New member looking for a 3.0tdi Le Mans.

[Happybiker]

Hi, I have been on the lookout for a 3.0 Tdi and managed to do drive a manual Le Mans saloon but unfortunately missed out on it. I have found an auto which is on an 08 plate with just under 80k miles. The downsides is the service book has been lost although there are reciepts for the work, which I called the dealer to confirm, unfortunately there is a small gap in the servicing, it jumps from Feb 2010/17k mi to Sep 2011/41k mi and then Apr 2012/55k mi. Would this be reason to leave it alone? Good news is the dealer confirmed it had £1200 worth of manifolds so I hope thats both banks sorted?Spec wise it has the usual Le Mans spec and a 6 cd shuttle, I don't think it has Xenons, are these essential? Do they all have elec seats as well as heated, and do they all have colour MMI. As much as I love the 19" LM wheels is it worth just going for an S-line which appear to be on average £2k cheaper? As long as the spec is equivalent, it's often higher on the S-lines? I haven't seen a Le Mans with decent mileage for less than £10K yet. Ideally I want rear parking, heated seats, Xenons, colour Nav and Bluetooth as a min, front parking and rear blinds would be nice as we have a 2 year old.

[Guest 2]

Sounds like the car was on longlife servicing which imo is bad for the engine if not doing long journeys but shouldn't take away from buying the car. ideally it should be having an oil change every 10k and if you did buy, get an oil change done straight away jsut to be on the safe side. these engines don't have a cambelt, they are chain driven but early 05/06 models developed a rattle which thankfully (hopefully!) they have now fixed.

xenons aren't essential, i have halogens on mine and they are pretty good for what they are and if a bulb blows it aint expensive to change. heated seats are standard on the le mans, interior light pack, rear sensors and 19" rs4's are standard on the le mans too.

have a look at this brochure - http://www.audi.co.uk/content/dam/au...0Sept%2006.pdf

they didn't come with colour mmi either, this was an optional extra over the mmi basic with red only screen.

were the services done by audi? if so ring any dealer or customer services on 0800 699 888 to check whats been done.

some s-lines may be lesser specced but theres plenty of a6s out there so have a look and see, generally at 08 they're pretty much sorted problem-wise but the manifold runners are a common fault on the 3.0 and 2.7 tdi. they're good cars, just be prepared to wait and find exactly what you're looking for.

i've had mine since 2009 and love it, here you can find my running costs since then - Running Costs .. 2009-Present

welcome to vwaf

[Happybiker]

Thanks for the reply and the welcome! I'm aware of the manifold issues so glad this one is sorted and I normally do my oil changes annually with 13k miles pa. I might go and look at the car this weekend and get a better feel for it. I'm now questioning whether the Le Mans is worth the extra £ premium but probably just getting anxious!

The service history I have is from calling the dealer where it was serviced.

[Guest 2]

They are common to fail, I've had my runners replaced must be 3 times now, all under warranty thankfully.

The engines won't differ in trim levels so just depends if you want the extra kit and the wheels.

[Happybiker]

So I still haven't found a 3.0tdi, but I'm looking at one this weekend. I called Audi UK to verify the SH and it checks out OK with what the garage told me. I also asked them about the spec and it has DVD Nav, CD changer/AMI and comms pack.

Looking at the brochure DVD Nav means it's got a colour screen so that's MMI high correct? And that makes it comms pack 2 with GSM phone prep too, which in the era of smart phones can't be that useful? Does AMI mean it has Bluetooth too or was that extra. AMI isn't in my brochure.

So the spec isn't great, I would like Xenon's and privacy glass but I guess the main thing is that car checks out ok and I shouldn't worry too much about the spec. Anyway, let's hope it has 4 matching tyres with lots of tread, no smoke at idle, rattles, loose flaps, worn manifold linkages, clogged dpf/egr, scratches, worn bolsters...

[Guest 2]

DVD nav means MMI High which is a great start.

phone prep is good, you'll have bluetooth, just make sure it says search for device when you press the TEL button (make sure all buttons work btw). if you have a handset in the armrest then this isn't so good as far as i read as you'll have to swap your sim into it for it to work, if there are just contacts in the armrest this is okay

ami is audi music interface which is ipod and usb compatibility, this will be in the glovebox and you should get a ami-ipod and ami-usb cable thrown in, if they're not there make sure the trader (unless its private) throws them in.

That spec is great, halogens are fine as long as they're aligned correctly, I don't find any problems with mine. You could always get the windows tinted to the factory %age.

[Happybiker]

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure if had BT, will give it a try.

[MarkTM]

HB, how your search goes well and you end up with a top spec and fault free car.

I've always wondered how dealers/garages private sellers would react if a prospective buyer turned up with a VCDS cable and laptop.

Strangely am just looking for a smal runabout and have narrowed it down to a Polo (NOT the mint) and will defo be taking my VCDS along for a diagnostic before purchase...if they don't agree to a scan then I'll walk away.

[invisiblekid75]

When I was looking for my car I was surprised at the time how many germanic barges were not fully loaded. So I eventually went for the 3.0 Le Mans due to basically it's looks, slightly more rarity and I think the interior for the age I was looking at liked it miles better than BMs and Mercs. Yes the normal S-Lines are usually found with slightly better spec, but I loved the look of the Le Mans and well you gotta make the same decision.

Mine came with adaptive Xenons and front parking sensors and visual parking aid and that's it above the base spec. I had limited time though and saw two previous cars to mine that were seriously hard worked and walked away. I found a good one then and had to take it, but you MUST be prepared to walk if you think you can get better. Let me repeat that, DO NOT LET YOUR HEART RULE YOUR DESIRES! If your not 100%, WALK AWAY

I love the adaptive xenons and wouldn't be without now, but what you don't have you don't miss. Having said that, I seriously want the iPod AMI and Bose sound system. Can at least get the AMI tho.

But your car seems pretty solid, but only you can decided if you want the flashier looks of the Le Mans. Just remember, if you look after it, it'll command a higher price also when it come to selling.

From what I've seen, if you want goodies, buy an A8 where you get a lot as basic and most are specced higher anyway. They are the same price as a Le Mans and I was off to buy one until the day before the dealer had sold it.

[Edmunds123]

I had the same issue mate. Le Mans or s line. I spend about 4 weeks looking and ended up finding an s line that had spec dripping off it so jumped on it. It was a lease car that was leased to rolls Royce and they had ticked most of the extras boxes I think. Don't rush Into anything. The right car will pop up eventually. I loved the look of the Le Mans but after owning several cars with multi spoke alloys the 5 spoke 18's of the s line will be a massive relief when it comes to cleaning.

Good luck with the search. I've just got mine and love it already!