Hello Audi Forum.
My wife and I are new to the Audi experience, having just come out of an Infiniti G37X. After 2 years of ownership, we had to get rid of it due to the annoying dash buzzes and rattles that after 4 trips to the dealer, they still could not fix.
The new A4's feel very solid, and so far (less than 1K miles on our 2012), I like this car allot.

Anyway, the day we brought our car home from the dealership, we heard a metallic rattle coming from underneath the car when closing the driver's door after the car was shut off. Oddly, that rattle went away all together 2 days later. That was 2 weeks ago. Yesterday, we spent half the day shopping and driving the car. When we got home, as I parked it, I could hear the same metallic rattling, but it was more constant, like mettle rattling against mettle or something like that. That sound would come and go. I left the car on and got out of the car to hear it, and it sounded like that same sound I heard 2 weeks earlier, just more constant. This morning, I tested the door again, and no issues. I started the car and revved it some, and everything was normal.
Very strange....

We have an appointment to get the polished exhaust tips dealer installed later this week, and I will ask them to do a once over.

I did a search and found nothing on what I have been experiencing. Is this normal, something we just need to get used to? The last thing I want to do is take the car back to the dealer till they get it right....we did that with the G37, and all we got in return was headache, a dirty driver's seat, and no fix!

 

UPDATE.
Took the car out to run some errands. Everything seemed fine till we got home, and the rattling started again, periodically. This time, closing the door pronounced it, and now, every door including the trunk lid closing, brought the rattle back to life. This time I left the car running to diagnose the origin. Sounded like it was coming from the catalytic converter area. I took a broom handle and from the passenger side I pushed up against the 2 clamps aft of the cat, and there was a squeeking noise when I would push on it back and forth. I applied pressure on one of the clamps and opened and closed the passenger door. The rattle went away. Appears to be something in that area.

 

See my thread "Two Issues" just added. If you find the causeplease let me know.
Rob.

 

maybe your oil pump isn't giving enough preassure. i'd imagine that the sound is the sound of the metal components scraping on each other because they don't have enough oil at start up and at shut down. you said you have oil, but double check to make sure you have enough oil. if you do have enough oil, check with a mechanic to see if your oil pump is pumping enough oil.

 

Hello Martel XO,
There is a thread that includes an audio file and it seems to be similar to the problem you describe:
https://www.audiforums.com/forum/aud...-sound-178037/

I have exactly the same rattle/popping noise as the one in the audio file (2011 A4 13,000 miles). Have you been able to fix the problem or find any additional information regarding this issue?
Thanks!

 

Check out the exhaust system. There are a lot of "tin" shields on the system to protect other cables/tubes. These come loose due to expansion and contraction with heat. Check clamps and bolts and hangers.