Hi Audi fanatics!

I am hoping to get some well-informed advice from fellow A8 D3 owners here. I am based in Australia. I have decided I am going to take the plunge and purchase a D3 A8. I have come across an A8L 4.2 litre V8 petrol/gas (my preference being the LWB and 4.2 litre engine) in pearl green with beige interior. It is neat as a pin. I have done some further reading on these. Firstly, it goes without saying, that the most important consideration is service history and books - both of which the car comes with. It has done 110,000km (70,000 miles) and has been well loved.

A couple of questions:

1) I could not find any documents that suggest the timing belt has been done. I got a surprisingly reasonable quote from my local independent Audi mechanic for parts and labour to change it. If I cannot find documentation to substantiate it having been changed, I will err on the side of caution and get it done (plus the water pump, which I read is a good idea to change as it is easy to access during the timing belt changeover) simply because I am fairly risk averse and do not want to face a catastrophe such as the timing belt snapping and coming off. Being a 2006, it still has a timing belt and not the timing chain.

2) On this topic, I understand that 2007 and up swapped over to a timing chain. Again, having done a lot of reading over the weekend, it seems to be 50/50 insofar as well informed views on both camps as to which is better. Some people prefer the belt, others the chain. What are some of your thoughts on this? Is it worth trying to find a 2007 for this?

3) Also on the topic of a 2007, I understand the second generation active radar cruise control was available from MY07 and upwards. Is it significantly better than the first generation? [There is active radar in the 2006: I confirmed this by checking the front grille that shows the little square at the bottom.]

4) Continuing on with the less important considerations, the power closing trunk is a bit 'sticky'. When I pushed the button, it whined and didn't move. When I gave it a gentle tug and pushed it a second time, it closed. Likewise for opening: it needed a gentle tug. Can anyone offer me any pearls of wisdom as to what the issue might be? I did read the motors can play up and that the later models had a stronger power trunk closing motor, but that it is expensive and time consuming to retrofit to a pre-facelift model. What is the likely issue with the motor and is it better to replace the motor or have it repaired?

5) I would like to see about retrofitting a heated steering wheel, the caveat being that it is not a complicated swap over. I have found multiple genuine Audi heated steering wheels in the correct colour for the beige interior. What other parts do I need to do this and can anyone give me the part numbers? I assume it will also need a connection point to draw power from the car to heat the steering wheel (I think I read a "steering clock") but I am unsure what other parts may be needed. Also, is this steering wheel and parts likely to need "coding in" at an Audi dealership? Given I am in Australia, if the parts come from the US or Europe, is there likely to be an issue with compatibility or coding? We drive on the left/have right hand drive cars in this part of the world.

6) The seat ventilation was absolutely useless on the seats (compared to my previous Lexus LS460 2010). Is there anything that can be done to improve the power and speed of the cooling?

Thanks everyone!

Justin.

 

At 70K miles, and nearly 20 years, I would replace the timing belt if not already done. I also recommend you replace the oil cooler on the right side of the engine. This is a common fail point for coolant leaks. The small internal coupler that connects the cooler to the engine block is a plastic tube that deteriorates from heat over the years. There are third parties selling an aluminum (billet) replacement coupler. Many posts about this on the forum. Once the engine is opened up for the timing belt, it's not much extra effort to get this done, although there is one "impossible bolt" to remove...a good mechanic can do it though.

2007 is when the V8 was changed from a port type intake to FSI (direct injection). FSI engines need to be carbon cleaned periodically, where the port engines do not. Since you have the records, you can see if it has been done. Both engines use chain cam tensioners, if your car is noisy at startup, the noise is likely the tensioners, so you might consider replacing them as well.

Heated steering wheel - I wouldn't bother, too much time/money for whatever benefit it would give you.

Trunk motor - another common fail point. The so-called "H" trunk motor is the one to seek out. It may be hard to find now...I was lucky and found a used one for under $100. Efforts to repair the original trunk motor have been mixed - I'm not aware of anyone who has really fixed it without replacing the motor. It's not a hard job to do - it took me about an hour to swap out my old motor. Again, search and you will find many posts about this.

