BrandoMeats

Hello everyone! Just signed up for the forums here, I bought my first Audi yesterday, a used 2008 A6 4.2 Quattro black int/ext s-line with 65k miles. As far as I can tell it has the technology and cold weather package. The carfax shows Audi dealer service records up to right around the 60k mark. Just had a couple quick inquiries as to some things about the car, I've worked on them before when I used to work and moonlight at independent auto shops. I'm familiar with some things, but far from being an expert with these cars (my expertise was with Cadillacs). I'm planning on doing my usual "once over" that I do to any vehicle I or my friends get which is new plugs, filters and fluids. Those things may be good already, but if I change them I know they'll be good then. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

1. Planning on using Mann filters because they seem to be synonymous with German cars.

2. Plugs - I'm an OEM kinda guy so I would assume Bosch, but some searches incline towards Denso or NGK.

3. Oil - I know there's lots of discussion and info on this subject. I use Schaeffer's in all of my vehicles and a lot of my friends vehicles I work on from bikes, cars, diesel trucks and heavy equipment. It's great stuff IMO, but is it good for these cars? I know there's talk of the 502 spec, but best I can tell that's mainly to make sure that the oil holds up to the 10k intervals. I'd probably be changing it every 5k instead but that's just because I'd rather do it too often than not enough. Anyone else use Schaeffer's on here?

4. Heated steering wheel - sometimes it feels warm and sometimes not. First car with one so I might just not be used to it yet.

5. 30 pin connector in glovebox - I have an iPhone 7+ with lightning port. I thought for an experiment I'd stop at an Apple Store and bought the 30 pin to lightning adapter to see if it did anything, it does not. Can I make my newer iPhone work in this car? Mainly interested in being able to play my music in the car. Does the car have Bluetooth? I see in the center console there's some kind of bracket with a connector on it. Is that involved?

6. Wheels - Car has stock 18" with good Blizzaks on it currently. Summer is coming up and I don't want to run those in the summer, was thinking about the Alzor 628 18" wheels with some nice all seasons or something and run those in the summer but put the stockies back on in winter.

7. Exhaust - Wanna make it have a nice V8 rumble but not be loud, but I don't see many options when I search. I see YouTube videos of people who swap out the rear mufflers for resonated tips. Seems viable?

I've only had the car for a day so it's new to me and I'm still getting used to and discovering everything it can do, lots of features. It's going to be a daily driver but I want it to be a sweet daily driver, look good and be reliable. Not going to be racing or abusing it at all. Any thoughts on any of these things would be greatly appreciated. Look forward to my new friends on here! Thank you!

raj99

Welcome to the forum and I've attempted to answer your questions in order:

1 - Both Mahle and Mann and good...remember there's an air, cabin, oil, and fuel filter for the car...all 4 need changing. Take a look at my thread for the maintenance I did day 1: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...-pics-2844343/

2 - OEM are NGK - read the sticky on the top of the page which goes through maintenance - https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-.../#post23839229

3 - I don't use Schaeffer's, I stick with Mobil 1 0w40 which works well for me.

4 - don't have it...I've got a paddle shifter steering wheel

5 - What you really want is A2DP streaming - BT music streaming through your phone...easy enough to add via the Tune2Air product - use the SEARCH and you'll find plenty of threads on this

6 - sure, I run separate winter/summer setup and run a larger wheel in summer and standard 18s for my winter setup

7 - exhaust note is very subjective...I've been very pleased with mine

BrandoMeats

Thanks raj99, just what I was looking for. Not to be a noob, but once I get used to this I'll figure the search query and stickies out. Appreciate your insight in the meantime, it was thourough. On your oil comment, do you run 0w40 for a specific reason? I know it says 5w40 but it's all subjective to where you live or personal preference in some cases.

BrandoMeats

By the way I watched your clip, that is just about perfect exhaust tone for these cars. I've seen a few videos where they sound like a 4x4 pickup, that's NOT what I'm looking for. Did you do full exhaust or just the rear mufflers? Mess with center muffler at all?

raj99

Use whatever motor oil you prefer, but ensure it meets the VW 502 standard, at a minimum: http://uberlame.com/a6_tsb/Engine/En...20507%2000.pdf

FWIW: Mobil 0w40 does meet the standard, whereby 5w40 does not.

iaflyer

As for Bluetooth, I got a Carpro Bluetooth (by Coolstream) adapter from Amazon (I'm sure you can get it elsewhere). It's a bit pricey at $80 but it just works, and is designed for Audi and VW. Some other really cheap ones are missing something to make them work with the Audi - I've tried them.

