Brake pipes - any ideas?

Hi there,

I'm a n00b, but not to Audi ownership. I currently have a 2006 A4 2.0Tdi convertible manual and would like some advice.

I have had the car for nearly six years and, amongst other things, have replaced the rear brake hoses with braided stainless ones. When it came time to replace the front calipers, I bought a set of braided hoses (from hel) for them too. Unfortunately, the corrosion between the hoses and the brake pipes was so bad that my tech was reluctant to force it, as he felt sure the pipe would fail.

Now, this isn't usually a problem, as the solution is to cut the pipe short, reflare it and fit the hose. However, he tells me that this model doesn't have copper or stainless pipes, but thiese are made from an aluminium alloy, which precludes you from doing this.

As fortune would have it, the existing pipes came free from the calipers, so I was able to get them changed. However - at some time in the future, I'm going to have to swap hoses and face this problem again.

I'd be happy to replace the front brake pipes with copper, but I'm told the routing is daft - right in the middle of the engine bay and would need several hours work just to gain access.

Has anyone else come across this problem and found a workable solution please?

Thanks in anticipation,

Mike