DIY: Panamera Air Suspension Shock Replacement (Front)
 

After doing some work on my PTT, i put this DIY together to help others replace their own shocks.
Ended up replacing both front shocks. Then, one of replaced shocks was not working.
Once I figured that out (info about how to diagnose is in the air suspension info thread),
company overnighted another replacement (I pre paid, and they refund money afterwards -takes about 2 weeks after they get shock back).
Doing first shock replacement took about 4 hours with pics, breaks, etc.
Doing subsequent shock replacements (other side and replace of defective shock), took about 1.5 hrs including wheel attach.

My advice, do not be intimidated. Not difficult. Keep your eyes on the prize - new car with new suspension working perfect.
Then do the job. You will enjoy lots of money saved.
People take their cars to dealer to have this done, have posted bills of $9000 plus tax for replacing front air shocks.

My price for doing this myself:
- $375 for driver shock (pre paid 525, got refund $150 on used core charge)
- $375 for passenger shock (again pre paid 525 and got 10 back after I sent old core back)
- $120 for valve block (decided to replace as Durametric does not have capability to test individual valves to see which is broken or not.
- About 12 hours of time spread over few days (you can do the whole thing in one weekend no problem - one day). Of course,
my time included taking pics, organizing things, doing troubleshooting so I can have proper write up about air suspension (separate thread - search for air suspension info), etc.
Your time will be likely about 8 to 10 hours max, since you already have this all laid out to follow.

Money wise, I spent $870. Compared to $9000 bill, that is $8,130 SAVINGS!!! - Before tax!
Think what you can do with that money!! Of course, if you feel you have too much after DIY, you can paypal me some - I will not complain.

REPLACEMENT PARTS I USED:
Rebuild Master Tech shocks. Look online, make sure you get the proper year and model and side you need.
Not sure if there are other vendors doing this. Cayennes used to have Arnott, but checking I did not see any Panamera air shocks.



OTHER INFO:
While you are doing this work, it is good to think ahead, if you need any other work that will save lots of time, if done at same time as air shock replacement.
- Upper control arms (see my DIY) - if you have clunking over bumps, these are likely culprits
- Lower control arms (see my DIY) - if you have clunking these can be reason too
- Sway bar bushings - if you have squeaking coming from car over bumps these are likely the reason. You can lube them to see if helps, but once all this stuff is being worked on, bushings are just a small addition
- Other brake jobs, etc in the area.


Do not rush, take time to do correctly. Hope this helps you fine folks. Follow each pic as it is numbered. Last pic has hardware torque info.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...cff4ed69fe.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...5f38d9fffa.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...7cf89bed58.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...68a3986e98.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...a9ed004b90.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...7e4ab7fcd0.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...822d873ec2.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...4e98bb541b.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...d9769fc7c7.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...4628773058.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...044ee57513.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...7e2af2d2df.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...f5c77db7ce.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...daf6e8d65d.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...58d8e071d9.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...ff1049e9b5.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...374910f4eb.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...d82d8b7d06.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...65fcbfd9e9.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...47bf45813a.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...5b28ff0c9f.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...2194f2726a.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...43e0031cf8.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...249b702208.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...0d02fcd5e4.jpg

Thanks for another wonderfully detailed DIY Ciaka!!

:rockon:

Wow! That's amazing. Absolutely great posts.

I do guess there is one crucial thing in the listed costs that is not mentioned.... you need a full blown car mechanic garage with bridge and all quality tools to do this work to do this yourself. That investment is probably included in the price from your dealer.

Tools:

- eTorx set metric ~$10 - Harbor Freight
- Torx set metric ~10 - HF
- metric socket set 8mm-19mm - ~$12 HF
- metric socket set 10mm - 26mm - ~$12 HF
- Metric socket 12 pt - 22mm - ~4 bucks (or get full large set including this in above set
- Metric socket 26mm 12 pt - ~$4 or get in above set of large sockets
- screwdrivers set (flat, phillips)
- driver bit set - ~$14 Home Depot for 144 bit set
- Jack lifts (2) - ~80/jack - 3 ton jacks fast lift OR 2x jack stands ~$15/stand $30 total
- breaker bar ~$15 HF
- RECOMMENDED - AIr tool set (tank ~$200, gun 1/2 inch drive ~$80), use above socket sets
- 3/8 drive ratchet ~$15 HF
- 1/2" ratchet ~$15 HF
- 3/8" extensions (4 x 8" or 10") ~ $20
- Balljoint puller - free rental from Autozone or buy ~$20
- Light so you can see if you do at night - ~$20 HF 375 lumen LED with magnets
No large garage with lift needed. Nice but not needed.
I will pitch to wife to get a 2 post lift for the garage at some opportuned time, she is trying to convince me to get a pool backyard.