As for steering wheel, I live in Michigan, so the heated wheel is nice. It seems to warm up quickly, feels warm, then lower the heat level a bit so it's not warm or hot, just interior temperature.

The AUdi A6 is great, lots of good information on this forum with guides for major services (55K for example) including pictures. Brake changes, etc.

Firefighter

I use the Castrol 0W-40 in winter and the 5W-40 during spring through fall.
Both Castrol grades meet the VW/Audi 502 standard, just reading the bottle on the 5W-40 now -use a magnifying glass.

BrandoMeats

Thanks for the input guys, like I said I'm new to the car and this forum, so I appreciate it. Think I figured out the stereo situation. I found out how to pair my phone to the car's intrinsic Bluetooth for the phone, so I'm just gonna find an old 30 pin iPod and load my current music library into that and just leave it permanently hooked up in the glove box. No plugging and unplugging my phone, but still have all of my music which I believe should be accessible through the MMI.

I called Schaeffer's Oil and talked to a tech about their oil because it's all I run in all of my vehicles and equipment. He said they have a Euro formula, but it only comes in 5w30. I told him the car calls for 5w40 and he said his best advice was to use someone else's oil so I have even more respect for that company. He said he didn't feel safe recommending their oil because the most important part of oil is the actual weight followed by everything else. Thinking about trying out AMSOIL, it's readily available to me, gets great reviews and it's 502 and 505 compliant. I used to use AMSOIL years back until I discovered I could get Schaeffer's locally and wholesale pricing if purchased in case quantities.

my previous car that I haven't offloaded yet has a sub and amp in the trunk, thinking about seeing if I can get it to work in this A6 without modifying too much, if anything at all. I don't wanna mess with the sensitive wiring these things have.

Wheels get filthy rather quickly so I'm currently pricing up ceramic pads F/R so when I do buy the Alzor rims for it they'll stay clean, hopefully. Snow is gone here now so I wanna get those Blizzaks off asap so I don't chew them up on dry pavement. Bit of a wheel gap with the stock 18" combo, thinking about spending the extra $100 for the 19" wheels and getting a slightly taller tire to take up some gap and still have ride quality. It's just a driver so I don't wanna lower it or use super thin 19" rims and sacrifice some comfort.

stuffinder

I have close to 100mi on 3 various C6A6 3.2 Avants in past 3 yrs. I've found Castrol Syntec 0W40 ($26 for 5 qts at Walmart) to work well w/5K mi changes. As to brakes, I live in a rural area, mostly secondary roads populated by Whitetail deer & manure spreaders! I've used Akebono Ceramics on RWD Volvo's & '99A6. While they are very smooth, quiet & clean I don't find them to offer as instantaneous bite as OEM pads. I've discussed this with several other old time AUDI indy dealers, one who has specialized in rally & high performance applications. Their consensus is that a more traditional OEM pad is better for my type of driving. AUDI pads worl well buy they're expensive & incredibly dirty. When I was ready for 1st pad change I contacted EMIparts.com, owned & staffed by AUDI nuts they provided me with OEM pads (forget name) that have the quick bite of stock and seem a little less grabby and slightly cleaner. They were much cheaper than AUDI dealer & work well in combination with Zimmerman rotors. I've used Brembo's & Zimmerman's for 20 yrs. w/Volvos & AUDI's w/great success. If you do decide on Akebono's their distribution system is weird and best prices are usually found on Amazon or eBay! Concerning wheels I've run the following: 225/55x16 Hakka R2's, 245/45x17 Hakka R2 &WR G3 & Conti OEM, 245/40x18 Pirelli Snow & 255/35x19 Hakka Zline.
I believe optimum snow tire sizes to be 16-17. Summer 18-19. The 19 give you better handling but harsher ride & MUCH increased possibility of rim damage! Considering how much the cost of tires increases w/rim diameter I would stick w/17/18. BTW Nokian is not known for Summer tires & their Zlines can often found at bargain prices! Much cheaper than Conti DW's & Mich Sports. Of course like any other UHP Summer tire they're soft (UTOQ 300) and prob good for 20-30K mi only BUT smooth, quiet, grippy & fabulous in the Wet) BTW I've got a set of 19 S5 wheels w/Hakka Zlines I'd trade for 17/18's!