Isurus21

I just had my 2011 Q5 in for the 75k service and the dealer told me that my rear shocks were going to need to be replaced soon, probably at the next service.
He quoted me $1700ish for that job.
This price seems completely insane to me. Is it time for me to look for a new dealer to service my car?

spijun

Here
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ch/8r0513035e/

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ch/8r0512131e/

Isurus21

So it looks like the parts are around $600... (or more depending on the dealer's markup). Is there $1000 worth of labor in replacing two rear shocks?
Can I get aftermarket shocks cheaper?

uncleiggy

Maybe not what you are looking for but a set of Bilstein + Eibach B12 Pro Kit would cost you around $700 for the all four corners (shocks, struts & springs). Any reputable Indy shop can do the job for $300-$400, again all four corners. If you go this way you might want to consider an installation kit that comes with everything you need to leave your car in tip top conditions, it's an extra $200 well spent: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-assemble...8k0412377ckt3/

uncleiggy

If you just want to buy the shocks, Bilstein offer the B4 and B6 series, B4 would be OEM quality, and B6 the upgraded ones, they cost ~$70 & $120 respectively: https://www.truckspring.com/shock-ab...=2011&model=Q5 . Either the B4 and the B6 series use your current spring, the B8 series I mentioned above are shorter versions of the B6 meant to be installed with aftermarket springs like the Eibachs or H+Rs, they would drop the car too.

MP4.2+6.0

I did them on rear of Q5 recently, with the std. level Bilsteins. Way cheaper than dealer price as others have said--the parts price too let alone the obscene embedded labor in here. Easy job. Or find an indy mechanic or wheel and tire type place to do it if you don't wrench. Many rear shocks require trim to be removed from inside rear of car to get at the upper retaining nut. But not these, which mount to a carrier and bushing piece from underneath with two simple bolts. Pull away fender liner and you see it right there. Also not MacPherson strut design either--spring is separate. For a pro with a lift and experience, literally no more than an about an hour. So Audi estimate is yet more absurd--there is like $1000+ (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) in labor + a whole lot of profit even given their already high dealer retail shock price and assuming they replace bit bolts and such.

Yes, find a new dealer. Frankly, might be worth calling and telling the service manager what happened and the relevant facts. Their only "explanation" could be they used a labor price that assumed a true strut where you have to disassemble the springs after pulling the subassembly. Not true though here, and they should know the car as the dealer--especially the highest volume one sold. And, do us a favor as a user group and post up the name of the dealer for future reference. Longer run information is what can help check over reaches like this. Maybe politely send a print out of the thread along to the dealer/service advisor as a good bye kiss so they see the consequences--don't threaten, "just the facts" of life on the way out.

MurrayA4

Yeah MP4.2+6.0 is "on the money".Rear Audi shocks are among the easiest in the Bizz.Easy access and the hardware, nuts/bolts , won't be seized.So about an hour is accurate.Don't want to discourage you from dealing with Audi dealer but in this case, time to shop.

Isurus21

Thanks all for the info. Much appreciated. I feel like I have generally been treated well by my dealer, and the guy I typically work with is honest, I guess Audi dealer prices are just high.
Anyway, i was looking around online for aftermarket shocks and noticed that there are two options: With electronic suspension, or without. Can anybody tell me which my vehicle has? It's a 2011 Q5 2.0T.

stiles_s

Hey, I am DIYing this right now with some bilstein B6s. I'd like to get some additional wiggle w/the rear liner but can't figure out how to remove the round spring clips holding the liner in place. Anyone BTDT?

stiles_s

OK, some notes.

I had Bilstein B6s installed on my 2010 3.2l Q5 this week, along with a full control arm set in the front. The shop did the front including alignment and then I did the rears today. I would have had the shop do them too but the snow up here in the NW screwed up shipping. Bought from Tire Rack BTW.

They have:
B4 -- OEM replacement
B6 -- sport at OEM ride height
B8 -- sport designed for lowering springs

I wanted to firm it up a bit and it worked. Nice and tight. Feels sportier than stock though frankly who knows because the original shocks had 108K on them and still felt pretty good.

DIY for the rear shocks is actually a bit of a PITA. I was surprised. Probably took me 4 or 5 hours using a floor jack. A few notes:
- You can get to the bolts for the rear top shock mount if you pull back the wheel well liner. Sure would be a hell of a lot easier if I could have figured out how to get the "clips" removed to loosen the liner. But, it worked.
- you need to compress the rear shock to get it up and out
- the lower bolt is on tight. Took a breaker bar and an extension to get it out.
- Putting it back together is tougher. Getting the lower bolt exactly aligned is tough. Took a carefully placed jack under the bottom of the shock and a ton of time carefully threading. Achtuning warned me to be careful with this. Easy to ruin teh lower carrier if you aren't careful.
- The upper mount is a PITA too. The bolts are tough to line up and the Bilstein shocks are under pressure which means you've got to be prying the liner back while you're compressing the shock a bit.

Took it for a bit of a hoon and didn't feel anything odd. No noises (yet). Hopefully I got it all back together correctly.

I was expecting a 2 out of 5 from a DIY POV. Felt like more of a 3 or 4 out of 5 and I've done a bunch of suspension work in the past.

'Hope that helps.