 

91quattro thank you so much for your advice here. The same car is still up for sale, but it’s been dramatically reduced price wise so I’m going to give it some more serious thought.

I was wondering if you had any pearls of wisdom for me around the ventilated/cooled seats. Granted it was a 40 degree day in early January when I test drove it (and perhaps not the best day to accurately judge their usefulness) but it didn’t seem to do very much beyond blowing some slightly cool air up my backside. However, I am using my previous Lexus LS430 cooled seats which were refrigerated and AMAZING. Are there any ways the cooling can be improved/boosted? I know in some makes/models, the fans can be upgraded to improve them (to a certain extent).

Thanks,
Justin

 

The seats are ventilated, not cooled. They blow cabin temperature air through the seat surface perforations.

They do work to stop you getting a sweaty back/***, which is the point. Cooled seats, whilst more noticeable, don’t seem to actually perform that function any better in my experience, so not something I’d get hung up on as a must-have when evaluating ventilated vs cooled seats.

 

dvs_dave thanks for this information mate. It is very helpful indeed.

So, being relative to the set cabin temperature, if I have the air conditioning on the lowest temperature possible and the fan speed up to maximum (which is how I normally have it, I tend to get very hot driving!) the air will be noticeably cool/cold as opposed to maybe tepid/lukecool if I had the AC set on 23/24 degrees celsius?

That makes sense, I think. They are lovely seat cooling, it’s definitely a big tick for me. As I said, it was 40 degrees Celsius the day I test drove the car in January and the A/C needed regassing. It was cooler to have the windows open, so it was probably not the best day to accurately judge the usefulness of the cooled seats. If the refrigerant in the AC was low and it was therefore blowing tepid air, it would reflect in the seat ventilation.

Am I on the right track? :-)

 

The seats take their air from cabin, rather than being fed directly by the AC, or having some other method of cooling.

So if it’s 22C in the car, they will blow 22C air.

 

First, welcome from another Aussie D3 owner.

Notes I would have about the timing belt would included changing the front engine torque mount if it is torn, and doing the rocker cover gaskets, the thermostat (I would buy a good aftermarket one, as the audi one I had installed failed and stuck open so I had to change it again with the belt in place - **** time)
The thermostat lives behind the timing belt in these. I would also get them to check the upper control arms as they will need changing out every 3-4 years on our roads. (Lower control arms every 10yrs) And also check the intake manifold arms as they are usually broken. The metal ones have been going for about 14 years in my car no issues.

Get a VCDS scan tool for the car. You WILL need it. As for the steering wheel heat, if the car has a 4 spoke wheel, likely it will just need to be coded in. It will depend on the version of the aircon unit as early ones do not have a switch and only heat up if the seat heater is on and the ambient temp is below 5 deg C.

I have imported many many parts from all over the world as none exist here really due to the prohibitive price the cars were when new. You can code in stuff no issues provided it isn't component protected.

 

I will have to change the timing belt and the camshaft tensioners/chains on my 2006 A8 3.7 Quattro so I am also considering to install the oil cooler and this small internal coupler that connects the oil cooler to the engine. Does the coupler for the 4.2 engine fit the 2006 3.7 engine, both are V8? This is the aluminum piece I found on the German ebay which can have it shipped fast and for free to my country (Croatia, EU), would that be a good solution for the small oil leak on this cooler?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/204270738428...Bk9SR_6htZnOZQ

Does the thermostat come in the timing belt kits that are usually sold by INA, Continental, SNR, and other brands, or does it have to be bought separately? Is there a particualr brand you could recommend, please? I guess you could provide some more info since you import the stuff, because some mechanics are telling me that Continental has lower quality parts lately, that it is not as it used to be beofre.

I need to do the timing belt, pulleys + water pump change in three months, am looking to change the camshaft tensioners and chains with gaskets, and the oil coooler + install the aluminum internal coupler. Any idea what else would be good to change besides the thermostat on the 3.7 2006 engine?

My 2006 Audi A8 3.7 has slightly more than 500 000 km and the last timing belt change was done at 420 tkm five and a half years ago. Runs like a charm, I boought it one year ago and would love it to continue to run fine as much as it can.