Squeaking front end especially on very cold days 30* and below. The sound comes when going over speed bumps or any dip in the road. It's definitely coming from the front and sounds like a POS!

During warmer weather, I dont have this issue.

I also tried hitting the brakes hard (cold weather) to see if it would make the noise as the front end sits down, but no issues. Only when there is a dip in the road, bumps or especially a speed bump.

Any clue?

 

I sympathize with you as I had the exact same issue on my 07 a8l with 48,000 miles. Took it to the dealer a couple of times before they could even hear the noise I was talking about. They finally heard it. They replaced the front upper control arms(they replaced the whole arms but actually its just the bushings in the arms that cause the noise and need to be replaced.) Dealer said 9 times out of 10th, this is the solution for most a8's with noise in the front in cold weather going over bumps. However, this did not fix my issue. After further investigating, the dealer found the noise to be coming from the front sway bar bushings. They replaced those and the noise is gone. Hope this helps.

Side note: dealer took 2 weeks to diagnose my car and find the noise all while replacing the lower control arms, sway bar and sway links before actually finding that it was the sway bar bushings. If I were you, I'd start with those upper control arm bushings.

 

Hi, I am thinking of purchasing an 04 A8, I was wondering if people can chime in on their cars-- how is the reliability past the 100K mark? Is it really a money pit if you get it from a private party that has all service records? I found a $13K A8L with 103K miles, all service done and no suspension problems, should I go for it? I'm a bit nervous that something expensive will come up, but the t belt and waterpump has been done and he claims no air suspension problems...

I'd really like to go with an 04 rather than spending another 5K on an 06.

 

I've had my 04 for about 3.5 years and have not had many problems. High cost for oil changes has led me to do my own this time, but I found the drain plug under the oil filter tight coming out, then stripped going back in (no torque applied at all) so I'm thinking it was stripped by someone else, then gunked back into place with something. Other than that, the car really has not had issues. I do get a squeek when going over a bump, so probably a rubber bushing, but it doesn't bother me yet. That might become a bigger problem. There was a recall that replaced the coils (I think, but can't remember) when I first bought it. There was a small charge attached to that.

 

I owned a 2004 A8L that was purchased by me with 13,700 miles on it, CPO, from a dealer in the Portland, OR area.

Great vehicle, runs and drives like no other, and I've owned 3 A8's now.

The MMI was fantastic, but on the 04, you are limited to what you can add on to the system. I went with the Dension Gateway 500, and it ran my iPod just fine, and a thumb drive as well with music on both. I did not add the phone/bluetooth, but imagine it would work as well.

Issues were the leather on the seat bolsters wore poorly compared to other S8's I have owned. They did not tear or crack, but the surface/color was worn, and the dealer said it was not covered under the CPO warrenty/Factory warrenty.

My cooling seats never worked that I could tell, but the heated seats worked great.

The passenger seat was stuck up one time after my kid played with it, but turning the car off and on fixed it.

At 35K, the air bag light came on. Turns out it is the drivers side knee bag. About 750.00 and labor to replace, and of course, not covered under warrenty. Audi USA decided to replace it free of charge however, due to the low miles on the car. Nice of them. The water pump was weeping too, so under warrenty (I bought an Extended warrenty from Fidelity) they replaced the pump and idlers, but would not pay for the belt, so I paid for that at cost from Rock Auto. (Dealer matched the price, again, nice of them.)

Then I traded in the car, and bought a 2001 S8 with 72k on it.

Oh, my TPMS system was buggy. I have both stock wheels with snow tires on them, and 20x10 wheels with 275 wide Pilot Sport AS tires on them, and TPMS sensors for both. I had the wider wheels coded to work, and they did until I changed over to the snow tires for the winter, and then neither never worked again until the dealer coded in the stock wheels, with the POS stock Pirelli tires I took off and just stored in my shed while using the snow tires on the stock rims. (The Pirelli tires are lousy for grip, but are quiet, and good on gas I suppose, but if you push the car, they just slide and make noise.)

Never had air suspension issues. The coils were changed out under warrenty/recall by the dealer. I only had the dealer change the oil, but I use Shell Rotella T Syntetic or Castrol from Germany, the 0-30 stuff that's rated very well. (The domestic USA stuff is blended and not a real synthetic, and not rated as well.) I also ran one oil change using RedLine oil, and it was awesome. Better gas mileage by 1, and smooth as can be. Of course at 12.00 per quart, sort of expensive, but if you bring in the oil, the dealer does not get to mark it up, so it's not much more than what the dealer wanted anyway.

BTW, The Rotella T Synthetic is a diesel rated oil, has one of the best additive packages available, is only about 22.00 per 4 quarts at WalMart, and is a very good rated oil. 5-40 rating allows it to be all season too.

I would buy another D3, but next time around, I want the W12 and extended leather with the Solar Sun roof.

For now, I will suffer for my paid for 2001 S8 that has had it's own issues, but is a faster ride, and more fun in the corners, while still being very fun on longer drives at highway speeds.

 

I have had my 2004 A8 for over 2 years, I bought it at 90K miles. Had an independant shop that works on a lot of Audi's do the timing belt water pump all idelers (sp) and anything that looked like it wanted replaced. I also had the transmission fluid and filter replaced (used Amsoil) At 118K miles The air compressor (suspension) failed, there was a leak in a line. All oil and filter changes have been done by me. The car runs super. On road trips I average 23.5-24 mpg at Colorado's 75 mph speed limits. The car uses no oil, I do have the front end squeak, but it doesnt bother me. The power steering pump is getting weak and will be replaced in 9K miles when the timing belt is replaced. I have 141K miles on the car and I love it. My other rides include a Porsche Cayanne, BMW 325i convertable, Ford, Chevy, ******* jeep truck, and of course my HD ultra classic. The A8L is my favorite, Jetsam

 

I forgot to add, the TPMS will not word in high elevation. I live at 7500 ft. And all TPMS systems malfunction up here Jetsam

 

I bought a 2004 A8L last may and love it. Car has some mileage but it runs like a top and have not had any major problems. I had it detailed last week and afterwards, somewhere I lost the fog light grill on the drivers side (part # 4E0-807-681-C-01C). I've been searching for a replacement and am not having much luck. Any suggestions for where / how to find one or if anyone knows where / how to have one fabricated?

many thank in advance.