My 05 A8L W12 experienced a few issues a couple of nights ago.

EPC light
Alarm came on after about 15 seconds of locking the car
Missing menu options on the MMI
Ventilation controls do not power up
Windows don't roll up smoothly
Battery was drained overnight and can't start the car

According to the AAA tow guy who tested the battery, the battery is holding its charge and has about 750 cold crank amps. The alternator checks out. He did notice a 10amp drain when the car is not on and all electric sources are off.

Towed the car to the local Audi dealer.
Diagnoses came back as follows:

Replaced battery - $700 (Seems very steep in my opinion...$200 for parts and $500 for labor)
According to the dealer, the EPC light intermittently comes on and the MMI menus still miss a few items. The car locks sometimes.

Scan tool cannot communicate with the Battery Management Module.
Recommend replacement of battery management module - $1000...However, this might 'not" be the root cause until they have the ability to communicate with the battery management module they can't tell for sure.

I have a sinking feeling that I am getting ripped off but I am not sure how to prove it.

Advice much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I paid around $250 to have the dealer replace the battery in my D4. I'd get a second opinion, it doesn't seem right to me. Couldn't hurt, anyhow.

 

Thanks. The dealer claims that it would take 4 hours to replace the battery. Does not sound right to me.

 

Not just not right, but Autobahn robbery. Post up the name of the dealer for the Hall of Shame wall for starters. Battery took ME thirty minutes total, and interestingly in THE DEALER'S parking lot. 30 minutes from when I headed out the door at the dealer--the big boy for the W12 so not light--walked it to my car and used my pre-carried tools (all of a 10 mm wrench and 13 mm socket basically, plus a dime to open the side compartment), plugged VCDS in and coded it to the actual number, and walked the core back in. 30 minutes, done by the customer dealing with the retail counter w/ no dolly, no pre-warmed scan tool right there, etc. I did it that way BTW because I had a coupon and I didn't want to have to do two trips up the freeway to deal with the core.

Net, no flippin way 4 hours or even 1. They are charging you a boatload of time for diagnostics, if it's legit.

Meanwhile, back to some of your original post, yeah I guess if the car can't see the battery management module, it sounds like it is toast, and could logically relate to your other issues, drain, etc. If you DIY'ed it (or even via an indy) you should pay a good amount less, esp. if you went the EBay parts route as I remember from some posts here and there.

 

Thanks Tech Guru.

I have asked for the itemized charges for the battery replacement. They claimed to have performed a alternator/charging test, a starter test, and a battery test as part of the battery replacement task. I am going to call other local dealers to get an estimate and see if I can get the cost reduced. I'll give them a chance to rectify the charge before posting them on the Hall of Shame wall which I didn't know there is one.

 

Those tests take a few minutes...

 

Gheesh. I hope you got a kiss with that kind of bill.....

 

The dealer claimed that the three hours of labor was what it took to diagnose the problem. They originally point it to the battery management module. After they have the car for over a week now, and a new battery management module installed, they now identified the root cause to be the AC control module. Estimated cost is $1700 parts/labor. They said that they will attempt to put back the original battery management module but can't promise that it will work!!!

The final bill could be $2600 or $3600 depending on whether they can put back the original battery management module.

What a mess!!!

 

So, next will they will tell you it's definitively the flux capacitor that is the root cause of [last week's] A/C control rationale? Just anticipating...

Actually, good luck resolving, but that must be terribly frustrating.

 

After my car sits with Stevens Creek Audi (I have had it with them and decided to give up their name here) for three weeks, I finally got a call to pick up the car. I picked up the car on a Friday late afternoon. I drove it off the lot and noticed when I got home that many of the MMI menu options were missing. Under the Car option, the User and Systems sub-menu options were missing without those I don't have control of the Adaptive Air Suspension among many others. After driving it for the about 40 miles, the Adaptive Air Suspension warning lights came on and I lost my frontend suspension.

Needless to say, I brought the car back Monday morning. After much heated debate with Stevens Creek Audi, they claimed that the failure of my front right suspension is due to a leak in the air suspension and has nothing to do with the missing Adaptive Air Suspension control on the MMI. I don't believe in coincidence but gave up at the end and we acquiesce on a 20% off for the repair, roughly $2,100 (this is after the $2,700 for the new battery and AC Control Unit).

But that's not the end of the story. After another week went by, I just got a voice mail from the service manager at Stevens Creek Audi telling me that I now have a failed compressor and the warning that the left front air suspension might go due to age and mileage. I am not sure how much this will cost me but at this point, I am so frustrated that I want to seek other options regarding the car's suspension.

Is there a cost effective way to remove and replace the car's air suspension system and with some other less sophisticated suspension systems like some coilovers with the ability to disable the Adaptive Air Suspension warning lights?

Thanks.