ciaka

If your car is making clunking, squeaking noises while going over bumps, it is very likely that your upper and/or lower control arm bushings are damaged.
It is very hard to determine if upper control arms are damaged, because the bushings are mounted in such way, which prevents inspection (bolts/chassis are in the way of visual inspection).
Rest assured, if you are clunking over bumps, and your upper control arms are more than 60k miles old, it is time to replace them. Some have reported these arms damaged even before 60k miles.

Once you determine it is the upper control arms, this DIY will give you steps to do this at home, and save some good $$$. You can get some good beverage with all the savings you do, by doing the work yourself.

Follow each step in order, each picture contains description of the process. I recommend you read the entire thread, to ensure you understand the whole process, and estimate time involvement.
First time replacing the upper control arm? I estimate it will take you about 4 hours per side. Subsequent replacements will be significantly shorter, about 1.5 hours per side (then you will be an expert).
Take your time, dont rush, put some nice music on in the garage, and stay with it. Do not panic and complete the whole job. You can do this no problem!

Good luck and enjoy the hundreds you will save on the job.


REPLACEMENT PART INFO:
My replacement part: Lemfoerder (Porsche OEM supplier).
Upper control arm Part No: 970 341 051 10
Part cost estimate: $230-$260/side . Part includes nuts for ball joint, side bolt nuts (2)

INSTALL TORQUE INFO:

• Upper arm bolts to body in wheel well - 50 Nm (37 ftlbs) + 120˚
• Upper arm ball joint bolt to steering knuckle - 85 Nm (63 ftlbs)

Now, on to the DIY:

cbwinters01

Another amazing DIY write-up; thank you Ciaka!

dudecs

Thank you!

fatpan

Thanks Ciaka! Thanks for putting DIY at the front of the subject -----that helps identifying the thread vs a discussion I might have already read thru and pops up with new comments (at least for me)

DogWood

I believe I will need to be taking advantage of this great DIY write up - getting some noises on sharp bumps

tastefulmods

Did the noise go away completely as I have heard the lower control arm bushings are also a reason for the noise when going over bumps. I am planning on doing this and not sure if I should go for the upper or lower control arms first.

Michael Plumlee

This is an AWESOME post!! Do you have any more for the lower control arm or the wheel bearings? I am replacing both sides Upper & Lower control arms and both sides wheel bearings on my 2011 Panamera 4S!

Thanks for your help!!

Mike

c4racer

As a FYI - my 2013 with only around 30K miles was making these noises, and the dealer replaced these bushing under the CPO warranty. Much better and smoother and quiet now!!
Point being these bushings don't last as long as you would expect - I have more experience with BMW's and you tend to get at least double that out of BMW bushings.

smithsor

Check here for factory repair steps...

https://rennlist.com/forums/panamera...ir-guides.html