Q7 4.2 TDI - owner reviews and tips sought

[bridgland]

I just put an order in for the load area securing system, which the Audi dealerships had issues finding on their systems. If anyone has the running rails down the sides of the load area, you can order the kits using the following part numbers

4L0860378D = £55.24 + vat for telescopic rail
4L0860378C = £55.24 + vat for the fabric strap

[PhilboSE]

bridgland said:

I have been comparing the MPG from the computer display to the receipts I get from each fill up and recording the mileage, which I reset at the time. I also did a significantly different amount of driving conditions, as my job has me going into town, on motoways and country roads (especially when the motorways are congested), so my MPG will vary as you would have expected.

To minimise variances I have tried to fill up with the same fuel, at the same pump, at the same petrol station (only one time at another petrol station).

Interestingly, if I believed the trip computer, I would have been averaging 25.3 MPG, however the calculations from the fill-ups are saying: -

Mileometer	Miles	Litres	Gallons	MPG
64078	0	84.89	18.67318949	N/A
64541	463	93.86	20.64631365	22.42531078
64920	379	81.44	17.91429558	21.15628819
65366	446	97.29	21.40080817	20.84033446
65812	446	90.34	19.87202189	22.44361457
66175	363	82	18.03747836	20.12476427
66678	503	95.9	21.09505091	23.84445537

Overall MPG 21.85498955

The lowest MPGs achieved were when I had to go into London for several days, combined with going back ou to Reading to the head office.

The last fillup, I drove very conservatively, with no hard acceleration (unless necessary), typically tried to keep the car over 55mph on NSL roads(but withing the speed limit) to get 6th gear engaged and drove whn the traffic was expected to be light.

So you may ask, what this tells anyone, especially me? All in all, the computer is being ambitious with the MPG figures so I can take it as a guide only. When I drive the car fairly hard, or drive in slow moving town/city traffic, I drop from 1.4 MPG up to 3.72MPG respectively, so basically I can feel happy that when I need to go swiftly it's not that bad an effect on overall fuel consumption.

Man Maths Rules!

Edited by bridgland on Monday 7th July 14:13

Interesting. I haven't done that level of mpg checks on my 4.2, but what the computer shows is usually in line with my rough calculations. I'll start keeping better records and see how I go.

I usually get ~29 mpg on a 2.5hr motorway run we do regularly, and that is fully loaded and I don't hang about. I did a hypermiling test once when I had loads of time in hand and got 40mpg but getting over 30 with any sort of "normal" driving is pretty much impossible.

The computer says we average about 22mpg over long periods, our Q7 is used for shortish journeys (about 20 mile round trip semi-rural) during the week and then much longer runs on a regular basis.

I'm still on the Continentals, I think they're a good tyre and with 2.5 tons I want to give the car the best chance of gripping & stopping.

[bridgland]

Latest update.

Just bought some refurbished 20" Q7 V12 10 Spoke Alloys. Why? Slightly smaller alloy, slightly better ride/road noise, a "little" less chance to scuff up, but the same 10 inch width and a broader choice of tyres. Going to run the cheap Nangkang tyres out before I swap the wheels. Looking to go with Michelin Latitude Sport 3.



I will be replacing the 21 Inch alloys which look lovely (same as below), but have all been scuffed now and I wanted a slightly better ride, so if anyone wants a set of alloys, in their current state (they will all need refurbishing), then make me an offer before I put them on eBay, and I might swap them sooner. 21 inch, 10J, ET44 offset



Also, with the cold weather, I noticed that as the car is warming up and I stop in traffic, I get a massive smell of Diesel fumes through the car. I have turned off the supplemental heating and the smell has stopped. With heated seats front and back, it isn't too much of an issue with it taking a little longer to warm up the interior, but it is certainly concerning that such a stink can come through. Anyone else suffer from this?

Still loving the car.

[Adrian E]

I've noted aux heaters seem to have more issues with supermarket fuels than the premium brands - might be something to consider if you fill up at Tesco etc?

[bridgland]

Adrian E said:

I've noted aux heaters seem to have more issues with supermarket fuels than the premium brands - might be something to consider if you fill up at Tesco etc?

That won't be the cause as have only ever filled it up once at a cheaper fill-up. I generally only fill up at Shell, with their V-Power Diesel if possible.

Edited by bridgland on Thursday 11th December 06:47

[PhilboSE]

bridgland said:

Latest update.
Just bought some refurbished 20" Q7 V12 10 Spoke Alloys. Why? Slightly smaller alloy, slightly better ride/road noise, a "little" less chance to scuff up, but the same 10 inch width and a broader choice of tyres. Going to run the cheap Nangkang tyres out before I swap the wheels. Looking to go with Michelin Latitude Sport 3.

