Standard-or an option?
 

I'd be grateful if someone more knowledgable than me could advise.

Just got a Nov 1999 S8 Auto-Facelift type.

1. It's not got the gearchange buttons on the steering wheel. I thought they all had that!

2. If it says 'Bose' on the rear parcel shelf speakers, does that mean the whole Bose thing is installed?

3. It has the 'solar' roof. Is that a big deal as it looks pointless to me. )I thought the roof would be see through!

4. It has the xenon lights. Is this an option?

5. It has the flick up rear blind and the pull up side ones. Optional or std?

6. The wheels are non standard! They are off (according to the vendor) the D3 car. A8 model. 12 spoke -quite nice. any issues here?

Thanks!

Simon

1. I'm not sure about that but my 96,97 A8 4.2s don't have steering wheel buttons, it may have been the later years.

2. Yes, another way of knowing if Bose is installed is by seeing if you have the amp, its underneath the CD changer.

3. The solar sunroof was quite a cool option (pun not intended), it keeps the aircon running on sunny days and uses the solar panel for energy so when you do get into the car you don't roast.

4. I think they were standard on S8s however I cannot be certain.

5. Was an option.

6. As long as if they are replicas they are of good quality and have a good set of rubber wrapped around them.

+++

1 - Multi function wheel was an option I think.

2 - I thought it said Bose on all speakers, but I might be wrong. As Singh says, check for the amp.

4 - Usually standard on S8.

The rest as Singh said.

1) - Yes, it should have tiptronic buttons on the steering wheel, or an optional multfunction steering wheel. Maybe post us a photo of what you actually have ? There were two types of tiptronic wheel:

http://images.a8parts.co.uk/parts/816.jpg

The style above with raised buttons (looks a bit afterthought!) was fitted to late prefacelift S8's, and on facelift upto around end 1999.

http://images.a8parts.co.uk/parts/801.jpg

The later style above from 2000 onwards was smoother, with the buttons styled nicely into the steering wheel. All facelift S8's and sport models had a tiptronic shift on the steering wheel in the UK, unless they upgraded to mulitfunction instead. Later, around 2001, a tiptronic & multifunction wheel was available so you no longer had to choose one or the other:

.... also available with optional heating:

http://images.a8parts.co.uk/parts/728.jpg

2) - Yes, Bose only had the inscription on the rear parcel shelf, no where else. So, its pretty certain you have Bose. There will thus be an amplifier underneath where your CD changer is located in the boot, in the opposite space to where the battery sits. It was an option, and a good one to have.

3) Strictly speaking, the solar roof runs the blower motor, not the A/C as there is no drive to the A/C compressor. The hotter and sunnier the day, tha faster the fans will spin inside the car to refresh and cool the air. It is quoted to drop the interior temperature by 10 degrees C, and it does work well. Its a useful option to have, especially for those with dark coloured all leather interiors. It's also kind of 'cool' to have solar panels on the roof... Nice talking point with the mates. It does not, under any circumstances charge the battery, which is claimed in so many for sale ads.... :rolleyes:

4) Xenon lights were always standard on the S8 (when available, they didnt appear until late 1998, so only the last pre face cars got them from factory). Xenon plus however was an option. The standard xenons are excellent, but still rely on a regular bulb for 'main beam' where the xenon plus will physically move the headlight beam up into the 'main position' instead of igniting a second bulb. It does however have a seperate normal bulb for flashing, as if you try and flash a xenon bulb during the day when the bulbs aren't ignited, its not going to work out too well...

Xenon light:

http://images.a8parts.co.uk/parts/215.jpg

Xenon plus light:

http://images.a8parts.co.uk/parts/247.jpg

5) Blinds were optional, but can be retrofitted by us easily enough.

6) The D3 might have had a slightly different offset to the D2 - I'll let one of the other guys answer the implications as wheels are outside, and I'm the interior guy :D

Hope that was helpful.

Ian

Thanks. Very helpful as were the other replies.:)

The steering wheel has a bunch of buttons left and right of the boss. Mainly radio functions.

The very centre of the wheel (about 5" diameter) is surrounded by what looks like speaker mesh.

This speaker mesh 'ring' is about 1/2" wide.

I'll have a closer look when I get it home.

Can you do that upgrade for the xenon plus kit? Is it worth doing?

S

Edit to add: Re the lights. When I switch them on, you can see the beam actually rising up as they come on. What is going on here?

You have the Multifunction steering wheel then. Its not a bad thing to have. You can change tracks on the CD, move radio stations, and adjust the volume. You also have an R/T button to switch between Radio and Telephone. If you switch to telephone, you can then use the up and down buttons to scroll through your phone book (in the Nokia) on the DIS (Trip computer). It was bleeding edge 10 years ago....

We've not done it before, and we have no xenon plus in at the moment. Our last pair just went to the USA last week. It is probably do-able, but might require some significant wiring work because of the 'flash' situation and the xenon plus having an extra bulb effectively. I'm not really convinced its worth it, as the regular xenons do a very good as it is. Try it for a while first.

S


Thats perfectly normal. The xenon headlights are 'autolevelling' - You'll notice you no longer have a manual levelling button on the dash to the right below the steering wheel.

Instead, there are two sensors, one at the front suspension, and one at the rear suspension to work out how level the car is, and it adjusts the headlights in real time to stop you blinding people. The motion of it flicking up at start up is normal, and it will continue to move up and down the whole journey... +++

Re lights.

Feck! That's clever!+++

Yup, Xenons always amuse me... Its the only option you pay for, than creates a blanking plate on the dashboard... :p

Re Lights...
 

Well that's news, my S8 isn't bog standard after all, it's got the xenon plus lights!