Hi, I think I found a SUSE solution to the problem. Usually, the standard SUSE kernel includes all kernel options as modules. Judging from the vmlinuz.config file in /boot the autofs modules is loaded just before the autofs4. One can use the initrd of SUSE to cirumvent this problem. The ramdisk includes modules that will be loaded first during the boot process. One can include the autofs4 module in the initrd by adding it to the INITRD_MODULES="... autofs4" in the /etc/rc.config file. Then you execute the command mk_initrd which updates the module ramdisk. Reboot and you have a 100% version 4 autofs, I think even without the alias in modules.conf.
Once more thank you for your help. Hauke
