I've been looking at A8's - drove one the other day and loved it - just after leaving the BMW lot to boot!

I'll be buying used - so my questions are:

Any mechanical - service issues between the pre 2007 and the later cars to be aware of?

Is the "wood grain" trim real wood in all colors? The black interior with the dark redish woodgrain did not look real - my recollection was that the lighter wood trims looked real.

Anything to be wary of in buying a used A8? I have a mileage limit of 40K on the odometer - so not looking at high mileage vehicles.

Thanks in advance.
Briggs

 

Not really, the 04 model is the only problem bug, mainly because it was the first year D3 chassis. The 2006+ models have FSI versions of the 4.2L which offer more power and higher fuel efficiency, however it is yet to be seen if the high pressure fuel pump followers will fail. Its very common on the 2.0T FSI motors to wear away the anti friction coating after 40k of use and it wears the cam shaft lobe the pump rides on. This of course is an expensive repair on an A4, it would be astronomical on an A8. However im not aware of many cases regarding this matter on the A8......yet. If you do purchase an FSI model i would replace the followers at around 60k (or at least have them inspected) because the followers are less than $30, and its really easy to get at, so it can't hurt to be safe with them.
Other than that its pretty much regular maintenance, no higher than any other high end german automobile.