Virtualization of products means the representation of some of their properties by models. In a stronger digitalized world, these models will gain a much broader use than models had in engineering so far. Even for one modelling aspect different models of the same product will be used, depending on the specific need of the model user. That need may change in the course of product life, between first product concepts till over the different phases of development, to product use, maintenance, or even recycling. Since a digitalized world use of these diverse models will not be limited to experts model consistency will play a much stronger role. Model hierarchies will play a stronger role and can serve also as means for teaching product users a deeper understanding of product properties. A consistent model hierarchy leading from a simple to a more advanced property representation can support this learning process. In this paper perturbation methods are analyzed as a means for setting up model hierarchies in a consistent manner. This is studied by models for the behavior of a electrohydraulic drive, which consists of a variable speed motor, a pump, a double stroke cylinder and a counterbalance valve. Model hierarchy is achieved by model reduction in the sense of perturbation theory. The use of these different models for different questions in a system design context and their interrelations are exemplified.