Can you use the digital controls without power?
 

Curious. I expect to get the most out of my new q8 I'm going to want to sit there and go thru all the menus for hours. When I look at some videos they say to turn on the car and start going thru the MMI screens. Is there a way like pre push a button start cars where you can "turn the key a small bit" and the power will turn on but not the physical car? Seems a waste to be running the car for hours while I get acclimated with the car.

Thanks.

JR

You can turn on the auxiliary power by pushing the Start button without your foot on the brake, but it drains your battery. Depending on how much power drains, and how long you have the Aux power on, you may find yourself with a dead battery. Most dealerships use a trickle charger to keep their demo models powered up, and it's not a bad idea to use one at home for most of the modern, power-hungry systems in cars these days, and just top off your battery every few weeks, but you could use one to keep the system powered up while using MMI.

Thanks for the info. Good advice. I have a battery charger that can do trickle charging so will probably use that if the battery is accessible. Never checked that.

Thanks.

JR

Use the jumper contact points under the hood (upper left) to hook up your charger.

OK cool, will probably become clear when I have the car. Is the q8 like the q7 and the actual battery is under the driver seat?

Thanks.

JR

Boot

This. You don't need to hook up a trickle charger to the physical battery - just use the charge points under the hood.