volvopentaman

Yes, If we would do everything By the book (ie. remove the engine to swap a temp sensor) you would need to recalibrate the ACC sensor (it has 4 adjusting points beneath the sensor) if messing with the steering geometry. But if you only replace control arms and stuff like that, and see that the geometry is withing factory tolerances, you don't need to do anything.

I swapped front upper control arm bushings on my friends A8 with ACC, and no problems so far. You just need to use common sense, and swap one part at a time, and take a drive, and see that the steering wheel is seemingly in the center, when the car travels straight.

My last A8L W12 was a 5 seater, all SWB are 5-seaters AFAIK. There are lots of SWB W12's in south europe (they are afraid of big cars, and have tiny parking spaces and massively dented cars ).

I'd rather take a 5-seater than my current 4-seater, but luckily I have a 5-seater big volvo too, if needed.

Brozee

The amaretto does indeed wear well, I was thinking of the tan interior, apologies. I like the black the best IMO, but the amaretto sure is an eye catcher and is unique to many when they see it. The adaptive cruise came into use only a few times when I had it. Honestly it never became a selling feature for me. More of a nuisance than a benefit on shorter trips. On busy highways it actually was a big pain to use, but when it's wide open it was very nice. I loved using it on my trip from Michigan to Pennsylvania, since i went on the weekend the traffic was light on all highways and it made my trip very enjoyable. From time to time I did get the "ACC BLOCKED" message toward the end of the trip which is common. Restarting the car fixed it though. W12 is a beautiful beast, just too much for me as a daily driver to run and maintain.

MP4.2+6.0

I think the supposed special alignment witchcraft is just about that. Unless the shops are idiots and align the car so it crabs down the road to begin with, really an academic rather than practical issue. And, zero issue on mine through various alignments, whether at the dealer when they fixed what ever under warranty, or at my $90 tire place for four wheel on the laser rack set up with no awareness ACC is even there.

If front end gets damaged then obviously it needs to be dialed in again, but frankly I also did that on our ex Toyota after my wife parked by Braille a few too many times. I was able to do it by eye and then a hand level after bending the retaining bracket while off the car with some pliers. Made one tweak after a shake down drive and that was it. $x thousand supposed machine and expert tech was a Ace hardware magnetic level and the Channel Locks!

MP4.2+6.0

Another classy touch.

mishar

US money is quite different this days for people outside of US. Getting worst if you are buying. But all the same if your salary is in US Dollars. Besides that it is almost impossible to import a car from Europe to North America. Price of this car is good if it is clean car.

All of 2005+ A8/S8 in North America are keyless, all W12's has RSE, all W12's are LWB. I believe all newer w12's come with ventilated seats, MP3 CD player and backup camera. This is America.

Only good thing about facelift are bigger side mirrors. Rest of it is just makeup. Rims are actually nice. Matter of taste.

I am not so sure about buyers market for big sedans this days in US. Fuel is quite less than $1 per liter. Truck market is blooming.

I have to state something here that W12 owners won't like. Torque/power is higher than V8 but not nearly anything special. I was actually disappointed. Just a bit more of the same. Same goes for S8. So more guys to disagree with me.

By the way, never heard of W12 Diesel. Any link?

mishar

Selling it was a big mistake and I believe you regret it. You fixed everything that could possibly go wrong and than sold it. Your buyer must keep your picture above his fireplace.

EHLO

I did not know that, so the advertisement is wrong that it's Cognac.

greginfinity

Wow, thanks for all the input fellas. The cruise control tipoff was indeed what someone else pointed out, the spot in the lower grill. I prefer the 5 seat setup as the kids typically ride back there. As for color choice, it is all a matter of opinion I guess. I know I won't own another black exterior car though, too much maintenance.

I do a lot of interstate driving and ACC would be so nice for me. We don't have a ton of traffic like California, so it wouldn't be bad, just keeping a nice flow without having to be constantly on the accelerator or brake.

