dwboston

I've had my 2015 A8 for a year. The car has been great with no real problems, other than having the downpipes replaced for the engine vibration issue. Once the weather turned cold this winter, I started noticing noise from the front driver's side wheel/suspension when going over the speed humps entering and leaving our complex at work. I brought the car into the dealer about a month ago and got the "could not replicate" response from the service folks - they also told me they checked the sway bar end links, bushings and the strut and nothing was broken. Of course, it happened again the next morning as I drove to work...and every day since then. I got annoyed, so I made a video while I drove into the complex at work one morning (made sure no other cars were around for safety), which is below. I sent the video to the service manager, scheduled another appointment, and brought it in yesterday. I also showed the video to the service consultant and he asked that I email it to him which I did. They've called me back again and say they can't replicate it. I'm kind of at a loss - the sound is unmistakable, it's real - I'm not making it up. It's only coming from 1 area of the car, not all 4 wheels. I've driven multiple cars (my wife's GL550, the loaner Q7 and Q5 they've given me, a Subaru Outback, etc) here and they are all silent while going over these bumps. Can someone let me know if this sound is "normal" for this car, and what (if anything) I should be asking them to look at? I have a hard time believing this noise is normal for this car. You may need to turn volume up a bit on the video.

ottobaby

On 1/9/19, the dealer took my car after I reported the same noise. They too had problems replicating it. After a couple days they were able to reproduce the sound after going over a few speed bumps. In all they've replaced all sway bars, controller arm bushings and the noise remains. I was told last week by the service manager that they had ordered new Struts and that there was a specialist coming down from NYC to investigate. As of this moment, I haven't heard back from the service manager

Cirrusaudi

I had the same issue. Twice the dealer said they can't reproduce it. I had to get quite "mad" for them to take me seriously. Finally, they replaced several suspension components under warranty, and the noise is gone. I also had the 1K/3K RPM vibration issue, that they fixed by replacing the down pipes.

Only other part that went TU was a rear O2 sensor.

Other than that, and the fact that it eats tires, my 2014 A8 has been a fantastic car. It does not turn as many heads that my BMW750 used to, but I am fine with that.

dwboston

The service advisor called me back this afternoon and said they believe it's the strut. They need to get approval from the warranty coordinator to replace it. Fingers crossed that fixes it.

AudiA8Newbie

I know exactly what you're talking about! My 2012 A8L started making the same noise after about one year of ownership. At the beginning, the noise was only noticeable during winter months when the weather is much colder, then it would go away during summer months. I took my car to an Audi certified repair shop (not the dealer) to look at it. I was told it's a common problem with the front suspension components of Audi A8, and that the noise would eventually become more noticeable all the time regardless of weather temperature. In the meantime, they applied some grease to both lower and upper control arms, and that helped for a while.
They were right; eventually the noise became unbearable as it was happening whenever I went over speed bumps, or any uneven surface. I took the car in, and they replaced the lower control arms, and the stabilizer links. That was it! No more noise ever since.

dwboston

I got a call back from the dealer today. Audi wanted them to test a couple of things, which they did, and Audi ultimately approved the strut replacement. Parts have been ordered and I'll be driving a (new) Q7 for a few more days - should have the car back Tues/Wed next week.

the_duke

dwboston

Update - I received a call from the service advisor to let me know that they replaced the strut, and though it's better, the noise is still there. I asked if they had removed the sway bar end links to inspect whether they were overly worn, and they had not (apparently they visually inspected them and said they were OK), so I asked him if they could do that. He also mentioned that they would try disconnecting the stabilizer bar entirely and driving it to isolate the end links (?). He said they compared it to two other A8's on the lot and they made noise as well. It seems like they are preparing to wash their hands of it and call it "normal", but we'll see tomorrow when they get back to me. I still find it hard to believe that this is normal for a $102k MSRP car, when A5's, A6's, Q5's and Q7's are perfectly quiet in the same scenario, but what do I know.

MP4.2+6.0

My 2015 is perfectly quiet at now 18,000. Thus, no they don't "all do that."

When the sway bar stuff is done/exhausted, upper control arms (or more specifically their inner bushings) are the other usual suspect. To really check those, my direct experience is they have to be disconnected at the pinch bolt end where the ball joints are. Easy to do so. Then you move them around in all three dimensions and look for deep cracks in the bushing. You just cannot get an accurate read on them visually while bolted in place--no matter what a dealer or other mechanic says. BTDT personally, both ways (visual close up, but then unbolted on the pinch bolt end) on D3, and documented the heck out of it on the D3 forum.

dwboston

Thanks - that's really helpful and gives me something to suggest to them. I appreciate your insight.