In love with a stunna...

[slabber]

Hi All

Just taken delivery of a 2007 A8 3.0 TDI SE. Like many of us I've driven lots of different cars, however this A8 has completely blown me away. The interior is absolutely fabulous - everything I was hoping for and more. I've managed to get a pretty decent spec gadgets-wise, including 'comfort seats with memory' which I'm sure adds to the great feel of the interior. A few early observations:

• The suspension on automatic feels a bit wallowy and undulating. Is this normal and something one just gets used to, or signs of a problem? I haven't tried dynamic yet - for the morning.
• The MMI has already been upgraded to 5570. However, is there any easy way (other than running through the discs) to tell if a complete job has been done as some of the discs need several passes to make sure everything has been upgraded? I'm particularly keen to know if BT has been upgraded properly.
• The power closing boot seems a bit noisy and clunky. Normal for the age of the car? Any easy adjustments?
• Mobile phone charging looks like it's going to be a pain compared with the A6 I've just traded in, as the ashtray area is too small for my Nexus 4. Is there a unit that attaches to what I assume is the mobile phone connector in the area below the arm rests, that can charge via USB?
• The MMI open/close action feels a bit clunky, which I know is a common problem. How bad is bad? Mine opens and closes fine - just with a bit of noise.

Despite the niggles I'm over the moon with this car. I've purchased an extended Jaguar warranty (bought car from a Jaguar main dealer) so if anything is amiss or goes wrong in the near future it will hopefully be covered.

Cheers - Graham

[JimC64]

Congrats Graham you lucky dawg, I'm envious.

Sorry I can't help, but hope you get the answers you need...

Why not post up a pic or two and show her off?

[Guest 2]

Hi All

Just taken delivery of a 2007 A8 3.0 TDI SE. Like many of us I've driven lots of different cars, however this A8 has completely blown me away. The interior is absolutely fabulous - everything I was hoping for and more. I've managed to get a pretty decent spec gadgets-wise, including 'comfort seats with memory' which I'm sure adds to the great feel of the interior. A few early observations:

• The suspension on automatic feels a bit wallowy and undulating. Is this normal and something one just gets used to, or signs of a problem? I haven't tried dynamic yet - for the morning.
  Yes try the Dynamic setting, if you have any fears let the supplying dealer sort/investigate, most things nowadays can be solved with a fault code scan.
• The MMI has already been upgraded to 5570. However, is there any easy way (other than running through the discs) to tell if a complete job has been done as some of the discs need several passes to make sure everything has been upgraded? I'm particularly keen to know if BT has been upgraded properly.
  If you have a modern smartphone and it connects OK, then its been updated correctly.
• The power closing boot seems a bit noisy and clunky. Normal for the age of the car? Any easy adjustments?
  Probably with age, do a google and see if they can be improved.
• Mobile phone charging looks like it's going to be a pain compared with the A6 I've just traded in, as the ashtray area is too small for my Nexus 4. Is there a unit that attaches to what I assume is the mobile phone connector in the area below the arm rests, that can charge via USB?
  Are there little contacts anywhere inside the armrest? Not sure if Audi do a cradle for the Nexus, again have a look on eBay/Google. You could add AMI (music interface) and have music and charging that way?
• The MMI open/close action feels a bit clunky, which I know is a common problem. How bad is bad? Mine opens and closes fine - just with a bit of noise.
  I think bad comes when it doesn't open, there is a repair kit I think for this.

Despite the niggles I'm over the moon with this car. I've purchased an extended Jaguar warranty (bought car from a Jaguar main dealer) so if anything is amiss or goes wrong in the near future it will hopefully be covered.

Cheers - Graham

See above, post some pics!

[slabber]

Jim / Chris

Thanks for your replies. I don't have any of my own photos yet, so I've attached ones from the dealer. Drove from Honiton to St Ives (Cornwall) in the car today in hideous weather - what a dream!

