Backup Camera Issue?
 

Got in the car today, placed it in reverse to back out of the driveway and noticed the MMI screen went to black (all other MMI displays were fine). I could see there were some barely noticeable small flashes near the top of the screen but no image. Drove a few miles and when I reached my destination, I tried it and it was working fine as well a couple of other times before arriving home. Not sure if it was one of those one off anomalies we've come to love about the A6 electronics or if it's going to be a recurring issue.

I've had that happen once and I haven't seen it again. I also have the radio volume locked out "unavailable" on the MMI screen several times after backing up but it persists even if I drive >30 mph and won't correct unless I pull over and shut the car off. Thankfully it is not frequent.

Experienced these events, on separate occasions, in both my '12 and '14 A6. Each time it was resolved with hard reboot of the MMI...simultaneously holding down the setup key, control knob and the R upper control key for 3-5 seconds. Once MMI rebooted, everything was back to normal and did not recur.

I suspected it was one of those magical little glitches devilishly devised by the Audi elves in the Black Forest to help keep our forum active. It just that it surprised me since it happened for the first time in over three years.

I have had glitches in my reverse camera that was fixed, and may apply:

2012 Audi A6 Visibility Service Bulletin 335611

Action Number: 10044397
Service Bulletin Number: 335611

Report Date: May 29, 2012
Component: Visibility

Summary: Audi: when selecting reverse gear, the picture of rearview camera fails to appear, sporadically. Certain models, camera image can be re=activated. Model years 2008-2013

Thanks, I must have missed that TSB. As I mentioned, it has only done this once in over three years and not since that one time. If it happens again, I'll see about the TSB next time the car is in for service.

Since I've never tried it -- I'll ask. Does this re-boot process save your settings or re-initialize them to defaults?

Nothing is reset by a reboot. Think about as turning off your computer and turning it back on.

Exactly...good example.

Back-up camera problems can also happen in conjunction with rear (and perhaps front) parking sensor issues. Someone in our house backed into the corner of a concrete post, and when it creased the plastic bumper cover, it severed the rear parking sensor wiring (which Audi has thoughtfully positioned such that if you have such an impact, it will most certainly cut the parking sensor wiring when it gets pressed against the metal bumper).

We took it to the dealer thinking it was just a fault, but the service advisor reported that the problem was the result of the impact with the post. He thoughtfully pointed out that it was not a complicated fix (although, of course, the Audi labor rate would have made the repair stupidly expensive). Once the tail lamp assemblies are removed, the bumper cover is only held on with 6 or 8 fasteners, and since the problem was close to one end of the bumper cover, it was possible to do a wire splice without taking the entire cover off the car. Once I found the instructions online for taking off the bumper cover, the whole repair took less than an hour.