Hello All -- I finally had the lower control arms on my 2013 Panamera S replaced and the result has been nothing short of extraordinary (at least based on my experience to date with the car).

A couple of years ago, I had the upper control arms replaced after complaining to my dealership about noises from my suspension when going over bumps. It finally required the mechanic from the dealership take a ride with me while I drove and my replicating the sound when driving over a bump before they acknowledged the issue. Before and since then I had reported hearing crunches and various other noises coming from my front suspension with the dealership telling me each time that the suspension checked out ok and that they could find no issues. After the upper control arms were replaced, the rattling sound when driving over bumps disappeared but the crunching sound during hard turns and when the weather was cold remained. About 3 months ago, I noticed a shimmy in the steering whenever I would brake. When I reported it to the dealership, they examined the issue, and reported back that the lower control arms would have to be replaced (yes, finally!). Post the replacement, all noises from the suspension are gone and the car drives as though it is brand new again! Ironically, the shimmy still remains (although it is milder now) and I suspect it will require replacing the brakes and rotors even though those were replaced only 2 years ago and I have barely driven 15k miles since.

While I am delighted that the suspension noises are gone, I am annoyed that it took almost 3 years of reporting issues to the dealership before they acknowledged and fixed the issue. Especially after I mentioned that it seemed to be a common issue with that MY and I sent them links to reports of this issue (including from this forum), I would have expected them to just go ahead and have the control arms replaced. I also wanted to say that my Fidelity extended warranty paid of big time and they replaced the cost of both replacements with me only having to pay the deductible -- they have been terrific.

I have included the portion of the repair bill(s) pertaining to the control arm replacements so that those still facing similar issues can take note of all of the parts that were replaced. Thank you to forum members for making me aware of the issues due to the various posts on the topic.