New Cabriolet owner! Comments and questions...

[jeff]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum and a new A4 1.8T Cabriolet owner. I've noticed this forum is quite active, as opposed to several others I have been cruising in the US. Perhaps it is because the Cabriolet is still fairly new to the US, or maybe you Brits are just a more passionate bunch (I like this Ari guy )... I have a few questions and would welcome any responses (sorry about the length of the posting).

First, I share the passion of many of the Cab owners I've read here. Previously, I owned a VW Golf Cabriolet for 8 years, a great little car. But the engineering and style of my new A4 Cabriolet are incredible. Not only is it a technical marvel, but it is a thing of beauty to behold. Driving with the top down on a sunny day, with the stereo blasting, is close to paradise ... Well, I'll stop gushing for the moment...

Some questions:

1. Oil changes. I want to keep this car for a long time. Audi recommends an oil change every 10,000 miles. This seems to be a rather long interval to me (although maybe I've been overly influenced by the US oil change industry bombarding us with 3,000-mile change intervals). I have read that the piston rings need to seat effectively and that this is aided by keeping the original oil in up to the first change (at 10,000 miles). Any truth to this? I'm thinking after that I'll change the oil (with synthetic, such as Mobil 1) every 5,000 miles. Now this may seem too often to you, but let me remind you that I live in a near-Arctic climate (temperatures here in January routinely drop to -20 F or -30 C,). Under these conditions (and, yes, I do drive my Cab in winter), the thermal cycling of the oil can severely shorten its life. Minneapolis's climate is comparable to that of Moscow, Russia. Any thoughts (other than why I live in this brutal climate )?

2. To certify the Cab in the US, our beloved government (NHTSA, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) required Audi to seal the sunglass compartment in the center console. I guess flying sunglasses are considered a severe threat to American motorists . I'm wondering if anyone has taken the console apart in their Cab. Maybe I could order a European part and replace mine to make it functional?

3. On the matter of the interior, it is gorgeous, but there are a few buzzes/rattles. Under certain conditions, I get (i) ratlles from the steering column, (ii) ratlles from the radio/console, and (iii) buzzing from the inner A-column liner, especially near the upper right windshield corner. OK, I'm pretty picky, but have others had these issues? Should I ask my dealer to address these? Am I too picky?

4. I am not a big fan of Bose in general (their products in the US are overhyped and overpriced), so I opted for the Audi Symphony II system. The sound is not as large and crisp as I'd like (although it sounds better with the volume turned up). I am toying with the idea of keeping the existing head unit and replacing the speakers with aftermarket units. Does this make sense? Has anyone had experience with aftermarket speaker replacement?

5. Finally, I am curious about chipping (replacing the original ECU with an aftermarket chip), which seems to be big here with Audi enthusiasts. In the US, we only have the choice of the 1.8T or the 3.0 V6 (and both only with the multitronic CVT transmission). I opted for the 1.8T and am very pleased. It has tremendous torque and is quite economical (I get better gas mileage than my prior Golf Cabrio). However, the allure of about 30 more horsepower and more torque is tempting . Any ideas or recommendations from this crowd? (To be realistic, I probably won't do this out of concerns of voiding my warranty, but in 4 years... )

Well, gotta go... My wife thinks I'm obsessed .

[s4dreamer]

Oh no, another crazee cab owner

Welcome to Tyresmoke Jeff!

I can see you're already happy with the car, but keep the noise down in here 'cos some of us are trying to sleep

Replacing your oil every 5000 miles with Mobil 1 is probably ok based on where you live, although my A4 with variable service would have gone 18,000 miles without a change according to Audi! There again, I live in a more temperate climate.

[ QUOTE ]

I like this Ari guy

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure - have you seen him with "the" hat on

[Ari]

Wayhay, another Cabrio fan!! Welcome Jeff!

As for your questions, I can't help you on the first two, I just change the oil when the service jobby tells me to, and of course being UK my sunglasses holder works (although for the record it is quite narrow, I can't get my Raybans in it!!)

As for the squeaks, there are a couple of known points worth exploring.

First one is the sun visors. When you are on a road that makes the squeaks (bumpy roads seem worse, smooth roads less so) just try tilting your sun visors down slightly. The weird thing about the sun visor noises is they actually sound like they come from the dash, most odd. A couple of people have got some stick on velcro strips, and used the softer part of the two to make strips under the header rail so the sun visors don't rub and squeak. Not a bad idea.

