Ciaka did you see my other post asking if the Porsche manual is accurate on lowering the exhaust to replace the air suspension valve block? I find that highly unlikely and flat out stupid lol...appreciate your input. BTW which valve block did you end up going with for $120?

 

Oh that's right, it slipped my mind that you're the one who ordered the bellow assemblies from Suncore. I was actually waiting to see what your thoughts were on them and how they were to reassemble. What was the issue with your set? Do you feel I should just source an entire assembly elsewhere?

 

First off they packed both units into one small box and the only thing to secure/separate them was thin cheap packaging material. The box was torn open about 8 inches right where the rubber material is for the air bag. One of the baffles had the lower clamp which holds the baffle to the assembly installed with the metal clamp hanging over on to the material. My concern is it will eventually tear the air baffle material. The second unit didn't even have a clamp installed to hold the rubber housing to the assembly. I don't want to go thru all the work to install and find out there is a leak or the sensor is damaged etc. I've been waiting for 3 days for them to send me replacement parts and was just told them are trying to find one of the boxes in their warehouse. Just my luck...

 

Dude... That's pretty bad, and not just the delivery currier messing up the packaging. It seems as those should've never left their facility.

 

My valve block cost about 110 new from ebay.
You do not need to remove exhaust, but you have to remove heat shielding in area to get to the screws to remove it.
Once you crawl under you will remove screws to a quarter panel piece, then will have access to bolts for valve block.
Take your time, never rush. Not hard.

 

The Unity strut started traveling yesterday afternoon Eastern time it seems. Walmart updated delivery to Thursday after 6 pm pick up (from local Walmart), from Monday after 6 pm. I am seriously considering the PIWIS 3 VX Diag hardware version on the site I noted. They seem to have special pricing for 11/11. I considered a Launch product but I thought I saw a 1 yr update subscription for $6xx somewhere. Kind of steep I think the clone route may be better suited for my needs. Also strange how the USA website gives links to local distributors, and it is hard to find their products for sale through these distributors. The products for non-US countries are being sold on Amazon as you kindly shared with up to 5 yrs warranty plus 2 years updates, vs 1 yr / 1 yr for the US products, plus the US ones seem much more expensive when I do find them....

I’ll be back home Monday evening... I’ll update you all how the Unity strut goes. Seem to be able to test the unit by connecting it to the two electrical connectors and turn on the car. (The shop noted they tried connecting my old leaky strut just directly to the connectors and coil short error did not show, so that will be my way of testing the Unity one before attempting to install or have them install. I will need someone to hold it above the fender I guess while I start it, or vice versa).

 

There is a PASM update at the dealer maybe this will help your issue. Otherwise it is related to struts, airlines, valve block, or compressor

 

I just found out Amazon sells the Unity struts. Search Unity Panamera Strut....

But seems like take too long to ship!...

 

Picked up the Unity brand strut from Walmart today. I came home, finished my lunch, lay the strut on a yoga pad to protect the engine bay from damage and connected the two electrical connectors. I then turned Ig ON and cleared the codes. I then started the car. No errors came up except a system air pressure low or something similar. With all the trouble people are having do you think I should risk another $821.50 to have the shop install it, just pay them the $2k they are asking to rebuild with OE Porsche bag?

(What a dilemma)...

 

Honestly your shop is charging way too much in my opinion. My local shop which only works on imports and exotic cars wants $635 to install both struts, pressurize and test. Since I'm using my parts he wouldn't give any labor warranty but these guys work on cars like this every day and have been around forever. I ended up ordering the complete strut/bag assembly from Suncore which should be here Saturday and I'll probably still do the install myself. I now know that Suncore is actually owned by Unity so I'm sure my parts will look the same as yours.

 

That's the million dollar question right there. Even if you had them rebuild them and let's say 2 months down the road, will they really back up the warranty and rebuild/replace them?

My primary concern at the moment is let's say the bags I get work great for 2-3 months, who's to say the company I buy them from will actually follow through with the warranty and not try to blame me for somehow causing the issue? We're all spending upwards of $1k and certainly more if you go with Arnott or FVD (nearly double actually) and the last thing any of us want is to have to take the damn things back out and replace them all over again.

 

Thanks so much for the input!

As far as warranty, the OE Porsche parts, and labor from this shop, come with 2 yr unlimited mi warranty. My concern for the Unity strut is if the bag is faulty or fails. I would be out a significant amount of labor! In the case of rebuild, what if the strut (oil filled shock absorbing part) that they reuse starts leaking/fails. Then I'd still be out labor!

I agree the best is probably to go the DIY route. Now that it seems this strut does not have some sort of short, (should I still be concerned as I didn't install it?), it's time to look into a better tool like the PIWIS clone or Launch Pro Line.

I also have a time limit to get the SCITOO strut off the car and shipped to Amazon by the 22nd...

Sigh....

 

Decent packaging shipped via FedEx, a couple more of those paper pieces covered the top. FedEx seems a lot gentler on packages than UPS. Outside of box shows no apparent damage.
A couple of pics of the Unity strut just as an FYI...

 

I'll put my car on jack stands tomorrow and use the launch and let you know what it does in the service option.

 

I ordered the Unity set from partsgeeks, checked out with a rep on the phone only to get a call a day later saying they were actually out of stock... Damnit!