>>28599706
Just did the air suspension on mine. Bilstein makes the OE air struts. Audi wants ~$1,700 for each front unit. Billstein sells them for $1,000. You can go Arnott or Chinese for $700 or less. I went with Bilstein, OE without the brand tax. The job itself is super easy, takes maybe an hour per side if you’re going slow.l and need to double check everything
>set suspension to service setting
>pop hood
>jack car up
>remove wheel
>disconnect sensors, air suspension plug, and air hose
>unbolt suspension level sensor from lower control arm
>support steering knuckle with spare jack or caliper hangers
>unbolt upper control arms from knuckle
>unbolt seay bar from strut mount
>unbolt strut from top of strut tower
>use special spreader tool (cheap socket wrench oval thingy) on strut mount and remove air strut
>installation is reverse of removal
Just make sure to use fresh hardware, correct torque, and only torque down the sway bar and control arm joints with the wheel hub at the correct reference level (measure distance from top of wheel arch to center of wheel hub before hand). You can use a jack under the lower front control arm to get the hub at the correct reference height before you torque everything down if you don’t have a 4-post lift.
Dealership will want to charge $500+ per side for labor. So $4500 for a mechanic or dealer, or $2000 if you do it on a Saturday morning.