Second one is, where the windows touch the roof edges, if there is any dirt there that will cause a sort of creaking noise. It is vital that when you clean the car you drop the windows and clean both the tops of the windows carefully, and the bit of the hood that the windows rub against. This makes a big difference. I find as long as this is done regularly there is almost no noise. Let the dirt build up and it is noticable. Some people have tried using a bit of WD40 or similar and that cures the noise completely, but of course makes the tops of the windows smeary.

Last tip, apparently rubbing candle wax on the bit of plastic between the front and back side windows stops any noise there. Not tried it myself though.

Give those a go mate, I'm sure you'll find that helps, even if it doesn't cure the problem completely.

Nice to have another Cabrio devotee on the board!!

Cheers,

[SteveCab]

Welcome Jeff

on point 4

I have removed my Bose head unit and the glove box mounted 6 cd changer and fitted a Clarion DVD/SATNAV system.

Its the dogs danglies and the sound quality is now a fair bit better than the original.

(i now have a cd changer for sale if interested!)

I wouldnt bother about changing the speakers as they are more than adequate, in any case there is something like 7 or 8 speakers and to change them all would be a bit extreme.

There is more talk on tuning Cabs on the audiworld forum than on here, but to be honest there is very little available at the moment other than what ABT are offering. web page

[jeff]

Thanks, guys, for the good suggestions. By the way, I think Ari's hat looks quite fetching...

[Keegs]

Jeff, welcome aboard... does this mean ur going to buy an Ari hat to? Obviously we want to see the pictures, just to see if u can match up to Ari!

[lordy]

Thanks for this... I'm a new Cab 1.8T owner.. love the car (met black with leather - great choice) but am having what seem to be a very common set of noise and rattle problems, most of which you've addressed here, in some ways I'm glad to know its not just me!! I've got my car booked in to Audi next week but you always feel that dealers don't really take "noises" seriously and you're regarded as just being picky - reading a few of these threads has stunned me that nearly everyone seems to be reporting almost identical issues, I hope someone at Audi is taking note!

The problems I'm having are:

rattling windows in the roof lining - occurs every couple of weeks and goes away if the edges are cleaned - I'm going to try the candle idea - or maybe see if I can fit some felt along the entire length of the rubber seal for the front windows.

Two differing dashboard type rattles - one is always there and sounds like a faintish buzzing noise coming from the far left of the passenger side dash - often louder when slowing down (no accelerator rather than breaking), the other is a louder rattle more noticable over antiskid surfaces and sounds like the dash is about to come apart and seems to come from the centre of the dash - I'm going to try the pads on the visors idea for this one!

Faint "clicking" sound coming from behind my right ear - doesn't seem to be related to the windows etc I've tried driving along with them in various states of open/close. I've also tried having the door open to see if its the catch, WD40'd various bits of the roof mechanics etc - I've read one post on a TT group that concluded something similar was caused by a welding point in the boot behind near the radio arial so I'm wondering if the A4 Cab is similar - the fix for the TT was putting grease in the welds.

Anyway, I'm taking several of these thread comments with me to Audi so hopefully they'll have a good starting point.

Creaks and rattles aside, I'm still very glad I've picked the car I have, my last car was a Z3, and although I never made a single noise inthe 4 years I owned it, I fancied a change of manufacturer, as well as 4 seats to allow for junior!

Cheers for a very informative group...

Lordy

[jeff]

Thanks for your comments, Lordy. It's good to hear that you're hearing similar things in your Cab (does this make sense ?). I'm trying various approaches to isolate mine and will post any new insights I have.

Rattles have a subjective nature to them (hey, I can't hear any when the top is down and I'm speeding along at 70 mph). I think this makes the service people wary about attending to them. On the plus side, I have recieved much encouragement from posters on my local Audi forum (http://forums.mnaudi.com/) to bring these to the attention of the dealer. Perhaps contrary to UK dealers (so I've read here), our local dealer has been quite responsive to such items. I will probably hold off until my first maintenance service until I ask them to fix them.

Still a lovley car, though... I'm hoping to detail it this weekend and post some pics.

[Keegs]

Lordy

Not sure this is going to help you but I to have suffered with rattles and the problems have been, loose screws / nuts / or what ever they called them in the roof. These seem to come from head height, took it in to the dealer who tightened them p and it was all ok but comes back after a while. These seem to come and go. Had a major rattle on the dash (in the centre) definately something came loose, then the screw must of fell out and the part stopped rattling, would rather leave it that way than the dealer take the dash appart which will probably make it worse and lastly a buzzing noise from the dash when the heating is on. Compared my car to others at the dealers and it would seem that some cars suffer with this and some do not. I think you'll find it is an issue with the heating???? The way the air is forced through the tubes and creates the buzzing? Just some pointers, hope it helps..