Hi Niall good to hear from you and sorry to hear the 8 has gone 
I had a B8 A4 for the last 3 years as a work horse and put 75000 miles on it - although mine was a 2.0T rather than a diesel. Most of my issues were around clutch /gears and manifold, but the manifold was specific to the 2.0T I think
If you go for the manual gearbox its a corker but just check the clutch and operation of first gear when cold to make sure theres no difficulty getting first gear and reverse. Also check for windscreen leaks at the top near the mirror (sometimes you can see where water has leaked down inside when you huff on the inner glass)
Personally I would go for a manual gearbox or s-tronic and stay a mile away from a multi-tronic variable transmission, they sound awful and drive awful in my opinion.
Check all electrics as they are fairly solid mechanically and their weakness tends to be internal cabin electrics and radio etc etc
Here's a buyers guide from Which magazine in a sec - hope it helps 
Which Magazine AUDI A4 B8 Buyers Guide
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Confidence is the feeling you have before you know better . . . . 
Audi A8 D2 3.7 Quattro Sport 1999 FL - Melange
2nd Place Winner - A8-Freunde Annual German Meet 2012 at Edersee
20" x 9" Bentley GTC Wheels with 385mm W12 Front Discs & Bentley Caliper Covers, Front Lowered on Coilovers, Xenons, Combined DRLs and LED Foglights to modified OEM front fog lamp position, Alcantara/Leather, Full Black Alcantara headlining + pillars and blind shelf, Bespoke Flat Bottomed Sports Steering Wheel, Dark Myrtle Wood, Autodim Mirrors, Bose, Blinds, Digital TV, Ski Hatch, Modified rear exhaust section for extra V8 Burble 
Audi S8 D2 Final Edition 2002, Avus Silver with Red Leather Interior
Tiptronic with Sport mode button, Sony rear entertainment package, Bose sound system, Audi Navigation Plus, 20 inch Final Edition alloys, Full Cat Back Stainless Milltek exhaust, giving a great V8 burble
Audi A8L D2 4.2 Petrol with LPG - Ebony Black
Audi A8L D4 FL 4.0T Petrol twin turbo - Havana Black
Audi A2 1.6 FSi Sport - Dolphin Grey with Votex body kit and Red Leather Interior
and some other A8's A8L's and Mercs
Last edited by Architex_mA8tey; 14th January 2012 at 08:53 PM.
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