Jeff Z

I know a lot of you wash your car by hand, but I am too old and too cold to do that anymore. I took my new (300 miles) S4 to a good automatic carwash, which has workers with sponges on their hands doing the washing. No brushes. I thought my car was safe - I always have used this wash with all my other cars and they look great. BUT - one trip through, and the LF wheel was scratched by the wheel rail. I do not think this is the fault of the carwash. I think this is a design defect by Audi. It is impossible to drive an S4 through an automatic carwash without damaging the wheels. I am going to take this up with my dealer and Audi customer service. The wheels should be replaced, in my opinion (fat chance). I am sure I am not alone with this problem. If anyone else has a good solution, please post it!! Thanks. Jeff

Rob

I don't think the problem lies with the wheel so much as the tire. Understand that 17" wheels and low pro tires are more susceptible to damage than your average wheel/tire setup. Check to make sure that the tire has a wheel protector built into the sidewall. This will help considerably in protecting your wheel from curb impacts. If not, then the problem lies in your tires and not with Audi's wheel design.

Rob

Eric

The dealer has a nice brochure in case you did'nt read your manual that tells you NOT TO DO THAT

ChuckH

...I can tell you that the 16" wheels on the A4 are also vulnerable, despite having the tire stick out farther than the rim. Car washes are not a good idea if you have nice wheels. It is a demand by the consumer to have the wider and low profile tires on larger wheels, and not a design flaw by Audi. Can you imagine if the S4 had FORD Taurus tires and wheels on it? Great in car wahs, but...you get the idea! Sorry to hear you learned your lesson the hard way! :-(

Charles

mrw

and have never had a prob. Taken my old A4 and both S4s through it, but only this one particular autowash.

Its a unit made by Superior Car Wash systems. It has only one rail, left side. The top and inside, wheel side, is a pinkish Plastic. The only metal that could contact the wheel is on the inside, under the car. I've taken my current S4 through this autowash about 12 times so far with the Stock wheels and now my 17" MM Spiders and have had No damage yet. Maybe you can find a similar autowash in your area.

Jeff Z

thanks for the tip!

beerguy

The local brushless, top of the line car wash in my area has never caused a problem with my A6 or BMW 325iX (which was replaced by the S4). I washed the S4 and noticed a couple of marks right through the clearcoat and silver paint. Needless to say, I haven't been back. Caveat Emptor - Let the buyer beware. Although I'm not happy, I don't really feel I can hold the car wash liable or Audi. I guess I'll have to have the tire removed from the rim and take the rim to a good body shop. It does suck, however.

beerguy

The stock Bridgestones must not have them.

Andy Hedin

Look at the middle set of pictures that illustrates a "rim protector"<ul><li><a href="http://www.audizone.com/info/sp8k/sp8kdiff.htm">AudiZone -- Rim Protector Illustration</a></li></ul>

Scott W

I only take my car through a "high-end" wash & have NEVER had a problem (&gt;20x)