panels, Wipers (yes, you need to remove wipers to get better access to under the water guard - for air lines and wiring).

Bottom Panel removals:

 

[muffin86]

Part 3 - Mounting the Air Tank.

There are holes in place and you just need to use rivets (N90777902) (10) in the diagram above. It's impossible to find the double sided bolts (12) from VW, but there's a Dorman 29203 part #. I only used 1 to mount it on the side.

For the front I had to get a little bit more creative, because the grommet (4) I couldn't find and my tank doesn't have that weird lip in the front. So I JB Welded an M12 nut in the hole of the tank, shaved down a half of a double sided bolt (N90967801) and kept the M8 fitting to screw in the front.

 

[muffin86]

Part 4 - Mounting the Compressor

Nothing really special here, there's one bracket that's needed that I found from @etischer post on his PDC air suspension. Part # 95835821000

Part 5 - Running the Air lines

The original lines are the best, because they come with all the kinks to where they need to be placed.
Yellow (rear right), Red (rear left) and Black line (air tank) (the one that has a "U" kink in the middle) go inside.
Purple (front left) and Green (front right) are for the front. I used the diagram below to guide me.

The hardest line by far was the purple line. For easier access, remove the ECU/TCM (I forget which one it is), in the front under the rain guard. There's one hole for the passenger side. Then fish it through under the windshield wiper assembly in the middle. I also lifted up the Relay box on the driver side to get easier access to fish it through a similar hole on that side. You have to start from the inside of the engine bay and push the purple line to both sides so the grommets fit nicely.

Purple line.

 

[muffin86]

Part 6 - Running all the electrical wires.

Used the wiring diagram from ElsaWin pretty much to the letter.

The CANBUS H/L can be found in the main channel/main harness on the passenger side of the car. The cable also runs into the Parking Brake Module (J540), so I tapped into that.

For the new switch and knob in the center console, it's a matter of rewiring the cables going into the old ESP button and splicing into the ground cable that's already existing. There's only one cable that needs to go the module from the center switches.

Some more wiring pics:

 

[muffin86]

Part 7 - Install the Air Suspension

Once you made it here, it's time to install the air suspension Don't have any pics unfortunately, but the way I did it was to lift up the lower control arm with a jack, then use the spring compression tool (I bought the Snap-On ones, but generic ones should do the trick). Removed the top nuts from inside the engine bay.

Then I went ahead and removed the bolt/nut for the stabilizer bar - I used a joint remover tool here to push it out of the upper control arm. After that removed the bolt on the bottom.

I didn't remove any bolts for the brake lines or otherwise, I was able to get it out in one piece and put the air struts in without any problems.

Connect air lines and also connect the struts to the twisted pair electrical wires.

 

[muffin86]

Part 8 - VCDS coding.

I used VCDS to do the coding and adaptation. While ignition on, code the 34 - Level Control Module, mine was all zero'ed out.

[34 Level Control Module]
Long Coding: 14210000

After that check off that you have the Level control installed.

[19-CAN Gateway]
[Installation List]
- Scroll down to 34-Level Control and put a check-mark next to it.
[Save Coding]

Next was to update the ABS coding:
Original Coding: 5B7613C349242554DAF5C89B92DAA4407700
Updated Coding: 5B7613C34B242554DAF5C89BD2DAA4407700
(Highlighted the bits that had to change)

Next I went into
[17-Instruments]
Used the long coding helper to tick off "Daempfer regelung".

Next into
[55-Headlight Range]
Used long coding helper to remove the checkbox for getting data from Sensors, but get it from CAN instead.

Next off to filling up the air tanks. For this, you will need to start the car (or at least I did). Close all the doors (also not sure if this is relevant, but I think it is?).

Go into [34-Level Control].
Enter the Security Code (VCDS will prompt the code - 210673).
Go to Basic Settings.
Do the "Bleed" channel, use the type "Complete" and hit go. The car should go all the way down.
Attach the nitrogen tank to the Air Tank using R134A low fitting and pressurize to 17bar/150PSI.
Now do the "Filling" channel, use the type "Stage 1", keep the pressure right around 17bar/150PSI while the filling process is going.

After that, go into Adaptation.
There's 4 channels where you need to input the measurements between center hub cap and arch well. Left Front/Right, Rear Left/Right. After that go into the channel "Complete Height Calibration" and change the value to "Yes" - mine was set to "No" initially.


[[ will post VCDS pictures later ]]

 

[muffin86]

Part 9 - Have a big smile on your face that it's all done!

Big thanks to the original write up of the retrofit and also to Rosstech for the darn quick support.

 

[muffin86]

Addendum

Nitrogen Filling
For Nitrogen Filling I had a store called AirGas (welding supply store) that sells/rents out Nitrogen containers, my store is a super friendly bunch.
Tools needed:
1. Nitrogen Gas Regular (CGA 580 fitting)
2. AC Manifold Gauge Set R134a - the low pressure fitting fits on the air tank.

Nitrogen Tank >> Nitrogen Gas Regular >> AC Manifold >> High Pressure side >> Low Pressure fitting >> Air Tank

Then regulate the nitrogen going in.

 

[muffin86]

The method I used required the following items:

1. VCDS
2. Nitrogen Tank with CGA-580 Connection
3. CGA-580 Regular
4. AC Manifold set

From a process, I did the following:

1. Connected Nitrogen Tank to the CGA-580 Regular and the Regulator to the High Port of the AC Manifold.
2. Connected the high port of the AC Manifold with the Low Pressure fitting to the Expansion tank under the car.
   1. This is usually capped with a black plastic cap that can be unscrewed.
3. in VCDS Go into [34-Level Control].
4. Enter the Security Code (VCDS will prompt the code - 210673).
   Go to Basic Settings.
   Do the "Bleed" channel, use the type "Complete" and hit go. The car should go all the way down.
5. Now open up the Nitrogen Tank and the pressure on the AC Manifold should read around 17bar/150PSI.
6. In VCDS, change to the "Filling" channel, use the type "Stage 1", keep the pressure right around 17bar/150PSI while the filling process is going.

This is pretty much what I did - let me know if that helps or if you have any questions.

 

[muffin86]

Your Original Original
5B7613C349252553DAF9C89792D5A4407300

Modified (try this coding?)
5B7613C34B252553DAF9C897D2D5A4407300

Don't forget to enter the security code before you try:
40168