I found surprisingly low pricing on both the OE/ OEM Sachs dampers and also on the aftermarket (OE quality) Bilstein B4s, as well. There's lots of low-priced no-name dampers out there also, but it's a very heavy vehicle and I need excellent dampers that are built to last, and thusly my online shopping ensued.

For example, $109 (USD) for each front strut and only $78/per rear shock buying the Sachs dampers that are factory original to this Q7s steel 'comfort suspension', which it seems most North American Q7s are equipped with. Also, new strut mounts for only $14 each (Febi-Bilstein), as well as very good deals on shock bumper & bellows (dust boots) combo packs should those be needed.

Rock Auto has really good pricing on the Sachs dampers and strut mounts, and at time of this writing has a partial set of the Bilstein dampers listed at a great price too...didn't have one of front struts listed, but try part # search if you don't see something on that site, as it may pop up.

I bought a full set of the Sachs dampers from Parts Geek website, and they've still got some at very low prices as well. Just be mindful to source items from same warehouse location when possible as that keeps your shipping costs low. If you on steel susp and towing heavy, the Bilstein is the better choice, IMO, as it's 10% firmer, and all Bilstein dampers come with a limited lifetime warranty, etc.

Depending on where you look you'll see much higher pricing on these dampers from Bilstein or Sachs, (Audi dealer retail is $500 per each front Sachs, OE strut unit...that's so crazy) and both brands are extremely high quality dampers.

You too can definitely locate a deal on them if you can use an internet search bar and plugin a part #. Suggest you start with Rock Auto and Parts Geek websites in the USA.

By the way; when your shocks/struts are getting to the worn-out stage, then strange clunk/thunk noises and even intermittent fault codes for the ESC (stability control system) may appear, and really failed dampers will result in wheel bounce and show up as cupping on the edge of the tire tread, etc. Braking distance increased and hydroplaning are also some negative results from worn dampers.

Pay attention to your car's dampers/mounts 'health' and shop online when you need them.

 

So, got all four dampers replaced now.

All of the old damper units were in very poor health at 131k miles; should have replaced them sooner, but just wasn't exactly sure what I needed as everything on my car is original factory suspension parts & bushings & ball joints, etc.

Turns out the source of my biggest 'clunk' and harshness was the dampers had lost their gas pressure charge, and three of the four were actively leaking shock oil too.

There were other problems too, of course with sway bar bushings and end links requiring replacement, which really helped firm things up and reduced the NVH levels felt in car. The control arm bushings were cracked/torn, and lower ball joints had some slop in them, and so changed those out too after finding a great deal on the front set w/hardware included.

So basically the front susp is all new parts now, and rear susp has new sway bar bushings-to-frame and new sway end-links, and of course, there's new Sachs dampers mounted all around. The rear arms/links otherwise didn't look too terrible, so those'll keep for now. I sprayed down all rubber boots/protective seals on the car with 303 Marine protectant while I had easy access to these items, and that stuff will help preserve and extend their service lives. Makes everything look like new too, so bonus!

My Q7 rides, handles, and stops with no drama... feels like a brand new car again, which it should!!!

Total spend on this project has been about $1100 USD with me DIYing all the work/labor, but I got both the new dampers and the new front control arms at a really great price, which is why I ended up doing all this work in quick succession...it fit my timing and budget. I kept all the aluminum parts taken off as I will recycle those for $$$$ to offset my spend on the new parts. Aluminum in big castings/chunks like these is good money at a recycler...do not toss them in the garbage.

What I would do different, if doing this again:

I'd order the replacement bumper boot kit in advance, which is pretty inexpensive, or at least the aftermarket bumpers, The sets of matched bumper/w boot were a very good value comparted to buying those separately and are made by KYB and other suppliers. Once you disassemble these dampers you can see there's almost no air gap between the damper body and the bumper on front struts, as they are relatively short-travel units, so at normal ride height/compression of damper unit those bumpers are already touching the damper body. On the rear shocks, which are longer, there's more gap, but same-same, the bumpers spec is also longer for the rear dampers respective to their longer travel. Febi-Bilstein and other aftermarket suppliers sell the shock/strut bumpers at reasonable prices.

Hope this thread helps someone out, and I will say I didn't unbolt the driveshafts when changing the front struts, which is how the repair manual shows it.

I found that simply unclipping the sensor wires at the steering knuckle upright and also loosening where same wire clips in at the fender gave me plenty of space to maneuver the strut out. I did use a strap to keep the sensor wire low/out of my way during the R&R of front struts, so that was a huge timesaver.

