56Doc

Did try that but nothing came back. Batteries charged fine from an alternator for decades before Audi slapped a digital BMS in there. Personally, can’t see the reasoning behind it. Certainly don’t see any need. The current & voltage regulator on the alternator was always a simple & effective means of control, also very easy to replace if it did fail. Individual unit coding was originally introduced to try to prevent theft of the car for parts but as its now common knowledge, coding isn’t really required as it just makes maintenance & upgrades more complicated. & replacing something from another manufacturer becomes almost impossible, even seats! a simple ‘reset’ function for the BMS in the MMI would be more than adequate. Same as any TPMS after tyre or wheel swaps. Coding the BMS is just serious overkill. Tbh, it would have been as easy for Audi to program the BMS to recognise when a battery has been replaced and reset itself as it was for them to prevent it resetting after its lost power. RE-Coding when you replace, renew or upgrade something, requiring specialist equipment is now really just a money making attempt on the part of the manufacturer. coding to prevent theft was a good idea but IMHO, its now about 3 decades beyond its use by date as both the kit & knowledge is readily available to anyone including the light fingered brigade, if they’re prepared to fork out a chunk of cash & learn how to recode. But Im not, as I’d so rarely use it, it’s just not worth the effort

No worries

Audi retrofits do do it, my son had his A6 done there if you need the hardware. Think it was around £500. but I think your car will already have the hardware, so a software update should do it. (Same as my 2015). That cost about £70 but its now bundled with a map update for £99. have a look at this website, you can find out if you just need a software update. Search on:- ’satnavmapupdates’ - (Sat nav map updates).

Thank you, I was hoping it would at least mean the car would be drivable afterwards. But must admit, I don’t see how the BMS wouldnt recognise that the battery was now charged (because it’s been changed.) but, if that’s how it works, it’s how it works.seems a bit OTT. doesn’t exactly prevent theft for parts if all the bad guys can access all the coding tools anyway. I often wonder why they still do it.

Sadly that found lots of others with various battery related issues but nothing concrete about coding. so here’s a slant on the issue. If I connect a 12v supply to the jump points under the bonnet, would that mean I can change the battery without any coding requirements afterwards? has that been tried before?

Thankyou. I’ll have a look

Did try that but nothing came back.

I’m led to believe that there’s Vcds coding required after replacing the 12v battery, so not quite a diy job (no Vcds coding kit or knowledge!). is that true r can I just swap it & drive off?

Possibly, depends on the hardware build state of your car, some were built with the hardware but if the original buyer didn’t spec that option, it wasn’t enabled. My 2015 Allroad did have the hardware so I bought an SD card to do the Android auto upgrade. If you need the hardware as well I think it’s £500-1000 now. Not sure. Try Autologics or Audi Retrofits, sure they can do it.

Either them or ‘Audi Retrofits’ just down the road in Slough could do it.

Hi Dan, have a quick google for ‘Audi specialists near me’, I know of a couple near Slough but I’m sure there’ll be one closer to you. if it’s just software/Vcds coding I’m sure any non-franchised audi specialist will be able to help you.

Does anyone have access to wiring diagrams? im trying to Work out where to pick up a feed from the matrix headlamp ‘all weather light’ to switch some foglights I’m fitting. cheers dave

I’m with you on Audis rubber band tyres & big wheels issue, so I went for an Allroad, air suspension, so no harsh ride issues, I did swap the standard 18” for 19” simply because they looked so much better but the ride seems about the same as the tyres are 245/45, so plenty of sidewall plus the air suspension, so together means it’s about as close to an armchair as I could find in a car.

I didn’t know you could get an infra red reversing camera, (you’d know if it was as it would have a ring of infrared LEDs around it) but I’m planning on getting the 360 camera fitted, not sure if that has a low light/infra red function though. its only on this car that it’s been an issue, every other I’ve had with a reversing camera, the nighttime view has been fine.

