F15Eagle

I am a new user to the forum and wanted to sign on and tell you all how useful the forum has been to me. I decided, long ago, that I wanted to give the new A8 a go and received mine in November of last year. First car I had ever bought, sight unseen. Mythos Black with Pearl Beige interior. Love it...it has its quirks, but all cars do. This is my first Audi since having an Audi 5000 in 1986-1989 when stationed in Germany. Loved that car too. Somehow, I went to the dark side, after having a couple Porsches and BMWs, to Lexus. This car really fits my driving style and is just a dream. I too take the long way home now. I can't add much to the forum...Every time I read something from Angry, I can imagine A8 parts and panels strewn a all over his garage. I just drive em, don't fix em and I fly a desk now, but every time I get in this car it is the closest thing to flying the Eagle that I have come to. Certainly not the thrust (don't much care for the low speed acceleration), but it is as solid as a rock, very maneuverable for its size and when you are in it, you know you are in the in the best vehicle around. So, very happy I chose to purchase this car. Now to the quirks.

First, I was wondering if anyone has had anything similar. I apologize in advance because it sounds like a live in a fortress, but I don't. So, in order to get in our neighborhood, there is a gate with an RHID UHF reader. Sticker/tag goes on the inside of the windshield. Most cars, you drive up slowly and barrier goes up. With the A8, you approach and sometimes the gate goes up sometimes not, but it is always after stopping and waiting for the reader to see it. Have tried several positions and different tags to no avail. No other cars in the neighborhood (and many are fairly high end cars) seem to have this issue, so I am thinking that the only thing it could be is the thicker glass. and the reader not being able to see the sticker. Does anyone know if the windshield glass is thicker if like the other glass in the car?

Secondly, I have a gate at the house (not a fortress) that is activated by the homelink. It is a rolling code so I programmed as directed in the book (and directions on MMI) and at the same time programmed the garage door. The gate programming works for about 20 openings and then quits and needs reprogramming. The garage remote is solid and never failed. I tried programming the gate in different stations, same dropout occurred. Tried programming the gate in two stations and when station #1 dropped out went to station #2 and it worked fine for a couple of weeks, then it too drooped out. Weird. The problem is so irritating, I have just decided to put the remote back in the car and use that.

Last, I park in the garage and when I first received the car, it put off a really bad odor (outside not in). Not a dead animal smell and not an electrical smell, but something like cooking .... maybe packing grease for engine parts...maybe cosmaline (sp)? Over the months the bad smell has lessened a bit, but when the car gets wet from driving in the rain, I can smell it again. Anyone have this issue?

Thanks, and again I enjoy reading the posts here by the Officianados.

angrypengu

Welcome! I believe the tradition that @derfA8L has started is that you have to post photos of your new ride

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1) Is your vehicle tinted? If so, metal dye tint or ceramic? To answer your question, the windshield on the A8 is actually not what I thought it was. There are some, albeit VERY few windshields that are called "acoustic glass". I have not personally seen them on any Audis, although on our D5s, all of the other glass is dual pane. The windshield itself though is not considered "acoustic", whatever that may mean. That said, the interior of our D5s are not only quieter than S classes, but in many tests done by C&D, is quieter than the Maybach S. So should we care that it's not considered an "acoustic windshield"? No.

That said, I am finding your issue #1 to be a bit weird. There is no coating on the windshield that I am aware of that blocks reception. On many S class models, there is a cutout in the windshield (from a film perspective) that customers should be putting transponders and such in, otherwise the signals can't break through the windshield. I'll dig through the manual later, but I'm 99% confident this does not exist on our cars.What I am finding though is serious cell phone reception issues when it's not in the phone box (I can't believe I paid for that option which I will never use). I have ceramic tint in the car....but that's about it. The only material that I am seriously having issues with is anything that is behind aluminum (e.g. under the hood). It's blocking GPS sensor coverage significantly.

Thus, those are my only thoughts there. There isn't enough info here to help you, but just sharing some thoughts. Maybe our cars are like a faraday cage given the materials used....? Can you try putting the transponder behind the front grill? (where it doesn't get wet?) The panel at the top of the grill is removed by removing the plastic clips. You ideally need a trim tool or a needlenose but it's relatively easy to take off. Can provide instructions if need be.

2) There are several iterations with Homelink. I was surprised myself to learn that this time around programming (my door has a rolling code) did NOT involve my existing openers, at all. It involved pressing one button on the door opener, and then hitting one button on my D5. Voila. No concerns on my case. When you programmed your D5, did you use an existing opener? I have some preliminary thoughts here, but want to start there.

3) Describing smell is difficult, and if I were to guess, I would refer you to your dealer for TSB 2053278/2

Customer statement:
• Oil loss in area around the engine compartment, front end, and underbody.
• Oil level warning (too low).
• Smell from engine compartment.
Workshop findings:
• Leak in area around the cylinder head cover, valve cover, and cylinder head.
• Leak in area around the injector.
• Leak in area around the Audi valvelift system actuator.
Technical Background
Metal shavings produced during manufacture in sealing groove between cylinder head cover and the cylinder
head.
Production Solution
Improved production processes.
etc etc.

Etc = instructions for the tech to fix this issue for you/involves replacing a gasket.

F15Eagle

Thanks for your thoughts.

