Audi adblue update 23WA-S

[Artiglio]

Good day

Cars gone in today for its s-tronic oil change and a fuel filter. They’ve said there’s an update due, 23WA-S, which they say is to ensure that any issues with the adblue system are displayed in the car rather than only being revealed under a full diagnostic scan.
Car runs fine and advlue consumption has been steady at 500 miles per litre (ish).
A quicksearch throws up a couple of posts on other forums suggesting that post update cars have lost performance and adblue and fuel consumption has increased.
I’ve declined the update for now, is that sensible or should i have it applied?

cars an avant, facelift , stronic, 2015 ultra.

any insights appreciated.

tia phil

[Artiglio]

They say that this update is necessary to maintain your DPF and catalytic converter and to comply with the latest emissions regulations. Do you know what happens? They install new software and this increases the EGR rate. The effect is that your engine is then supplied with more exhaust gases at partial load and internal sooting increases. At first this does reduce emissions, but in the long term the engines have to contend with the problems that sooting brings with it: poor performance and jerking combined with increased fuel consumption. This also affects the lifespan. I have been able to revoke my vehicle so far. You have to sign for it. The same applies to VWs of these models. As long as possible - three years so far - I will keep my vehicle away from these measures. Good tuning specialists are familiar with the problem and can "improve" this measure. I am sure that there will be many dissenting voices now. Wait and see. But do your research beforehand because this update cannot be reversed.

apologies for the format, it’s from copying from google translate, does the above seem plausible?

[Artiglio]

Good day, info seems a bit thin on the ground, but from a german forum, (via google translate) its suggested that the update is to “improve” the emmissions by increasing the egr rate, which initially improves emissions but down side is increased carbon build up in the engine and ancillaries.

Despite declining the update in the dealership, they are now calling asking me to confirm this in writing, i’ve again asked for full details of what the update does and again they say it is to ensure all faults with the adblue system are displayed on the dashboard rather than just stored in the system.
Does anyone know what I should be asking for in terms of a full disclosure of what the update does?

[Crasher]

The AdBlue system on the Ultra is a joke, not fit for purpose. We had one in earlier this week, no warnings other than the light so he had kept driving as no one could fix it. He drove all the way up here from Milton Keynes only for me to tell him the CAT and DPF are toast and mega money to fix, the DPF is SO huge you have to left and move the engine to the left to get the thing out!

[Artiglio]

Cheers Crasher, armed with the knowledge i have now i’d never have bought a diesel and instead gone for a tfsi , but too late for that. In an attempt to stave off problems for as long as possible, i’ve only used bp ultimate or shell vpower ( vpower almost exclusively for last 3 years) and oil changes at 9k or annual. Then try to use it to avoid clogging it up with too many shoort runs between longer journeys. ( though taking it up the m2 and back just for the sake of it makes a mockery of any supposed efficiency , let alone time wasted)
Round my way, no independent garage wants to get involved in much beyond the traditional mechanical side of things, my local vw specialist wouldn’t even do the s-tronic oil change. ( that said audi were £260 with a courtesy car, which every 40k doesn’t seem too outrageous, the shroud and actuator parts for the fuel flap were £63.48 (i fitted them) so again hardly end of world pricing).

Is there any reason to think the software upgrade will improve the adblue systems reliability? Reading a few other german and italian forums seems to suggest 23-WA is more about VW/Audi dealing with their emissions shenanigans than inproving the vehicles and that performance is reduced and adblue consumption increased.

In the absence of any positive info i’ll keep declining it. Though it’s unlikely to go to an audi dealer until the cam belt needs doing in 40k.