You may be able to get a software update. I did. google ‘satnav map update’ for their website, it’ll take you through how to find the MMI sotware details that will inform them if you can do it via a software upgrade. If they can’t do it via software, then it’s probably going to need a hardware upgrade. I don’t know any Audi retro specialists your way. There are Audi retrofits & Hazzy Days near London but that would be a bit of a trek for you. i got the Android auto/car play update, (comes on an SD card) now that I’ve decided to keep my car for another few years, I’ll get the satnav update too.

Mine doesn’t have an infra red camera, just the standard one. So needs lots of light to work, currently switch my rear fogs on if the street lighting is no good (or not there!) to give me some light but the reversing lights the car came with are pathetic!

IVe already uprated the lamps to LEDs but it’s such a small aperture, they just dont put out much light LED strip, thought about it, found 1 that attaches below the number plate, which I might give a go but it’s £45 & needs a hole drilling in the door. Others need 2 holes for each lamp & only surface mount, so wouldn’t look too good i was hoping someone else had tried adding something so I could pick their brain!

If you can do it yourself that makes more sense, but while the cam chains are expensive, (there’s 4 of them apparently at the back of the engine). I’m not sure if they took the engine out. But I can check. Think the cost was around £4k (not sure as I had the water leak in the V addressed at the same time, plus service & gearbox oil change. Total was around £7k!) manufacturers always recommend an annual service if mileage is below the service interval, although they’ve never been able to justify it in conversations, I was an engineer before I retired. One of the roles I had was to validate & update maintenance schedules for the RN’s submarines. So we spoke to a lot of manufacturers, including oil companies to check the oils, change intervals etc we were specifying were still available & correct. But those conversations often digressed, especially if they were also a car nut. One of those conversations got onto oil & oil change intervals Forrest cars. They told me :- In a petrol car, synthetic oil simply will not break down unless something else drastic happens to the engine, massive overheat, fire, impact, material breakdown from faulty manufacture etc. under normal conditions the oil will outlast the engine, which was quite a revelation. in diesels though, its slightly different, due to the higher combustion pressures, vastly more combustion products get past the rings into the oil, which, while it doesn’t do the oil any harm, means you slowly build up crud being pushed around, so diesels do need routine oil changes. The specialist I use for servicing uses top quality oil but it’s around £12 a litre to me on top of the labour charges. but, as I can’t easily do it myself (old age and old injuries catching up with me!), I just have to grin & bear it😏. However, something I’ve always done since the early 80’s is to use some ‘Slick 50’ oil additive to the oil when I buy a car. bought some originally as a ‘let’s give it a try’ basis n my Mk 2 Fwd Cavalier (1800 transverse engine in that) About a year later the car developed an oil leak, but it wasn’t obvious, so I missed it, this happened when I’d mostly use the car for long trips at weekends & it would sit in the base car park from Sunday night to Friday midday, apart from the usual Thursday trip to refuel etc. I’d normally check the fluid levels too but for some reason missed doing that for about a month, when I did remember to check it, the dipstick didn’t reach the oil! But, there were no other signs, engine hadn’t been running hot, no pinking, nothing. When I got it somewhere we could look at it, there was a fine jet of oil from the head gasket at the back of the engine. I’d got lucky in that it hadn’t caused a fire. New head gasket needed & all was fine, garage said no signs of overheating anywhere (they had the sump off to look at the crank too.) we put it down to the slick 50, I’ve also had a car dump it’s coolant over a 4 hour trip too, (split hose), again no engine issues and only realised something was wrong when I heard ‘bubbling’ noises after we’d stopped. (What was left of the coolant boiling). refilled with boiling water, vented off and all was well. Had to get it drained & refilled with antifreeze but small price. I can thoroughly recommend adding a bottle or 2, it only needs doing every 50k and at around £30 a bottle, I’m happy to spend that to help protect the engine.

