Bagpipe andy kit here....Really quite simple. Had loads of faults on the suspension side which knocked the lights leveling system out and lots of stuff. Really easy to do if you have any mechanical knowledge and if you can get the compressor out, you have enough to try the repair kit.
Been over a year and it's great. Handy if you have Vagcom to test too, but it's pretty obvious that it works....If you can hear the pump running, go for the kit!

Just to finalise this thread - I decided to go for a new compressor rather than the bagpipeandy kit. Bought the new compressor from aerosus as per the link in my original post - £289 + shipping. Was fitted by my local indy yesterday with just 3 hours labour. They tell me that the new compressor was identical to the original unit and just bolted straight on -with all necessary fittings and a new relay included.

The old pump had obviously been tired for a long while - the car has never adjusted levels this quickly in my ownership (a little over 3 years). With that plus other work I've had done recently (cambelt, control arms + a few other bits) she's driving like a new car again. Not too shabby for a 14 year-old car. Well pleased.

Glad to hear it.

Can't really grumble with the price of that compressor, can you. I too have heard good things about BagpipingAndy, but for convenience and peace of mind the Aerosus seems a bargain.

I'm gonna need to go down the new compressor route soon.

When I bought my W12 the compressor was making a racket but working fine.
Did the Bagpipeandy kit and a new set of shock mounts for the cradle and was fine for three weeks then back to clattering away.

Glad this place has pointed out some great places to get replacements at a great price!

I did mine around 3 years back, and it turned out that the brushes within the motor had dislodged.. a bit of twisted wire and they were soon back in position.

Fixed the problem, with the air suspension working again!

I also came across the bagpipeandy solution and have to say it seems to have worked for loads of people.

Good to hear your A8 is back up and running.

I did the bagpipingandy fix to the compressor 3 years ago, and its still fine with no faults being logged against the suspension.

I think the key is to catch it early enough that the motor itself is not damaged by over heating.