ErikM

Cars, especially German cars that get babied use oil, and take forever to break in. I remember speaking with an Audi master tech and he straight up told me don't baby it. The Germans use very hard piston rings and hard cylinder walls. The reason for excessive oil use is blow by from the rings not being properly sealed.. So go drive that **** :-) FYI BMW used to warn against full synthetics on their bikes, when new, because the bikes would burn too much oil.

ErikM

New guy.. thanks for the mention on the dipstick.. I pick up my new A4 next week and I hope I have my first little mod when I get the car :-)

irenesbob

Bear in mind that one of the alleged reasons Audi (and others) moved to dipstick-less oil level reading was the desire to extend the engine oil change interval. The dipstick is a press fit into the tube and thus is not 100% infiltration proof. Engine vibration, temperature changes and accidentally hitting the dipstick (in addition to the very act of removing the dipstick and checking the oil) can all lead to moisture and contaminants getting into the oil supply; this reduces its effective life. It may sound way out there to some, but I have been told from reliable automobile savvy associates that this is a real issue.

ErikM

I think it's was because customers are lazy and didn't know how to check oil so with the whole sludge thing Audi decided to make checking oil a process that a soccer mom or any busy person can do with out getting their hands dirty. Just as important is to not overfill the oil. Too many folks stop at a gas station and would check oil with the engine hot, get an erroneous reading and over fill. Most gas jockeys check the oil and dump a quart of what ever in and of course Audi wants it to be 100% synthetic.. Just my $0.2 worth. FYI want to have fun? Try checking oil level on a Dry Sump motor. :-)

bvariant

Maybe. To me, it's also possible that if you've decided for other reasons (e.g., ecu management of engine parameters for emissions, oil lifespan calculation?) that you want to record the temperature of engine oil, then making a sensor (G266) do double duty logically follows.

Also, that saves you on a redundant mechanical device (dipstick) such that you don't have to include at a few additional bucks per unit: economics are a powerful driver. I don't think Audi would pay $65 to a supplier for an actual dipstick (the amount I forked over to ECS for an aluminum billet example), but it probably counts for something. By contrast, the ECU/MMI code to access the info is a one time expense.

If you don't really need the dipstick, though, then why the tube remains is another question. Certainly, it's good for oil extractors but otherwise? Is the hole into which it inserts part of the existing castings for the engine block?

SchwarzS6

The purpose of the tube is for the oil extractor which is the Audi recommended method for changing oil.