Many of these I bet you already have.
Most people do not get all at once, but collect over time. So if you have been doing any car work, chances are most of these are already in your possession

Nice
 

Amazing post

Thank you. When I first got the Panamera, I could not find any info on it, so as I was doing maintenance and checks, I started doing DIYs with main quesitons being 'what would a newbe person trying to fix this car part, want to know'. So I made this one plus probably more than half dozen other DIYs to make all our lives easier with this fine car.
Enjoy and if you have a chance to do a DIY, make one detailed, everyone will appreciate it.

RESULTS? ANYMORE CRACKING,CREAKING,CLUNKING OVER MINOR\MAJOR BUMPS?

Hey man, I bought aftermarket shocks and had them installed by my local Porsche dealer and when I got it back I had the yellow Chassis system fault message and my Panamera wont go into sport or sport + mode anymore. Was there any calibration or reset they should have done after install or is it an issue with the after market shocks not communicating properly with the computer? It airs up and down fine, the only issue is with the error code and not entering sport modes. Its a 2014 Panamera S Executive.

Thank you. Great write up by the way!

Thank you for your kind words.
After I replaced the shocks (did both front), there was no calibration needed to be done. After replacement, make sure panamera does not rest all way down on shocks before they get aired up by air tank.
You replace shocks, leave on jacks, start car and allow compressor to fill the air tank. Then the tank will let air into shocks via valve body. After that, you remove jacks and are done.

If you have system chassis fault, you will have to diagnose this. I have another thread on how to diagnose air suspension part by part.
Just guessing without any diags codes from car, something is reporting to ECU as not being right.
IMO, it would be either:
- One or both shocks electrical connections not connecting right (at top of shocks under hood). Careful these are brittle.
- One or more height sensors are not properly reporting height (maybe mis installed or not connected right, or defective due to age or mis installation by shop
- It is rare, but possible that re calibration of suspension sensors would need doing (shop should have done this when installing shocks - dealers always do this at install time).

It should be stated that you assume the car raises and lowers without issues. You do have an error, so do not assume just because you see car go up/down, it is all working fine.
PD is the first step here, pulling codes, clearing them, and observing which ones return.

Extremely helpful and detailed instructional walk-through, thank you Ciaka. I have a 2010 PTT with only 30K miles and am getting occasional "Chassis System Failure" messages, though so far they have cleared when the car warms up or I do an engine restart. If cold weather persists, which it will where I live, I'm expecting the fault messages not to clear, so I'm getting ready to perform the air shock replacement and your DIY is an invaluable guide to doing that.

I have a dumb question regarding starting at very beginning of the air shock replacement process: "Disable Suspension." Is this simply a matter of deactivating the suspension (shock absorber icon button) on the center console - make sure red light is "off" - or is there something else you have to do - perhaps with additional settings - to "disable suspension?" Haven't had the car long so please forgive my ignorance.

P.S. RMT is "out of stock" for the rebuilt shocks (assume they're rebuilt since they want "cores for cash" back) so looking for another reputable third party supplier.

you need to press and hold the "high level" button for around 10 seconds (with the engine running) you should then get a message displayed on your dash "Control Off" , to re-enable it same procedure

Great, thanks, didn't want to ruin the suspension until after I worked on it :-)

gm, first let me say thank you for the thread ,so ,my problem is after changing first the left side and then the right side struts on my 2010 p4s because the left side had small leak but system worked otherwise, drove car about two miles and front dropped down mid drive and has stopped responding altogether ,no faults no lights pump and switches still come on as if car is operating as designed but front does not raise and rear is at high level ,no movement on either

gm I sent this in wrong place so sending it again ,so first, let me thank you for the very detailed posts my problem is after changing both front struts with system operating normally ,drove car approx two miles and front end dropped down and no longer raises rear is at high level and also does not respond ,no warning lights ,no messages and no faults, no leaks on either bag and also replaced compressor as I thought that it may have been worn out from constantly trying to refill left shock (which is reason for initial change, small leak at sensor) so now I'm just rubbing my head ,local dealer quoted me 13000.00 for replacement of entire system after 15 min diagnosis, needless to say that's out of the question ,hopefully you have some suggestions for me