R0bz

i have a 2005 A8 W12 that's been diagnosed with a bad compressor. are there any decent aftermarket compressors i should consider besides the Arnott?

Jack88

Not that I can recall, but make sure that your compressor didn't die due to a leak in the system that has been unaddressed. These cars should be able to hold their current ride height indefinitely, so if the problem is finding your car losing height and being unable to get it back, odds are the compressor failed due to overwork trying to compensate for the leak in the system. If there is a leak and it isn't addressed, your new compressor will die a quick death.

MP4.2+6.0

+1. Compressor failure is usually a symptom, not the root cause. If you don't diagnose for leaks, you may just be lighting money on fire treating symptoms of overwork. Also, any time you replace the compressor, replace the relay. Known wear issue and Audi itself said replace relay with any compressor replace.

Compressors are supplied by WABCO, so if you can find a WABCO branded one, you have found the same one as the dealer would mark up. The issue may be that the W12 one is physically laid out a little differently IIRC from the 4.2 (gas) one, because its mounting differs some. But the S8 is positioned the same I think, and maybe the Euro TDI one too. As in, if W12 only, it's too low volume to make a lot of sense for others to supply the market, but if the compressor assembly is with multiple motors it is likely out there. Finally some have used Miessler branded compressors. They used to be known as noisier (like 5+ years ago), but they now advertise they are OES. I think there may have been an exclusive from WABCO to Audi that ran out time wise, so then the OES supply may have opened up to independent channels.

tjf

I ordered a compressor from Miessler Automotive, via ebay, about 5 years ago. It was a WABCO compressor.
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Brozee

I ordered this one over a year and a half ago. Works perfect, and only $199 with free 2-day shipping. Works exactly like the original OEM one, no difference at all that I can tell.

R0bz

the dealer performed leak tests and reported there were no leaks throughout. i replaced both front struts in the past year with new arnott units, so these are good. the dealer did note that the compressor was putting out 3.9bar then thermally shutting down so they suggested replacing it to the tune of $2700. based on reading through the forums here, i will try the bagpipingandy.com compressor repair kit first and see what happens....thanks for your suggestions. i'll let you know if it works.

Panelhead

tjf

I do admit, mine is a little noisy. I can hear hear it running, if I am driving slow. It's been working OK for 5 years (knock on wood). ...Mine was $500 back then. It looks like maybe prices have dropped some. I did recently do a bagpippin andy kit, to see if it would quiet it down. It helped a little, but I can still hear it.

Brozee

Mine is silent from what I can tell.

chokboywonda

You should try a new mounting kit. The rubbers and springs deteriorate and the unit begins to knock when some of the metal bolts make contact with the mounting bracket. This happened to mine as the nee compressor did not come with a new mounting kit so i used the old one. Just got the new kit from meissler and it is good