Mike's Aussie D3 A8
 

Hello All,

I'm very proud of my A8 as it is such a rare and (still) expensive car down here.

It is a 4.2 Quattro Sport SWB.

In Australia everything was optional. Individually, not packaged. So it took me 6 months of waiting until a car the right spec came up.

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psa70dae71.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...pscab32257.jpg


It has:

Sports Air Suspension,
20" RS6 Wheels,
Solar Sunroof
AFS2
Power trunk,
Double Glazing
Audi Tinting
Heated mirrors, windscreen, washers, locks etc.
Exterior light package

Sports steering wheel + shift paddles,
Sports seats in Indigo Leather
Heated seats,
4 zone climate,
TV
AMI
Bluetooth phone,
Interior lights package
Fingerprint start
SDS - full
power blind
BOSE



I have added:
Auto Lights and wipers,
Bluetooth upgrade,
Bluetooth music streaming
New gears for MMI screen, cupholder lid, ashtray
A small relay that allows the boot to be opened and closed by both the remote and the door button.

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...pscizbrwh1.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psllv8j3c3.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps6zsks4mo.jpg


Mike

G'day ya flamin' Gallah.

Very nicely specced pre facelift D3 you have there, what colour is that?

Whereabouts are you in Australia? I have family in the Gold Coast, and elsewhere dotted around Oz.

All the best.

John.

Welcome to the forum Mike, lovely looking car you have there, really liking those wheels +++

Welcome
 

Hello, I mirror Ron's comments great looking car and looks like it's been well looked after.

Be sure to have a look at the tech dump thread in d3 common faults for just about any manual you might need.

Lovely motor! I do love a pre-facelift +++

Thanks for the comments guys,

The colour is Northern Blue Pearl. It is a brilliant colour, and looks $1 million.

A8's here are still quite expensive to buy, so most have a max of 50-60,000 miles and are in excellent condition.

There are a few little things I have noticed, Aus spec cars very very rarely come with the extended aluminium package, heated seats, and pre facelift cars did not get automatic lights or wipers.

Extended leather here is also very rare and never on the dash top. I have never seen a local car with alcantara headlining either.

However, all local cars get kessey and xenon lights.

I plan to fit:

ACC with wide display,
Extended alum pack (already have the light switch and park brake switch)
Reverse camera.
I may also look into the digital tv module.

If anyone needs help with the $10 relay to make the boot close by remote, let me know. One of the best mods for bang for buck value.

Mike

Welcome Mike +++

welcome! lovely clean looking car +++

Welcome.

We're quite aware of the rarity of the A8 down under. We've seen some 'interesting' parts requests over the years to patch them up and keep them going as they are so expensive to import in the first place.....

We see extended leather from time to time, but leather dash is very very rare over here too. Lots in Germany, but left hand drive... :(

Alcantara roof we see also, but many people don't realise they have it, so its not on adverts and rarely photographed.

If you do need any parts, the forum sponsors are quite used to shipping 'anything anywhere' so drop them a line if you need anything +++

Welcome from me too. I guess from your plate that its Queensland your in? Pity you are not in Perth as I am here on hols at the mo'. I went to the Audi showroom last year and they practically fell over me when I said I was an S8 owner and was disappointed that they were not stocking S8's. Didnt mention that mine was 12 years old.:p

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...pstarwneob.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps54vn8gxj.jpg

Some Pics for fun.

I have also updated the boot motor

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psgsqpefxj.jpg

And had some of the interior redone in brushed aluminium texture. The early D3 cars got a dark grey strip instead of the newer ones more bright version. So I had them wrapped. It looks and feels like the real deal.

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psu9miphcq.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psof8isomr.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psluvoeo4g.jpg

The aluminium strips are wrapped, that's an awesome job if it is.

Yes they are wrapped. I wasn't keen on buying the parts.

3M make a wrap that looks and feels like brushed alum. It reflects in the sun the same, and it looks much nicer than the dark grey plastic.

Mike

Update,

I have ordered a new Central Electronic Module to get the wipers and lights working properly, but I have the light only sensor just to make sure it can work if not.

I also ordered the Extended Aluminium Package parts. Oddly, it wasn't available in this country except for special orders. Apparently its a "Hot Country" thing.

Otherwise I bought another car so the A8 remains garaged until It is a good and nice day with a long comfy drive required.

Mike

Bugger!

I sent the car in for a service, and it came back with a list.

New lower control arms,
new inner and outer tie rod ends
new timing belt, all pullies, and drive belts.
new water pump and coolant flush,
new rocker cover gaskets,
spark plug service
new rear brake discs and pads
new inner cv boot.
New battery.

This is an expensive list at around 2800 GBP.

Bugger.

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psbxag6vho.jpg

Timing belts last more than the 56,000 miles the interval is here, but the water pump usually gives out. As well as the tensioner.

