vic c

Hello everyone I recently purchased a 2011 a8L. After a hard rain I found water leaking into the vehicle from the drivers side headliner near the vanity mirror. I've been trying to research the problem to correct it. Any info is greatly appreciated I'm not sure if the leak is from the sunroof or the windshield. Has anyone had this problem before or know of a remidy. Thanks in advance.

derfA8L

From prior posts on this topic, it may well be the windshield seal going bad. That would be my guess.

A8denver

Also a possibility is a clogged sunroof drain? common on many other vehicles.

stanigu

Had the same issue on BMW 740iL some years back. Turned out to be sunroof drain. Good test would be to plug it up on the driver's side with a duct tape and see if it stops. Since my bimmer was quite old by that time, I left the tape there and had the passenger's side pull double duty and it's been fine to the date I traded it in.

vic c

Thanks for the info it is greatly appreciated.

cdwatnsu

I have the same issue on my 2011. I noticed towards the middle of the glass of the moonroof, when closed, it doesn’t sit flush with the roof. Kind of like the moonroof motor doesn’t close it all the way, and I can’t find tune. My clock fogged up on the last rain because it drips right down the rear view mirror t 5e middle of the console.

cdwatnsu

Excuse my typos....darn iPad! I meant to say I have a similar issue.

readheads

Here's what I know and remember, pretty much all sunroofs have a drain setup because perfect seals over all conditions are not realistic. I had a Honda Civic waaaayyyy back that had clogged sunroof drains (in hindsight) which would occasionally allow a waterfall on my back when I went into reverse out of my driveway at 7 AM on the way to work. NOT FUN ! One day (before internet) I decided I would just tear it apart until I found the source. It consisted of tearing out the interior head liners (+other stuff) to expose the drain lines which went from the sunroof trough to the back of the car and down to the car bottom. It was mucked up with leaves and stuff which caused a clog. Also, years later with my 2006 A6 MMI went on the blink and it turned out that the front cowel drains clogged up allowing an overfill condition which put water into the car under the floor rug (where the circuit board was) and shorted out the board. Both were caused by parking my car under the same damn tree in Northeast New Jersey weather where the combo of leaves and cold weather combined to muck up the drains. My garage is packed with my wife's giveaways which never seem to leave.

Bottomline: sunroofs need a place to drain, track that down and you will find the smoking gun, unless for some reason the sunroof is not closing all the way and for that I would look for a switch which gets engaged upon closure, it may be out of adjustment. Not sure where that is but a good manual should show you.

Edit: I attached 78 pages from the A8 manual on sunroofs. I downloaded the full suite for $29 last month and it has helped me figure out how to add USB outlets into my armrest storage compartment as well as mirror my Note5 to the MMI. My quick look shows you can do some searches in the pdf (Ctl-F) and you can find some relevant help. If you need any other help let me know (I am in NJ). I know I will need some someday also. Regards, Tom

BTW, does anyone know where a good site which lays out some of this stuff. I am a new owner of A8 (5 years on previous A6) and I would think there would be more of these solutions around, but I may be mistaken. WDYT ?

Also, I bought my 2011 A8L used and the dealer who maintained it told me the windshield had been replaced in the past but they couldn't tell why. It could be that also. As you might expect that would not be trivial.

vic c

I don't know if you still have the water issue but what i did with mine was reseal the sun roof. I noticed it didn't sit flush in the center front section like you said. So i cleaned the glass and applied a glass sealer clamped the seal in place for a couple hours and i haven't had a problem since.

MP4.2+6.0

Thread has been around for a while now, but two issues being mushed together: the sunroof drains issue that has been around for Audis going back at least 20 years, and then the windshield issue specific to the D4 A8.

I suggest the OP or other posters with concerns test the windshield. Easy. Put towel on dash below inside mirror for protection for starters. Take hose and spray water stream at top center area of windshield. If it leaks inside, there is your issue. Try not to spray water all over roof (sunroof) area. If it leaks and under warranty, head to Audi. Otherwise, head to your windshield shop.

Also search on forum--already posted several times with specificity.