That sounds a good deal and with the recommend from johnny_quattro it seems you have a sound plan.+++

Update
 

Just in case this has any bearing on my visit to DSautowerks next week; the Gearbox Funk happened again yesterday evening with the PRNDS lights flashing and then which gear was being selected disappearing altogether however, in addition to the harsh changes the gearbox will not change out of, what feels like, 1st gear! After 2/3 stops/re-starts it calmed down and is OK this morning.

I am not sure that I had been clear before regarding not changing gear!

Thnaks.

Neil

In limp mode I think it's usually in 2nd or 3rd. I wait to be corrected.

3rd +++

Mine was temperature related. The first movement of the day resulted in limp mode so I'd leave her running for a few minutes then switch off and on again and she was fine for the rest of the day. I think the exhaust warms the switch up and then the contacts work well enough not to cause problems for the rest of the day.

This is all consistent and "normal" as MJ suggests.

Has you read any codes yet with VCDS or are you relying on the garage to do that before starting work?

Limp Mode
 

Possibly not Limp Mode then as it did feel like 1st, revs around 3K at crawling speed (something I haven't experienced before so scarily noisy!)

I can definitely recommend David at DS Autoworks. Crawley
Adrian E introduced me to David last year.
Since then David has sorted everything that needed sorting on my new 2002 D2 S8 FE
He is very knowledgeable about our cars, as he has one himself.
Very pleasant to deal with and competitively priced.
Highly recommended :D+++:D

Yep, posted a thread in recommended suppliers - David did the rear view camera retrofit on my Golf recently :)

On the gearbox fault I'm unfortunately not convinced it's going to be just the f125, but hopefullly that is all it is. I don't recall my gear indicator flashing when I had the fault, and usually when it occurred it did do the usual 'jam it in 3rd and refuse to change' limp mode. I do recall it once refusing to shift out of 1st I think

Has it had an oil and filter change on the box, as that's the next step depending what David finds when he scans it? The extra labour probably isn't that significant assuming access to do the f125 involves dropping the box a touch?

Barzya8's FE turned out to have a split gearbox filter which was throwing fault codes (correct me if I've remembered that wrong David!)

A8 ownership is a bit of an emotional roller-coaster it seems!:Confused:

You are correct Adrian.
When David did my gearbox service he found the filter to have a 6 inch split in it. He was amazed that the gearbox worked at all.
The added benefit was that the old split filter had a date on it of 2013, which meant the box had been service back then as well, despite there being no record of such a gearbox service.
David also found that some of the bolts were loose which was also causing an oil leak.
This would suggest my box has had 3 oil and filter services during its 94K mile history. Happy Days
Now all sorted with no leaks.
The gearbox now operates very smoothly as it should.:D