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With thanks to all on this thread for sharing their thoughts and experiences, but particularly to Frank for his engaging and descriptive posts, I have taken the plunge and bought a new S5. I collected it yesterday so this is a short note focused on my car history and the S5 buying process rather than a detailed review. My recent cars have been estates and SUVs: Skoda Octavia VRS (2L turbodiesel); Audi S4 Avant (3L petrol); Mercedes GLC AMG 43; and my current car a 2022 Subaru Outback. The GLC taught me that I prefer an estate to an SUV, and as much as I admire the Outback for its efficiency, ruggedness and sheer “go anywhere in any weather” nature, the performance is a little benign even for a very recent retiree. So my new car is an S5 Avant Black Edition with Tech Pack and red brake calipers in Mythos Black metallic with the black interior. As a post-Build Week 2/26 car it comes with the mid-model-year factory updates including the revised multifunction steering wheel with physical/tactile buttons and scroll wheel replacing the gloss-black haptic touch sliders; the updated chassis and software calibration featuring the rear-biased Dynamic+ Mode; and the updated driver assistance packages, including Adaptive Cruise Assist Pro with assisted lane changes. Happy to comment further on these changes if there is interest once I have fathomed them out! I bought the car brand new through the drivethedeal brokerage with a significant discount; it was listed on their website as a “Special Deal” which usually means there is only one car or a handful of cars available at the price. It clearly benefited not only from the Audi Finance contribution but also from favourable end Q2 support. Happy to share the price if anyone is interested (it was publically available on the drivethedeal website). I offered my local dealer the opportunity to match it to be told that they could not get within £8K. The car isn’t my ideal spec - I would have liked the clever glass roof and adaptive suspension but there were no Vorsprung available with similar financial incentives. And I know metallic black is a difficult colour to look after, but again that was the only colour available on an Avant with this discount. Beyond the initial contact, all my dealings including finance and payment were made direct with the supplying Audi main dealer. I don’t think I can name them, but they were extremely professional both before and during collection, and gave me the full handover experience including a reveal and detailed walkthrough of the car. I then drove 230 miles home on a range of roads. My very initial thoughts echo everything I have read here: very nice drive; feels like lots of power (I haven’t ventured there yet given a running in period), more compliant then expected ride; and lots and lots and lots (!) of tech to learn! Whilst significantly shorter than the Outback, with mirrors folded the S5 is slightly wider - which I will need to become comfortable with very quickly as my narrow allocated parking space is between two walls! I think the camera/parking aids will help here. So my Outback goes to its new owner on Friday and I will focus on learning and enjoying the S5. I plan to offer further thoughts on the forum as I gain more understanding of the car, and really look forward to reading your continued contributions.

Yeah I will just change everything, from what I can see it look like it might be coming from the plastic flange bit that connects to the egr cooler, I think there is another plastic piece behind that aswell (back towards the inside of the car ) but not sure what that's called

Hi, this may or may not be of interest to anyone, but I have finally managed to fix the issue about a month ago. Here's the summary: Electronic parking brake on the left side stopped working more than six months ago. There was a warning on the dash ("parking brake malfunction") accompanied by a loud beep every time I turned the ignition on. I have unplugged the wire from the electric motor on the left. The same warning remained on the dash. Parking brake on the other side was working correctly. Then life and other things got in the way and I did not do anything to rectify the issue, except for making sure that the wire does not dangle under the car and the socket on the electric motor is waterproofed (plastic bags and zip ties). I continued to use the car daily. I kept using the parking brake as and when required and it was still holding the car even on fairly steep inclines, even though it was only working on one side. I finally got some spare time and replaced the electric motor and also the plug with about 20cm of wiring. Apparently it is not unusual for this to rust and cause issues. I only bought the cheapest plug and the cheapest parking brake motor I could find on ebay (probably about £30 total). Fitted the parts, but the parking brake still did not work. As it happens it was engaging, but not disengaging. So in the end I replaced the brake caliper. Again, the cheapest one I could find, which was about £60. I replaced brake discs and pads at the same time, but only because they were quite worn (this was not related to parking brake issue). After I replaced the caliper the parking brake issue was resolved. The warning disappeared from the dash and I did not need to reset any faults with the code reader. Also, the parking brake is now almost silent when engaging/disengaging. To the point that when I first tried it after fitting the new parts I thought it was not working at all (it was fairly audible before). It has been about a month now and all is well. I almost miss the loud beep that accompanied the ignition being turned on every time when the fault was still present. PS. If anyone is replacing the rear brake discs, there are some videos and guides on the internet that tell you to remove the brake caliper carrier, but you can actually wiggle the disc out carefully without removing the bracket or damaging the disc.

