Just bought a beautiful 2001 A8L and love everything about it except the quality of the electronics. Have had 40 cars in the last 40 years ( Including 4 Audis, and 5 Mercedes) and I do most of my own work. This is the first 6 year old, 70,000 mile, $70,000 car I've had that the trip odometer and clock do not reset, driver info system is inop, tie rods shot, proximity system inop. Now I'm reading about tranny issues, etc. Have tried every configuration in the book, even holding my tongue on the left side of my cheek while pushing all the buttons that have ever affected these devices in an Audi. I'm not sure this car is any better than the S Class's I stopped looking at because of electronic issues. I've had Lexus and Acura products that may not be as sexy but this stuff just doesn't happen. Wondering exactly what's happening in Germany (Other than Bangle) that is infecting their cars. I even had a Rover Sterling that now seems more reliable than what Germany is building today. This thing seems to have the reliability of a cross between a 54 MG and an 80 Scirocco! Is Bosch the new Lucas?

 

Its probably a blow fuse or something, as for the cluster tell me you have tried "pulling" on the **** to re-set the clock because thats how you do it.

 

LoL... he does have a small point. At these prices you expect fewer headaches. Still, they don't call me the AWDaholic for nothin'. Quattro>rwd & fwd

 

The only mildly related **** would be the one on the DIS control panel in the console between the seats. It can be pushed but not pulled. The Owners Manual says to just hold both clock buttons for 10 sec then use the minute and hour buttons to set it. As for the Trip Guage, same thing push the reset button. I have a feeling though that since the DIS switch panel is directly fwd of the only cup holder in the car, the previous occupant spilled something into the panel. I have a feeling that that panel and the Trip Gauge and Clock are interconnected somewhere. The clock display and time work, as does the mileage readout on the trip gauge. You just can't reset them. I will however check the fuses for any problem just in case control and display are separate.
By the way how do I get the DIS switch panel out?

It's the Mars Venus thing when it comes to sex............."Women are looking for a reason, men are looking for a place"
Of course that is good or we wouldn't have much time to work on Audi's!

 

This might be extreme, but, maybe try giving them a light spritzing withg soem radio shack contact cleaner, if you think they're gunked up. It workrd for a coiple of my head-unit buttons after a full-PANIC stop sprayed coffee all over the radio face, once

 

Tell me about it... bought what I thought was a very nice 2001 A8 with 64k miles on the clock and within the first 1000 miles I've had to replace the drivers door window motor, had a check engine light that "fixed itself" and now have a faulty drivers power seat.

There is no excuse. It's a twenty first century automobile.

I hope I can grow to love this machine.

 

Yep...Would rather be able to take apart the switch assembly but contact cleaner might be worth a try! God...just think what great cars these would be if they were Toyotas or Hondas under the skin! Then again I thought that about the Rover Sterling..."It's an Acura underneath..What could go wrong?"

 

personally, I think the Germans are begining to suffer from a malady similiar to, but not the same as, the american manufacturers contracted and have yet to recover from. Complaincency. German engineering is supposed to be way over teh top, and, FWIW, it generally is. But, their social welfare system and the desire for both profit AND leisure are doing them in. Their workforce still hasn't genuinely recovered from absorbing the east-germans, what almost 20 years ago, now? Has it been that long? Wow! The lethargy introduced when the EG's were incorporated into the Deutsch conglomeration is still dragging down the quality (as we can ALL attest to) to the overall german product, from a national perspective. The germans have always been in denial about this truth, lest they admit to the world that they are fallable. This is something NO german would EVER do, publically. It's just NOT in their genes. Yet, they're STILL charging PREMIUM, german-engineered-prices for this watered-down national product (the concept of superior engineering).

For the american manufacturers it was the surety of an american market place that was world-domineering simply because of it size & weight. Everybody was riding a gravey-train that would seemingly NEVER end. Then the japanese figured out how to exploit american-americanism, and do it more cheaply we could. Slowly and inexorably the japanese began a methodical subsumation of the american market place, as a whole. Now, the pwn.

About a decade ago they began setting theor sights on the germans. In another decade they will pwn them, too.

The koreans have begun to work from the same basic business model that the japanese used on the americans. Japan needs to be careful or they will be pwned within a couple of decades, themselves.

If the chinese ever decide to move to a fully market-based economy we will ALL need to learn to speak chinese shortly thereafter. Their cheap-labor force will overwhelm all other economies, if unleashed. The sheer SIZE of their population means that, if globalized, their economy WILL be the force to be reckoned with. What do you feed a 1,000-lb gorilla? EVERYTHING it askes for!!!

 

Well put AWDaholic. Now our concern should be whether the new generation Millenials have the character to fight the economic war that the greatest generation showed in fighting for world freedom. Just think, there was a time when all we had to worry about was nuclear holocaust. The chinese may bury this republic without firing a shot.

 

Dont forget about India. Bigger population and they actually have a proper democracy. Their economy is pretty much moving towards being a market based economy as well.

Their problem is infrastructure. China spends money no object in this regard, Indias still using the railways we built 100 years ago.... If they get their act together their economy could easily be bigger than Chinas in 50 years...

Bad news for you. Worse news for us brits