Aura

I have a brand new 2019 A5 Technik that I picked up a few months ago. I've put 6,000+ km (3,700+ miles) so far.

In the myAudi app, the oil level is down by two bars. Is this normal? Looking under the hood, I don't see any obvious signs of oil leakage, although I would imagine it would not be obvious from just a top-down view.

Additionally, when I park the car, something from behind the engine (transmission?) area starts to leak right away. The liquid is colorless, odorless, and is of low viscosity, so I assume it's water and doesn't appear to be oil.

The car is driven in the city 80%+ of the time.

Nikon1

Do you live in a warm, humid climate? If so, it could be water / condensation from your car’s AC system. Just prior to my 1 year (5,000 miles) free oil change, the MMI showed 2 bars low but my (optional) dipstick showed no loss of oil.

I would not worry about the 2 bars in your MMI but if the liquid dripping g from your car isn’t water, take it back to your dealer for their diagnosis.

Welcome to AudiWorld.

— John

heisnuts

That definitely looks like water from the A/C condensation drain line, which is completely normal.. If it evaporates within the day, that will confirm it.

Especially on a new engine the 2 bars on the oil is completely normal too. Mine did the same thing, but I am not as cool as John to have an actual dipstick to check the actual level. Even though I have had the urge to get one, I keep telling myself I should rely on the technology to monitor things these days. Also keep in mind that this engine has over 7 quarts of oil in it and the 2 bars you are seeing is only a small fraction of a quart of oil. The min mark on you display equates to about 1 quart low of the 7+ quarts in the oil pan. My dealer is really good about letting me have the extra half quart after changing the oil so that my OCD can be soothed by adding a little oil as it starts to drop. My last 10,000 mile interval used just the half of quart I had.

paradyne

My S5 needed one top up of 0.5 litres before the first service at 18k miles. It dropped faster before 5k miles which would be when the new engine is just breaking in. So don't worry yet, just top it up if it gets near to the minimum and see how you go over the next 20 or 30k miles.

The other thing will just be water draining from the aircon condenser. Perfectly normal as the others said.

Aura

Thanks for the input everyone. @Nikon1, yes, it's been hotter than hell here for the past few weeks and humidity is extremely high right now. I'm certain now that it's water from AC.

I'll ask the dealer how much oil they had to add when I go in for the first oil change.

adg44

It's normal for a new engine to go through some oil. If it bothers you, add 1/4 a quart of 5w30 that meets the VW 504 spec and call it a day. No need to worry. It's better to have less oil than too much oil because of the additional pressure.