2015 P85D Air Suspension failure

[Nodelek]

Last week, I saw an warning light on my 2015 P85D (98K miles) that there was a problem with my Air Suspension. When I tried to raise or lower it, it failed. I noticed that the car was extremely low so I got the car into the service center the next morning.

To make a long story short, they tell me that the whole front air suspension needs to be replaced (front left air spring, front right air spring & front compressor). Each of the 3 components with labor is over $1100 for a grand total of just under $3500. When I ask the root cause, I'm told the senior technician says "wear & tear". Since the car was not in an accident, is it realistic to think that ALL THREE components failed simultaneously? I'm skeptical and wondering if I could be dealing with a lazy diagnosis where they just want me to replace everything rather than figure out the minimum of what went wrong.

Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[Doanster1]

Only the front end was low or all four corners? Either way, if it were me, I’d ask for more info on why the struts need replacing, ie did the tech notice both were directly leaking vs the air lines, etc? Most likely your compressor does need replacing and/or valve block. I wouldn’t authorize strut replacement until they provide better answers.

 

[Nodelek]

Correct - only the front end. Thanks for reply

 

[Doanster1]

Our P85Ds have weird SAS logic. When my compressor died, the front end would slowly lower down over the course of a few days while the rear was jacked past Very High.
Struts don’t normally fail in pairs so again, more info from them or just replace the compressor first.

 

[Nodelek]

I liked your suggestion and requested they replace the compressor first before the air springs (my car sits while waiting for parts) and I get this response (verbatim):

“It has been identified that the air spring itself and has a leak. The compressor has failed due the air leak which is why are a are suggesting replace the three parts. The spring is required at this time and we advise replacing those in pairs”

Opinions? Is any of this legit or complete BS? I’m dealing with a nice kid at the service center who’s just trying to do his job, but he’s only been there 5 months. I don’t want to give him a hard time, but I don’t want to spent $3,500 if I don’t have to either!

 

[Doanster1]

They should’ve stated that to begin with vs “wear and tear”. If it were me, I’d ask for more details like where the leak is (body, o-ring, or the fitting). If it’s at the fitting, you can replace that yourself for a few bucks.
Also, if one strut is bad and leaking, that one corner should’ve dropped, not the other as well. In general, you would want to replace in pairs so that you have even ride stiffness vs one new and one old strut, but it’s your call. If you do both, I’d ask for the good one back and perhaps you can recoup a little $$ from selling it.

 

[Gixx1300R]

You can raise the suspensions manually, the air tank has a fitting,

 

[rodnet31]

What happened to your Tesla? What was the fix for your suspension? And where was the leak located, if there was a leak?

 

[tomsla]

I would ask them for pictures of the damage.

 

[sillydriver]

Here's my first post in a long time which I've got to make since I too have a 2015 P85D (vin 73xxx) which just had the air suspension fixed. In my case the car had been stored for 18 months back at our Virginia property while we have spent that time up in New Hampshire. We just sold the VA property and moved the car up here, but coming out of storage the suspension was down on the bump stops, so I flat-bedded it to the Sterling VA service center where for $1634 the replaced the compressor and a solenoid. I've had it up here for a week, and so far, so good on the suspension.

 

[LonelyMS]

Let me borrow this thread...

Does it matter, for the longevity of the air suspension (and other suspension parts), to drive on the smoothest roads possible? Or it does not matter at a degree where I should stress about it?

 

[Doanster1]

Let me borrow this thread...

Does it matter, for the longevity of the air suspension (and other suspension parts), to drive on the smoothest roads possible? Or it does not matter at a degree where I should stress about it?

That would be… no. Nothing to stress about here in general. Now if you’re going off-road in the countryside often, that may impact things, but in general, nothing specific to worry about.

 

[hqracing]

You can raise the suspensions manually, the air tank has a fitting,

This not true because the tank does not supply air constantly to the springs. The springs are disconnected from the tank through the solenoid block. Only if you could get the solenoid valves and the compressor valves to open, the air will flow to the springs.

 

[Berch1]

To make mine drivable, I temp installed direct valve. The rear goes up plenty, but the front stops at the same height every time, still kinda low. I’m using 135psi shop compressor. It’s like the shocks are refusing additional air.