I was advised to use wood quality fuel, (shell BP etc) rather than supermarket stuff but lots of short journeys winter do the dpf any favours, I was buying dpf fuel additives as well, not sure if they did anything but thought it worth it. But if you’re only doing 5k ish a year, then buying the premium fuel may be worth it. I haven’t tried that but might start as my mikes in the Audi has dropped to around 2k. i stopped doing frequent long journeys a year ago and thought long & hard about using the Audi for the, almost daily, short trips. I decided to cash in some pension money (I’m 68 now, it doesn’t have to last as long!) & buy a 2nd hand small ev, that’s working out ok as it turns out I’m doing about 5.5k a yr just locally! but it means I don’t get to drive the Audi as much, which is bugging me🙄. like you I’m not convinced EVs are that useful, cheap or convenient for long trips (especially with my 17’ kayaks on the roof!), so I’m thinking one of the new to market, long range PHEVs may be a possible option to replace both cars if I ever decide to sell the Audi on. that’s a dilemma that keeps going round in my head just now. Do I upgrade the headlights to LED with a 360 camera etc & keep it for another 3, 4, 5 years, or sell it and buy almost new to get the updated tech? Upgrades I’d like to do will cost around £4k all told, is it worth it? Haven’t figured that one out yet!

That stuff can crystallise in the pipes at low (Adblue) fluid levels, it may need the pipework stripping out and flushing, possibly pump & injectors too if it’s done that. however, I’d get it to specialist, or if no other choice, get Audi to look at it.

Just wondering how others have the reversing lights on the Avant/Allroad? Ive had real problems reverse parking or manouvring in the dark in this car as the thin strip that are the reversing lights simply doesn’t put much light out at all. im thinking of adding additional lights, anyone else had problems or added extra reversing lights? If you did add some, what & how please? Looking for ideas. cheers all!

Think servicing every 5k is a tadge OTT. Audis schedule is 12 or 18k depending on its use & designated maintenance cycle. if the oil isn’t getting badly contaminated, then it shouldn’t need changing earlier than Audi specify. Do you know something I dont? I’d like to know out of curiosity as 5k just seems far too often.

Mike261265, Interesting bit about engine mounts. I’ll get them checked at its next service. Thanks

I’ve had mine for 4 years now (2015 model), I love it! It was the lower power version but having found a local specialist, he explained that the 3 engine versions were identical apart from the software, so one software update later and it became a different car. Uses less fuel than it used to as well. my previous Allroad has taken me through 2 foot of flood water & a foot of snow, the height adjustable air suspension is just so good . (you can alter the base setting I’m told if you want the lower setting to be really low!). OK, issues, I’ve had no issues with the air suspension, on this model, the pump is inside the car, so little to no damp or debris gets in. Theres a reported issue of a water leak from inside the V of the engine. I had mine done when I had the timing chains changed. (Shouldn’t need them unless the cars been abused or not looked after at some point), I just got unlucky and bought one! So if there was any hint of chain rattle, I’d walk away, it’s expensive! check the air suspension works over its full range. I’m sure someone else on here can explain how to check for air leaks. There are known issues (& fixes) for a leaky sunroof on here in other threads. (It happened to me, I fixed it after watching one of the videos). Adblue, if you don’t drive high miles or it’s left empty for any time, the residue in the pipes can crystallise & eventually block up. Adblue systems were fitted to some early cars before it was a legal requirement sometime in late 2015, so can be disabled in the software without any MoT issues. Those built or registered (not sure which it is) after that date, then it has to be working. The S-Tronic gearbox needs routine oil changes, every 40k miles apparently, both hydraulic & lube oil. Some of the gearboxes have a filter inside, so get that changed at the same time. Other than that I can’t think of anything else. Others may have some more. mines recently developed a little rattle from the rear door, it’s been ‘listened’ to and we both think it’s some wiring come loose, (probably held by a sticky pad that’s lost its stick over 10 years). Good luck, Personally think they’re one of the best cars on the road., but then I’m biased!

Good luck whatever you decide.