987 PASM replacement options

[staceybsnyder]

On a whim, I bought a super cheap 987 Boxster base from some rando Craigslist guy. Turns out the motor was bad and I then had to find a replacement engine and have that installed. All is good with the engine now (new water pump, AOS, belts, rear main seal, etc etc) and i've been going through the car and fixing little things. Got the Bose stereo working (someone improperly removed an ipod unit), got the keyless entry working again, New radio knobs, new climate switches, trunk shocks...etc. Stuff like that. I've got the car looking pretty good honestly.

The one big thing that remains is that the car is reporting 3 of the 4 PASM struts as bad. It's a sport package base car with PASM and 6 speed which I hear is pretty rare. The car does drive pretty rough/harsh so fixing the suspension will need to happen at some point.

My shop that put in the replacement engine quoted me $4400 to replace the 4 PASM struts and do an alignment. Seems crazy to me to spend that much.

Options:
1) Pay the $4400
2) Call around to other shops to see their cost
3) Replace with a non PASM strut and turn off the PASM function in the car.

Any thoughts or opinions on my options?

[staceybsnyder]

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Tom]

I'd be inclined to price out the parts to see how realistic that price is. Not sure how much work you do yourself, but in general struts tend to be fairly straightforward R&R jobs for the do-it-yourselfer. You'd need to get it aligned probably, but that's peanuts...

[staceybsnyder]

I'd be inclined to price out the parts to see how realistic that price is. Not sure how much work you do yourself, but in general struts tend to be fairly straightforward R&R jobs for the do-it-yourselfer. You'd need to get it aligned probably, but that's peanuts...

This is likely a bigger project than i'm wanting to take on myself. I'm guessing the factory PASM parts are probably in the $2K range themselves.

[Throttlesteer]

If I remember correctly, Billstein makes direct replacements. You might be able to find a deal where the parts are a bit less than $2k. But, I'm not sure there's a significantly less-expensive option when considering the labor and alignment. You could always police the Porsche boards/forums for someone swapping a low miles set for a race setup or something.

[staceybsnyder]

If I remember correctly, Billstein makes direct replacements. You might be able to find a deal where the parts are a bit less than $2k. But, I'm not sure there's a significantly less-expensive option when considering the labor and alignment. You could always police the Porsche boards/forums for someone swapping a low miles set for a race setup or something.

Not a bad idea...but still would require the cost of installation. At that point, might as well just go new.
I'm gonna drive the car for a bit to see how the rest of it is before spending $4K+ on suspension.
So far i'm digging the car though. I love driving mid engine Porsches

[Neil_RS60]

That estimate on the PASM rebuild is about right. Had mine done and it was in the same ball park.