I've started chasing my niggles - reporting progress here in case it helps anyone else:

* Suspension - dynamic seems to be the best so far. VCDS shows no faults so I'm sure it's just me getting used to something other than the jarring of my now (not dearly) departed A6.
* 5570 - BT works a treat on my Nexus 4 so looks like this is sorted. Might still run the discs for peace of mind.
* Power boot - on the list. Getting quieter though - maybe stiff with sitting on a dealer forecourt?
* Mobile charging - the partial answer for those with the connector below the armrest and wanting a USB solution the is the Audi Universal Mobile Phone Cradle - £75 from eBay. To add insult to injury an Audi dealer tells me one needs to purchase a specific lead for one's phone at about £30 a pop (or on eBay £122 together ) because the leads have "software embedded into the lead to enable the connection for charging". Hmmm. I work in IT and having seen a photo of the leads this looks a bit odd. Can anyone confirm? Or even better give details of a cheaper alternative package. £105 to charge my phone without a lead trailing from the rear ashtray area? Surely not...
* MMI open/close - maybe not as bad as I thought. If it does pack up I hope it's before my warranty runs out.

Looking forward to weekend when I'm fitting AMI. (Chris - had to go for OEM here as there is a slot in the glove just waiting for it.)

That's all for now!

Cheers - Graham

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[JimC64]

Nice.....enjoy Graham

[slabber]

For anyone wanting to get USB charging for their smartphone via the connector under the armrests you need 4G0051435A (Universal Mobile Phone Cradle) and 8V0051435D (Micro USB Adaptor) assuming a phone with Micro 'B' USB, eg Nexus 4. Bought separately from Belfast Audi on eBay these were £75 and £28 respectively.

[The_IMF]

She is absolutely stunning. I love the wheels you have on there; matches the rest of the car/colour so nicely.

[Micha_elD]

Jim / Chris

* 5570 - BT works a treat on my Nexus 4 so looks like this is sorted. Might still run the discs for peace of mind.

Cheers - Graham

Attachment 22690Attachment 22691Attachment 22692Attachment 22693

If 5570 seem to work and VCDS checks out, then don't mess with it.

The 5570 upgrade is a firmware upgrade, not a software upgrade, if you're in IT then you'll understand that this means you overwrite the bootloader when you upgrade, if there is any sort of glitch, powerloss etc., then the bootloader is likely to be corrupted, so the component is useless and has to be replaced. And you probably have 20+ components to upgrade. That is why Audi dealers are so reluctant to upgrade. If you have a definite reason to upgrade, because you know there is a problem, then go ahead, but there is a small risk that you'll have to replace something that is expensive and hard to reach.

[slabber]

Thanks for the comments guys. The 19" wheels were apparently a £2,000 option. The do look good The_IMF but wasted on me as I'm not really a wheels person. I'm was suspicious that bigger wheels meant lower profile tyres = worse ride quality however A6_Chris has indicated that this shouldn't be a problem.

As for the 5570 upgrade, I understand the need for caution Micha_elD but latest and greatest is in my blood and not knowing if the 5570 had been done properly would have eaten away at me. I do urge extra caution of course with this type of upgrade and for myself when I did my (thankfully departed) A6 this meant hours of online research ensuring I adopted all the best practices. This led to my buying (and using) a new battery charger and making sure I followed instructions to the letter. The whole procedure turned out to be completely painless. On the A8 I ran the disks (using the battery charger) but there were no updates required. Whew!

I'll try and get time to post a new thread about the Audi Universal Mobile Phone Cradle but for those reading this thread don't feel you need to buy the £28 USB lead with the cradle in the first instance, as I found I didn't need it with my Nexus 4.

[Micha_elD]

Good to hear you did the research and understood the risks, every once in a while someone comes onto one of the forums having bricked a component by letting the battery go flat, or by using a poor copy of the original discs. And good to her you have a successful 5570 upgrade.

That battery charger approach is essential when working on one of these cars, mine has keyless locking, and it starts to power up the car as soon as you get near it. Once you switch on the ignition, my 8Ah charger can't keep up with the rate the car uses power