Firm self levelling suspension
 

I'm the proud owner of a 1997 4.2 A8. We have just celebrated our 2 week anniversary together and after some initial teething problems (fuel pump assembly, air-con compressor) we are now only left with one issue. My car is fitted with (the apparently rare) self levelling rear suspension. Unfortunately it's an extremely firm and bouncy ride. I have disconnected the small push rod that connects the rear sway bar to the little arm that adjusts the suspension level so that I can adjust the level manually however no matter what ride height I set it at the ride is extremely firm.

I'm unsure if maybe the springs are incorrect but I can only assume they are factory, it's almost as if the shocks are being filled with too much pressure however my assumption is that the ride height would not adjust if this was the case.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

They were rare in 1997, to find one in 2018 that still has the original levelling mechanism fitted is uber rare.

I know, of the few people that had it, they opted to swap the rear springs for normal ones, and simply cap off the hydraulic feed from the oversized PAS pump, but I confess I don't have any recollection of what the symptoms of failure are....