The dreaded 'spring compressor' is really all about correct placement on the coil spring to catch enough coils for a good compression with less effort, and the most important thing besides those safety pins is to grease those suckers up before and during use. If they are dry then you are suffering and it goes slow. I also used a power impact driver, so really important to grease up all the contact points and screw threads.

On the rear shocks, you unbolt the largish cap on top of the damper unit (4 bolts), then that has the 4 smaller lock nuts to remove the aluminum 'carrier' piece cap, and then voila', the damper unit is ready for surgery. The rear units are also bit of a pain to put back due to that top 'carrier' piece, which has to be aligned carefully while getting the bolts threaded, as they are threaded in aluminum, so you don't want to cross-thread or strip them out. Start with whichever bolt location is easiest to align and get some good, finger turns on the bolt, and then just work your way around the rest. Definitely need extensions and swivels for the rear units to reach those bolt heads, although a couple are easy access; most are not.

Be very careful to start all those carrier cap bolts by hand. Nuff said!

Other than that advice, just watch some video before diving in. The rear springs compress and come off much easier than do the front strut springs, so be mindful and release the tension on the piston rod nut that holds it all together...the rears are a lot less effort to take apart, in my experience.

Lastly, I used a permanent marker (blue) to mark the 'outside' surface and any alignment points on each damper unit prior to disassembly, which makes putting it back to gether a snap when you know how all the pieces should align.

100% ensure the springs are properly aligned in respective spring seats/spring stops prior to releasing the tension on them, or you'll be doing it over again (if you even notice). I was pretty late on the last one I did and got sloppy on the assembly, but I caught the spring alignment error, and re-tensioned the spring enough to move the bits around to their proper alignment. Always check your work.

You'll almost certainly require assistance to get the bottom eye of the rear shocks aligned with the hub to bolt them up; even with a very long prybar I was barely able to leverage/force the control arm down far enough by myself, and I wasn't being gentle about it. If you have a second set of hands available, this part is much easier, but you will require a long, sturdy item to pry it down with.

Torque everything back to proper specs after the initial install, and be aware you should ONLY torque the bottom bolts and sway links with the hub at normal ride height. On control arms this is extremely important also. I used a floor jack to bring it up to normal ride height and then fully tightened and torqued those items, so their rubber bushings are properly pre-set for the car's normal sitting/ride height. Same true on front struts, end links...especially that strut to lower control arm connection, which is 150Nm + 90 degrees turn. Do that only with hub at the 'normal ride height', or you'll get funky noises along with odd feeling suspension, and bushings will fail very early.

It's not difficult to do this service on a Q7 if you prep first and make sure you got everything you need. I used a handful of deep and shallow sockets, 3/8 & 1/2" ratchets and torque wrenches, and battery powered right-angle driver and a 20V impact driver...fairly generic, light duty items. Definitely need breaker bars too.

I rented the spring compressor set (for struts) and also a ball joint remover ( DO NOT use pickle forks!!!) for the upper ball joint, which removes it in seconds with zero damage to the ball joint or grease boot. It's a lot easier to do this than one might think, but you need to watch some video to be familiar with the tools required and the proper, safe use of ball joint remover and especially the spring compressor.

 

share us those web links to buy these parts, im thinking doing the same.

 

Hey, as mentioned prior, I bought the dampers set and the new shock/strut mounts from Parts Geek, but Rock Auto also had some great pricing on those items. Both are major online parts sites. The complete front control arms kit I found at FCP Euro on a special closeout on that specific 'kit' part #, which only fits the 2010 and earlier model years (where they used the thicker/stronger/heavier castings). I also bought the sway bar bushings and front/rear sway bar end links from FCP Euro. These are just some of the primary parts sites I've had really good luck with finding a deal on the more expensive parts.

Overall, you just have to use the internet search bar to your advantage to locate the best pricing on parts you want. That's how I do it.

In my case, because I had pre-shopped control arms kits in advance just to get a feel for what was included in them and pricing-wise, and pulled up that specific kit (and probably saved it for later), when the price dropped on it, FCP Euro emailed me. All online retailers are tracking what you look at, and if you put something in the cart or save it for later, that will trigger follow-up from the retailer and if it's in your cart, they will often offer a small discount off to incentivize you to buy it, if you have an account set up or have ordered from them prior, or just give them your email address, etc. There are also 'shopping apps' that'll look for better pricing on the items you pull up automatically, which can also be helpful.