So yeah, if someone wants to go test drive it and give us the in person review, please do! It would potentially be a fly out and drive back sort of deal for me, so it would have to come back with a good review. Sounds like I should find a good shop in the area to do an inspection first though. I am not scared of the typical problem areas since I have addressed some in my current A8. And the good news is that some of the most knowledgeable forum members have the W12!

I don't know, I am so fickle. Every day I waffle back and forth between thinking about splurging on a Tesla, or just dumping these stupid depreciating assets all together and getting a decent Camry Hybrid or something. But maybe now that I have an A8, I just am assuming that all other cars are made equally

Thanks all!

SaltyIrishman

You'll never forgive yourself for driving an appliance like a Camry if you are seriously looking at a W12.

MP4.2+6.0

W12 and Camry Hybrid are like in different universes. Former is no apologies, coddled in luxury, something special and super low volume. Lower volume than even R8's as another metric. Camry Hybrid is a perfectly respectable, perfectly boring, perfectly forgettable, 2x the mileage, more reliable...appliance. Get it in silver with a light grey interior for the final "touch" to anonymity and lemming hood. They still depreciate but from a lower starting point of course. Toyota Hybrid sales are sucking wind currently with faltering gas prices, so you can probably shop to a good deal on a new one. W12 may now actually have lower annual incremental depreciation, but will be harder to sell and cost $$ in maintenance and two x the gas and tires and such. Physically W12 (North America LWB) is a much bigger car than Camry, and still noticeably in back than Tesla.

Tesla. Fine, but not on my list yet. But if you want to put it in a harsh light, also statement mobile, rich boys' toys, and even throw away soccer mom mobile in well heeled markets like SF Peninsula. Next gen maybe, but bugs to work out. Numerous replaced battery packs and motors. Door handles break like constantly apparently--much more than the D3 MMI or B&O similar motorized gimmicks. Doesn't have interior fit and finish of D3 or D4, unless you gotta have a ginormous iPad screen and overlook lots of other stuff. Not in same leagues quiet wise either. I expect they are supporting prices on used ones, but word locally is indeed the current fashion mobiles are being traded in left and right for the 85D (AWD); just what I had guessed. Of course the 85D's prices like a really loaded D4 S8, not an A8. Didn't even have adaptive cruise as an option until a few months ago. Average Tesla price (averaged across all sold--below 85D pricing) of $103K going to 109K per analyst reports, so again very apples and oranges price wise to either the Camry or the W12, even before you get to any AWD. Even if you go used Tesla, the comparable is probably some used D4, not D3 price wise.

No, you can't go wrong with any of the choices (used car specifics aside), but one is very unique, one is currently fashionable, higher volume and unique for other reasons, and one is an appliance you will never be questioned about if you want to get off conventional enthusiast wisdom and just view it as an appliance and least cost sort of accountant approach. You could also play with frankly BOTH the Camry AND the D3 W12 for the price of the Tesla if you want to work both sides of your brain and have the overall budget and parking for them. And in about 10 years, you'll find a lot more market choices that blend them, including among some D5 drivetrains most likely.

BTW, if you want to brainstorm and would put up with a Camry Hybrid performance wise but have budget for a Tesla, how about a used D4 A8 TDI? Seem kind of forgotten/also rans in the used market already. You would get the torque of the W12 (very cool by itself), a generation newer, well proven motor in general and much easier to work on space wise, economy up there like literally the Camry but AWD and real luxury. Even a baseline D4 is going to be a loaded Camry or more set up wise, let alone overall luxury feel. Compared to a Tesla, your bladder will long burst before you fill up--like literally 3x the range, while you do the electric anxiety squirm to even get from the Bay Area to Tahoe and climb the 7200 feet for 50 miles. Or, waste at least 30 minutes at the Supercharger station before the mountain climb. The TDI will do the trip both ways (as the W12 can pull off), and then almost do it again both ways! Find one used and someone else will have already taken the biggest initial depreciation whacks, and TDI market has also softened with petrol prices dropping so much recently.