My control arm bushings are shot, and I have a press.
wondering if anyone has swapped in New bushings, and what Dealer to buy them from. I am under the impression that VW and Audi have interchangeable parts for this.
Planning on doing upper and lower fronts.

 

They are direct Replacements from VW Phaeton W12 or Audi A8 Quattro W12. The front lower rear inner bushing is 75 mm diameter ( can't find part number that dimension is what matters). The small upper inners are Audi 4EO 407 182 C ( double check this). The front lower inner bushing requires a bit more effort because the hex head cap screw was put in before the subframe assembly was put into the car. Be warned you will have to cut the head of the hex head screw off. Reassembly just get a new fastener and put it in the opposite direction, (m12 x 1.5 × 90mm 10.9)

 

I took my control arms off, and it seems my ball joints are bad too. Don't know if they are available seperately, however if I just replace all the arms is it all direct from the VW Phaeton, or do I still have to mix the Audi and VW parts?
if so anybody know which years and which brand go where?

 

There's no magic bullet in cross-referencing. The dealers will not be helpful. They want VIN numbers based on the vehicles that they support.

The logic is Phaetons and Audis share the same or similar drivetrain's. The given is you have a casted part number on your Bentley part. Frequently, but not always the last letter may vary because your cross-referencing part numbers w/ (B,V&A). Generally, the same number with the exception of the last letter will yied the substitute part. Peruse online at part numbers and vendor's images to make a choice. That is what most people are doing. Our job is to reverse engineer these cars. The Bentley dealer tricks us with expensive parts that are exactly the same as Volkswagen and Audi. Now it is our turn to trick them back.

Once the ball joint is bad, the unit is bad. Stay away from used suspension components. Once you buy them you'll find out why they sold them.

There are good deals on eBay from businesses that have eBay stores selling new parts. By doing this leg work one becomes quite familiar with the whole system.

Even if a Forum member gives you a part number best to verify that it is indeed the correct part for your car.

The confusion is there's a difference between OEM part numbers, replacement part numbers and vendor part numbers. On top of all of that the cross referencing between different VAG divisions.

The Bentley support network is limited, the joy of working on exotics. We were smart enough to afford these cars, some of us are smart enough to figure them out. Put on your entrepreneurial thinking cap.


Bon Chance (Good luck)!

 

I will replace soon all the control arms in my CGT, I notice that the parts of the Audi A8 W12 are visually identical to the Phaeton W12 control arms, I was wondering if I can install all 8 arms from either VW or Audi in my car since I found a set in AlpinePerformance for $750.00 but the brand is TopEuro which I have never heard of them and I'm afraid to buy Chinese junk, in the other hand I found in FCP Euro the full set for VW Phaeton for $980.00 Meyle brand which seems to be a quality part, plus FCP offers a lifetime warranty, also FCP offers the Audi A8 W12 control arm kit for $980.00 in Lemforder brand which seems even better quality than Meyle.
The question is: Does either the Audi A8 and Phaeton control arm will fit in my CGT?

 

Been talking about this too on my tracking thread.
If you swap the Bentley part code 3W to 4E, you'll get the Audi equivalent part. BUT I don't know for sure if they are exactly the same?
There appear to be complete suspension kits for A8's for very little money (Like under £200 for everythnig) but they must be Chinese junk? There are kits from companys like Vaico for £300.
I'm seeing many different brands pop up but Lemforder and TRW are common,
It's interesting the price difference between 3W0407505 and 4E0407505. Thr Bentley one is £170. The Audi A8 one is £20.

Keep us posted what you find!

 

Sure, also I found a kit for Audi A8 D2 for $270 USD, and looking at the part they look quite the same as the Bentley, the only differences I can spot is the straight control arm 4D407151P seems thinner than the original in Bentley or Audi D3, also it lacks for a hole to connect the ride height sensor, other than that difference the rest of parts seems to be identical.

What means the last letter attached to the number, for example: 4D407151P, also what does the code 8D, 8E etc. means?

Here is the link: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/aud...hoCRqwQAvD_BwE

 

Not seen Delphi parts come up in my searches.

I'm also finding it impossible to get the upper front control arms from Lemforder or TRW and some sites say the Audi A8 one's are not the same... The lower arms seem very common.

Vaico appear on the face of it to be German but I am sure their parts come from China. Not that is always a bad thing. I've been to China to look at getting parts manufactured and some companys are what you'd expect (Dickensian sweat shops with laughable QA who will answer yes to every question) but others have been 'managed' by US or European customers to produce the parts they want to the right quality with top of the line machines.

Anyway here is a site with some info on how VAG part codes work:

VAG codes