List of things done includes:

New brake discs and pads all round
New brake fluid and calibrations
new timing belt
new tensioners
new drive belts
new pulleys all round
new water pump
new plugs
new gaskets
new oil, air, fuel, cabin pollen and charcoal filters
new compressor seals for aircon
aircon regas
new coolant (with flush)
new power steering fluid and pump gaskets
new cv boots.
recalibrated the headlight range control ECU.
intake has been cleaned also with the variable manifold flaps.

It drives lovely now and is even smoother! It also will be fine for a long long time. As well it should for the equivalent of 2,300GBP.

:respekt: Some job list that, she'll be great for years to come because of it.

BIG investment is that!

Oooof! Well done mate!+++

It always looks "a bit severe" with the front off but that list is mostly all good maintenance stuff that we should all be doing (hopefully gradually looking at that cost) but I bet you're still smiling driving it now it's driving even nicer! :D

Yeah, it was a bit interesting seeing the car with all that removed.

I wish I could get parts locally for what you guys pay and as easily.

I'm thinking that I will attempt the ACC retrofit at some stage since I will be keeping the car long term.

I'd be crying at that price :-(

I do like seeing any car with half its guts hanging out +++ top pics, at least now this has been done you'll see a lot more life out the old girl yet :D as previously mentioned it's good preventative Maintanance and what most us guys should be doing, I'm a keen believer in preventative maintenance but I'm also not loaded so some stuff I'll do regardless and some waits till it needs to be done :ROFL:

Cant you source the parts here UK or Germany and import to where you live?

I do, usually shipping kills!

Anyway, I have decided that the factory reverse camera is too hard. Pricing parts and having that rear bracket painted will be non-cost effective.

Since my car has the non display reverse sensor thing, I have sourced a cheap camera, which mounts to the number plate lamp, and an MMI graphic interface module.

This module sits between the MMI HU and the screen, and sends the camera image to the screen when reverse is selected. It is plug and play apart from installing the camera wire.

http://jku.com.au/media/catalog/prod...s/dsc_4936.jpg

Mike

Few pics.

The car has had a proper paint detail.

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psx0buirek.jpg

I had to do the park lamps so used non-led but blue lensed bulbs to get a white/blue light


http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...pshi4rziw5.jpg

Because Australia has heavy UV, the hardcoat on all headlights fail after 10 years. So a quick refinish and coating replacement;

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...pspumzpeb8.jpg

And finally, a mate came to stay with his A8. They are rare here so it was good to do a comparison.

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/p...psbpydqqyi.jpg

Mike

Very nice 8s cooking in the late sun.

What materials do you use to get the headlamps looking new again , they look great

I used a Turtlewax Headlight Restore and Sealant with a Rotary Orbital detailing polisher.

I then used a wax and resin sealant.

Mike

Cheers for that

I use this:-


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3M-Headlig...item28029bc1f4

Cheers Ray , does it do a good job , my headlamps have gone a bit yellow and get that like 'crazed' look to them , need a bit of tlc

I can add a small indirect recommendation for that kit.

My other car is a Ford Focus which has very large plastic front headlight covers a long way from the bulb and reflector, very susceptible to surface damage and yellowing.
I know a fair few people who use that exact kit to "refurbish" the front faces quite successfully.
(I didn't, just replaced the whole shell of the unit for other reasons)

That said, Audi headlight plastics may be different.....

Hi Lee,
Staying in Wigan area today, kids back at school and I've no need to cover Haydock and St Helens. Though I did do a few trips over the holiday period.

The headlight kit worked really well on my 8. She's a 2004 so plenty of sun damage. Of course I was rather scared at first but I now want to do it again to clear the little bits that I missed first time.
I do not think it will help with the taillights because they seem to be cracked rather than just "yellowed".

Those headlight restoration kits are temporary solution only. I have used similar on A6 and it needs re-doing at least once a year. The plastic is coated with UV protective coating from factory. Ideally you would like to re-coat it with UV protective polyurethane coating similar to OEM once you rub it down something like or at least with UV clear-coat lacquer. Somethiong like this http://www.semproducts.com/refinish-...m-uv-clearcoat Without this UV rays get in the plastic and damage plastic itself.

Wax or resin from the restoration kits offer some protection from UV but it does not last for years.

+1.

Exactly what I was thinking, but written in a more eloquently and informed way than I could possibly write. +++

Well,

I have ordered a factory looking reverse camera and an MMI interface module that should cut the feed to the screen from the control head and send the camera footage there when reverse is selected.

It's not as integrated as the OEM solution, but since I don't have the graphical display for the PDC, I won't have lost anything.

The module was relatively cheap, and the camera will require no drilling and will use an existing screw.

Total cost will be 108GBP.

Can anyone tell me where the control head for the MMI lives?

Mike

mike,

not sure how the car registration works over there, maybe the car reg changes with ownership, but this looks remarkably like your car. its an aussie car put up on one of the forums about 5 years ago if i remember correctly

Attachment 12464

Behind the glove box

+++

Haha. That is my car. That was probably uploaded by the previous owner.

It has changed somewhat since then however. Much more tech upgrades and some additional trim.

Mike

Ahh brilliant!

Cause I will have to install the interface module there. Happily, all the wiring I require is also there so this is a decent win.

Mike