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Great question. I've got a 2015 that needs new control arms but haven't done so yet.Can I go to any old shocks and struts place to redo/replace the spring set up on my 2016.5 MS? Or is this something that I had to do at a Tesla shop?
Do you have coil suspension? If so, then yes, you're just replacing mechanical parts, nothing electronic to fiddle with.
Someone else may chime in with more knowledge of the air suspension. The height may need to be calibrated.
What is wrong with your current setup?
And yes, I have the coil suspension. Not the air.The ride quality just really seems to have deteriorated. I don’t recall my car feeling nearly so bumpy, and every little bump and crack of roads and highways. Wishing for a pleasure, softer, more forgiving ride.
It may not be your dampers. Bushings can also wear out with time and mileage, and the slop associated with a fatigued set can show the same symptoms. I'd check your dampers for leaks. These show up as dark traces of fluid running down the damper's body. Dust and road grime will accumulate on it.The ride quality just really seems to have deteriorated. I don’t recall my car feeling nearly so bumpy, and every little bump and crack of roads and highways. Wishing for a pleasure, softer, more forgiving ride.
For what it's worth, I feel like the ride of my 2013 P85 with air suspension has degraded too. Original dampers, no leaking fluid.
I don't remember any sudden change, I think it was gradual in recent years. So it could be all in my head. I think it's real though. When the car was newer I remember liking the ride quality quite a bit, the air suspension gave a nice premium feel to the ride. You always felt the road but that feeling was nicely muted and muffled.
Now it just feels...alright. It's not horrible but it no longer feels premium. I've been thinking about replacing the dampers. Keeping the air suspension is a must for me though, so options are limited, and kind of pricey for putting on a 10+ year old car.
I agree with this. This week, I had to replace the front, lower aft links as the MOT tester felt movement. I hadn't noticed it. After changing the links, the ride definitely improved.Could be the shocks within your air strut assemblies, but I'd put my money on the bushings in your other suspension components. Fore/Aft Control Arm, Upper Control Arm, etc. Rubber gets old, it gets hard and brittle, and doesn't absorb motion as well. This is the classic problem with old Mercedes.....they ride so well when new because they have a ton of nice rubber bushings, but when they get old they crash and rattle around because the rubber deteriorates.
@Aggmeister2010 You were 100% correct! It was all worn out bushings and bearings.Could be the shocks within your air strut assemblies, but I'd put my money on the bushings in your other suspension components. Fore/Aft Control Arm, Upper Control Arm, etc. Rubber gets old, it gets hard and brittle, and doesn't absorb motion as well. This is the classic problem with old Mercedes.....they ride so well when new because they have a ton of nice rubber bushings, but when they get old they crash and rattle around because the rubber deteriorates.
A few notes for anyone else with an older S in need of a similar control arm makeover:
I used all Tesla OEM parts, purchased directly from Tesla service centers, except for the 4x rear upper arms where I got the N2Itive adjustable length ones to finally tame that tire-eating rear camber. I also purchased all new bolts and nuts and washers from Tesla, I figured might as well while I'm replacing everything. So basically I bought from Tesla everything I the front & rear control arms section of the parts catalog, except for the rear upper arms.
I don't regret getting OEM parts, I trust them the most and we are all the time driving rural winding roads with cliff edges, no cell service sections, etc. The car needs to keep my family safe. That said holy cr*p buying that many parts from Tesla service was a PITA, they really don't like being in the parts business, but you can't order parts from Tesla online unless you're an actual registered auto business.
If I ever do this again for a Tesla I might instead get most of the arms from one of the more reputable brands offering "OEM equivalent" - probably Delphi (I just learned on these forums they made a Model S DIY video which is pretty cool, hopefully means they put some care into their Model S products). That would also be cheaper of course. There's a couple brands with Model S arms in the Rockauto catalog, but some I just couldn't bring myself to trust... it's NOT worth it to me to cheap out too much and have to go back and do the bushings/arms again in another year or two!
For really cheap there are some brands offering replacement press in bushings for some of the arms. I considered it but ultimately I didn't trust those brands to make bushings that would last as long as OEM or Delphi, and I wanted new arms (updated revisions too) given all the reports of cracked control arms on these cars esp as they age. (We've had other big metal parts crack over the years, an original wheel and rear subframe.) And not all the bushings are available this way anyways.
I did most of the work DIY with a friend's help (whose is a vastly more experienced hobbyist mechanic than I'll ever be). We ended up leaving the rear upper arms for the alignment shop to do, since I was running out of DIY time and those were the N2itive ones they were going to be adjusting anyways and which I
@philip295 Yup, we cut them off with a sawzall, which was pretty quick to cut all the way through.Did yo
Did you cut the front lower aft link bolts? I spent 2 hours cutting one side off using a black and decker scorpion. The other side I cut all around the bolt then tightened the nut to snap it off: much quicker.