Is it likely that a short circuit in the PASM lead exiting the Bilstein B16 shock which triggered a short - could short out and "kill" a PASM Control Unit?

I've just had to replace the control unit (and it's not cheap) after having the shock repaired by Bilstein after the PASM wire got frayed somehow - still unsure how all of this happened, as I was driving normally when the entire PASM system went offline and threw an error. I'm told that the lead was frayed sometime back and somehow the wires must have touched creating a short and frying the control unit.

Is that possible? Aren't there fuses to prevent that?
How does this control unit work?

 

First off, sorry this happened to you. Yet another victim of this absolutely terrible product.
Second, this is not directed at you but more a slight at Bilstein:

It's incredible that anyone who reads the Bilstein threads on this forum would come within 100 feet of a Damptronic setup for their car. Multiple documented failures of one sort or another, some an electronic gremlin that could not be eradicated (my case) to a couple of catastrophic mechanical failures.

To answer your question, yes, a failed coilover at any corner will disable the PASM system and default it to the 'kidney-shattering' stiff setting.

Hope you get your problem resolved. But if I were you, I'd trash the whole thing and go with another manufacturer. This system, and more importantly, the customer service from this company, is a joke.

 

Agree with BH.

 

Lets not forget about the drop link design. Even when installed on the correct side, there were so many failures that the design had to be changed - with no admission of design flaw.

 

Hey BH - thanks.

Actually another member on here, after going through a hellish ordeal himself managed to get the regional managers number, and passed it on to me. So I have to say that communicating with him was quick and smooth.

However their clearing house this side of the border (Canada) sat on the shock for 5 days and only after I started to prod and make calls did they realize they had received it in order to pass it onto the testing/repair facility in California. How they can sit on something for 5 days and not realize they have it, is beyond me.

What's even better is that there was miss-communication between Bilsteins clearing house this side of the border and Bilstein HQ. The guy at the clearing house, after he realized that he was sitting on the shock said that they wouldn't accept the warranty (which is a life time warranty) unless the shock was sent in from the distributor - that meant that I had to ship it to Florida (where I bought it originally) and plead with them to ship it to Bilstein... HOW CRAZY IS THAT. He also told me that the turnaround time would be around 3 weeks!!!!! 3 weeks for a repair?!?!

This fueled me up even more - so I started to make calls and send emails, got hold of the regional manager, who immediately explained to me that what I was told was not the case and they will accept the shock from me. At that point I had to stop shipment midway and then reship it back to Bilstein in California.

As you can imagine...
... it started to become a real cluster f**K at this point.

Finally when it arrived at their facility, I must say they acted fast on it. 1 day turnaround time to fix it. Communication was fast - phone calls answered, emails responded to within minutes. I must applaud that.

...However they found that the frayed wire was not covered under warranty - hence I had to pay for the repair. This meant that now, after I was told that that they would pay for shipment, (a total of $260 charge both ways) - I was left with that bill.

After the fixed shock arrived, my service manager told me that he had to replace the PASM control unit as it was fried too, due to the short from the frayed wire!!! Another $600 (he was generous to give it to me at his cost). What's more puzzling that such an expensive piece of equipment - a control unit, has NO FUSE? What is Porsche thinking not having a fues on this thing?!? PREPOSTEROUS!
How is that possible, that the entire unit gets fried and has to be replaced.

You can imagine how this expensive, 5 week ordeal has left me.

More-so, I'm not a first time customer. Actually my first experience with the PSS9 system 4 years ago was a great one, so I thought I would go with them again...

 

That indeed was a terrible experience.
Was it the front PASM unit frayed?
In front coilovers the wire cams out from the bottom of the body
Very bud design on Bilstein part -this is where the coilover gos up ,down and side to side together with the PASM wire .In factory setup the wire gos out from the top where is secure and safe.
If the PASM wire gets loose under there ,you will have a short that may cost the control unit to go bad. …

 

It was these unfortunate experiences that kept me from going to coil overs, at least Bilstein products. I still may make the switch in the winter probably to KW when I add another car to the family. I just hope they learn a valuable lesson and made changes to the product.

 

This has just happened to my car and I am quite p###ed. These Bilsteins seem like total nightmares! Hope they are listening as there are a lot p###d off people regarding their products.

 

How many miles do you guys have on your failed systems?

I have had them for a week and so far so good. Actually, they are quite impressive for daily driving. Let's hope they hold up...

 

Got my car back with B16 Damptronic a few days ago and cannot experience a difference between PASM Sport and Normal...no error code. Brought it to the tuner who said everything is ok, PASM is working.
Is this normal?

 

Hampi,

I believe it's normal. The difference between "normal" and "sport" on these coilovers is less pronounced compared to the stock setup. However, it's definitely noticeable. Also, keep in mind that my car is set to the softest mode 1Front/1Rear, maximum ride height (10mm drop) and slightly more aggressive camber.

 

Thanks, but with the Damptronic, there are no different settings I thought beside ride height unlike the PSS10 where you can change settings...

 

Damptronic B16s use an electronically controlled damper setting, 2 settings (on/off.)

 

I thought the two settings were on/more-on? Let me check the manual again

 

The lower PASM wire placement is the Achilles heel of the damptronics, I had a similar failure, Bilstein stepped up and warrantied the affected damper. bilstein told me at the time they were aware of several similar failures and were addressing it....I guess not!
Between this and the drop link issue I would look at other options.