1. No tinting on the windshield. The powers that be have gone back to the vendor to see if there are alternatives. We even tried an external reader on the headlight (which I had on my LS 460) but because the A8 headlight glass is more forward facing and because the glass housing doesn't tilt up (where the reader is) it doesn't read unless I put that sucker in a one square foot box when driving in. Mystery.

2. yes, did exactly what you did. Pushed the "learning" button in the gate mechanism. then ran over and hit the MMI garage button and it worked perfectly .... for two weeks. Reprogrammed endlessly until I gave up. Like I said, garage works great but I think it is not a rolling code type opener.

3. Probably a really bad description of the smell. I am confident it is not some leakage of fluids or oil. The smell is like wet socks so while I initially thought something like grease, it doesn't smell like a petroleum product, maybe some of that three inches of insulation against a hot part?? I will have the dealer look at the servicing.

I will try to figure out how to upload a pic of the car when I can.

angrypengu

1) Sorry, out of ideas!

2) In that case, also out of ideas, but try going here: https://www.homelink.com/program/process/1 -I have reached out to their support teams after struggling with my last car and they were absolutely fantastic. I would reach out there for additional assistance on this! If the instructions aren't any different than what you went through yourself, try reaching Support here: https://www.homelink.com/contact

3) So I had a weird smell when I first test drove the A8 for 24 hours (new car) and I also had a weird smell after taking delivery of mine. Mine has slowly gone away, and I suspect it was just the rustproofing or whatnot offgassing. That said your vehicle has been around since November so that makes no sense to me. For now while you wait to have the dealer look at it, I would turn on the ionizer function if you have it. The ions will bind to many things and cause them to 'sink' to the floor. That should help with the smell.

In case it is a HVAC issue, try turning on your heater in your car to max and running it on max (when the car is warm) for 5-10 minutes. Perhaps it's condensation causing some sort of smell? I don't know enough about this to comment with any sort of authority, sorry. The suggestion here is what I would do if it were my car, though.

F15Eagle

Sorry to confuse you about the smell. Inside of the car still smells like the day I got it; brand new leather, thank God. It is simply a smell that stinks up the enclosed garage after driving, Very strong when I took delivery, Has dissipated over time unless the underside gets wet. I only have 5300 miles so hoping it will go away in time. Yes I have the ionizer and do use it.

gk1

As far as the windshield is concerned, I thought even the D4 A8 had a special coating or special windshield that affected many tag readers like you describe. Forcing early toll tags to be placed on a license plate mount instead. I know it's an assumption, but I do not see why that coating would not have carried over to the D5 and is probably what is affecting your reader. Maybe for heated windshield or heated windshield option that's not installed. And at least on the D4 it seemed to be unique to Audi and did not affect MB or BMW etc.

angrypengu

I spent all morning looking through the D4 and D5's manuals and there is no reference to it at all.

I don't think it existed for the D4 either, and this is because of what I found: https://www.illinoistollway.com/docu...9-5a9a0cd376bb

That list is current!

Not at all. I probably did a bad job reading if anything! Yes, I still have that smell too. I leave the garage door partially open, and have made a make shift metal grate 'barrier' (think mini fence) to prevent animals from coming inside. The side effect is it keeps the garage cooler in the summer and that helps with the lithium ion battery longevity. I even have a little tower fan that blows in cool air from the outside. I'm going to stop now because it's starting to make me look super bad/geeky here....

gk1

I am getting old and perhaps you are right and it was on the D3. However I think it would be odd for them to continue using the glass on the lesser A6 up to 2013 and not on the A8? I know you do your diligence but I wouldn't rely on the toll authorities for accurate information the NJ ezpass site doesn't even list any Audi, BMW, MB any many others so I don't take what they say as too accurate.
https://www.ezpassnj.com/en/about/exterior_tags.shtml
Also it would not surprise me in the least to not have that type of standard or optional glass listed in the owner's manual.
Perhaps if you retrieve the full label codes off of the windshield we can decode them?

angrypengu

Perhaps! I did see the link you posted by EZPass earlier this morning but I disregarded it because it is not a current list. The link I used had several vehicles up to MY18 (for the S class IIRC), so I treated it with some authority.

The windshields that you and I are discussing can be easily discerned in real life as there's a tinge of green or whatnot to it. (infrared reflecting glass). If you ever pull alongside an S class without tinted windows, you'll see that they look green (all the glass on the S is infrared reflecting). That is what causes toll transponders and such to not work. There is a 'cutout' where transponders should go and for that portion you'll see that the glass isn't green, but 100% clear.

That's why I believe we don't have these types of glass on the A8 because they look optically clear to me, without any tinge of any colour. I have long since taken manuals with a pound of salt as Audi is terrible with documentation, but it appears to me that Audi has stopped using this type of glass since 2013 for all models.

Your idea about decoding a windshield's label is sound, but I don't know how to do just that!

gk1

?Huh, I just posted the ezpass link now, not this morning? Anyway, I'm sure it is inaccurate and outdated and I'm sure the one you have is more accurate, just maybe not 100% accurate.
Yeah, I'm aware of the green or redish tint on the MB, but as I recall the Audi was unique as it still managed the solar reflective ability without the green tint. It was one of the few MB fumbles. (How did Audi do it without the green tint?) That I don't know.
I had a 2008 A6 that had no green tint which according to that site it should have.