Hi at a guess you have no subscription to the emergency call system its just their way of badgering you in to subscribing again, try having the car scanned to remove it, if its anything like my Passat I had to delete it a couple of times and they now have the general idea, not subscribing so it has not ever come back in over a year. Steve.

Hiya James So sorry to hear of your current problems with your A5 Avant. My take on it is the same as quite a few fellow owners here and as I believe you have stated yourself. My car, like yours, looks good in my opinion, is well screwed together , is comfortabe and drives well. BUT.....software, software, software !!!!! seem to be the overiding bugbear at the moment. Compared to yours, mine has had relatively limited problems. I occasionally receive a flash up on the front screen at start up to indicate that some systems are unavailable or have failed. They barely hang around for milliseconds before they disappear and the car starts up and is fine. The A5 range was I believe brought into the UK in late 2024 so yours is a relatively newish example. And because of that , may be it suffers from early software production problems ? I presume your Dealership has confirmed that you have the latest updated software ? Also , I do understand your discontent with the car. The software should have been sorted before the car was available and Audi have some questions to answer here as it seems this problem prevails in other models. Take a look at Martin Innes current problem with his new Q3 on that Forum. Think I have already mentioned this a few times so I hope I'm not being boring here but I came to the S5 from owning 2 Q8's owned over a 6 year period. Had zilch problems , software or mechanical in either car. Both felt robust and well sorted but the MMI and software was much simpler than the stuff we have on our A/ S 5's. It's technology and the future I'm afraid and aint it grand ! Hope you get your car sorted and you can enjoy it's undoubted driveability again

Hi LT Sorry to hear that you are suffering from the same issue. I am lead to believe that there are about 5-6 rubber grommets underneath that need to be removed to allow water to drain out of the sills. I believe they are hidden under the underbody protector. The water is getting in to them from the front offside wheel arch (see the TSB from Audi u.s.a as mentioned by others) I will attach it to this note if I can. You will need a borescope/laparoscope to see inside the area that is shown, I got one from Amazon for £23. The electrics you need to concern yourself with are under the drivers seat under a plastic plate (See my pictures in earlier posts) Be careful as the yellow one is the airbag! If I can be of anymore assistance get back to me. Good luck Mark MC-10178440-0001.pdf

Hey Guys, First time on this forum! I bought an A6 C8 in August 2024, everything seemed well until I noticed a huge puddle behind the drivers seat footwell a few weeks ago. It appears its the same/similar problem everyone is also experiencing, took it to Audi Manchester a few days ago for a check - £145 an hour! they said they needed another 8-10 hours to remove the seats and carpet to identify the leak!! Decided not to pay the £1400 minimum and took the car home. My issue is exactly the same as Mandeep. Will be taking it to an independant garage for a diagnosis (cheaper labour rate) In the meantime drafted a letter to send to Audi head office, I will paste it below in case anyone else needs to use the draft etc Going off all the posts above i'm sure Audi are aware of the issue, whether they will honour the repair remains to be seen, but not holding my breath. I will report back once I have had a response from head office. Dear Audi Customer Services, I hope this message finds you well. My name is ******* *****, and I am reaching out to formally raise an issue with my Audi A6 C8, which I believe stems from a known design flaw. I have been experiencing water pooling under the carpet in the rear footwell, specifically behind the driver’s seat. After conducting some research, I discovered that this is a common problem among Audi A6 C8 owners, and Audi has issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) outlining the issue as a design fault. You can view the TSB here: TSB - Audi A6 C8 Water Leak Additionally, I came across this thread on the Audi Owners Club, where other owners have reported the same issue: Discussion Thread - Audi Owners Club This issue is one that Audi is already aware of, and it has even led to a class action lawsuit against the company, specifically related to the water leaks in the Audi A6 C8. This highlights the extent of the problem and reinforces that it is not an isolated issue, but a design flaw that has affected many owners. Despite this being a known problem, I recently paid £152 for a diagnostic check at Manchester Audi, yet they were unable to identify the source of the leak. However, based on my online findings, the TSB issued by Audi, and the class action lawsuit, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident and is related to a design issue, rather than something I have caused or neglected. I am aware that Audi has previously honoured this issue and, on occasion, has fixed the problem free of charge for affected customers. Given that this is a design flaw and not an error on my part, I kindly request that Audi UK address the issue in a similar manner, as a goodwill gesture. I trust that Audi UK will stand by the quality of its vehicles and rectify this issue without further delay. I would appreciate a swift resolution and look forward to your prompt response. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I hope this letter helps someone who may need it.