ex-quattro PETE

I don't think it's the fan in our case. The noises are more subtle. I'll have to record them one of these days.

metta

So this happened to me for the first time last week . . . pulled into the parking garage at work and when I turned the engine off and opened the door, I smelled a slight burning smell and definitely heard the noise from the engine compartment. I was a little freaked out, and hung around the car for a couple of minutes, but then realized it must be the regen, because it was definitely not the much more subtle fan noises I'd heard before after turning the car off and locking it.

My first diesel, so it's a new (and interesting, in a good way) learning experience!

idale

If you get out and notice your leg's starting to roast, it's definitely regen. Luckily the burning smell isn't your leg. Might be good if the sales people let buyers know what to expect, since I'm sure people who aren't the sort to frequent message boards like AW will call into the dealer and get the usual "it's normal" line without any sort of context into why it's normal and it's not a "blow off" response.

And keep in mind that diesels have changed over the years and older VW/Audi diesels wouldn't behave this way. Recent diesels with active regen would stop it cold when the ignition turned off, and prior versions didn't have active regen at all (but then they may not have had a DPF at all so there'd be nothing to regen). So even if this wasn't your first diesel (my wife's got a 2004 Golf TDI) it'd still most likely be a new experience.