You should find the 20"s a more compliant ride, I've got the standard 5-spokes which don't look anything like as nice as the ones in your picture but they're relatively easy to clean. I'm on Goodyear Eagle DS3's which are OK. Down to about 3mm so I'll probably replace them when the winters come off - will decide between Pirelli, Continental, Michelin and Goodyear in the Spring. Let us know how you get on with the Michelins when you get them.

[bridgland]

MPG Rolling Update

Mileometer	Miles	Litres	Gallons	MPG
64078	0	84.89	18.67318949
64541	463	93.86	20.64631365	22.42531078
64920	379	81.44	17.91429558	21.15628819
65366	446	97.29	21.40080817	20.84033446
65812	446	90.34	19.87202189	22.44361457
66175	363	82	18.03747836	20.12476427
66678	503	95.9	21.09505091	23.84445537
67108	430	91.73	20.17777915	21.31057124
67564	456	91.79	20.1909773	22.58434514
68043	479	93.26	20.5143321	23.34952938
68530	487	93.02	20.46153948	23.8007507
69059	529	98.6	21.68896788	24.39028002
69536	477	93.12	20.4835364	23.28699452
69972	436	90.91	19.99740436	21.80282961
70405	433	96.57	21.24243031	20.3837317
70833	428	92.92	20.43954255	20.93980327
71336	503	96.55	21.23803092	23.68392822
71774	438	87.83	19.31989908	22.67092588
72157	383	80.64	17.73832018	21.5916725
72513	356	80.35	17.6745291	20.14197934
72889	376	78.8	17.33357677	21.69200305
73298	409	92.04	20.24596961	20.20155161
73726	428	89.85	19.76423696	21.65527568
74140	414	81.81	17.9956842	23.00551595

Overall MPG currently 22.09MPG, still mixing town and motorway/dual carriageway driving at sensible speeds

[bridgland]

Latest on Supplemental Heating option, which helps speed up the warming of the heating system in the car. As explained, the exhaust of this exits under the passenger wheel arch/footwell. When running it puts out a really pungent smell of unburnt diesel and if you stop in traffic while it is still active, it comes into the car through the ventilation. There are several discussions on the web about it. The simplest way to overcome the smell, is to disable it in the ventilation settings, but it then means that it takes a while for the interior of the car to heat up. The next simplest thing to do is to put the recirculation on until the car has reached normal operating temperature, then turn off recirculation. For the last few days I have taken this approach and it seems to work without an issue and the fumes stay outside the car.

[bridgland]

So the auxiliary heater finally packed up.

Now for the fun part about the cost for replacing it. It's £1050 for a new unit. Apparently, you can't just go to a Webasto reseller/repairer as the unit is coded to the Audi and cannot be pulled from another model of car......it has to be a Q7. I have found one on EBay for £200, which looks good and comes from a 2010 car. All the research I have done has told me that this will work. Got it booked in to be changed on the 13th (Friday)......wish me luck!

[MulsanneKinky]

Just joined ‘the club’. Delighted to find this thread. I’m a big Audi advocate and also run a Mk.1 TT 1.8l as my daily shuttle. Check out my thread under Big Mileage Log if at all interested.

The Q7 is absolutely epic. I picked it up last week from a dealer in Hartlepool. A long up there from Kent but worth the trawl. 86k miles so only just about run in.

Amazing spec. Beautiful S-Line presentation. The previous owners ticked a lot of upgrade boxes.

The 2G MMI is showing it’s age but I have managed to bypass lack of Bluetooth music streaming capability with a cigarette plug in gadget you wouldn’t even know was in the car. Not even the slightest of hisses and it blends in brilliantly with the Bose sound system.

A few gremlins to iron out. A slight fault with the handbrake sensor which can fool the car into believe the brake has not been deactivated. I’ve got the part and a fix lined up. Faulty driver heated seat which is a bigger issue so just waiting on diagnosis and likely bill. Expecting that to sting.

Put all this aside and I am absolutely thrilled. A huge amount of car for the money (just over £11k).

[bridgland]

MulsanneKinky said:

Just joined ‘the club’. Delighted to find this thread. I’m a big Audi advocate and also run a Mk.1 TT 1.8l as my daily shuttle. Check out my thread under Big Mileage Log if at all interested.

The Q7 is absolutely epic. I picked it up last week from a dealer in Hartlepool. A long up there from Kent but worth the trawl. 86k miles so only just about run in.

Amazing spec. Beautiful S-Line presentation. The previous owners ticked a lot of upgrade boxes.

The 2G MMI is showing it’s age but I have managed to bypass lack of Bluetooth music streaming capability with a cigarette plug in gadget you wouldn’t even know was in the car. Not even the slightest of hisses and it blends in brilliantly with the Bose sound system.

A few gremlins to iron out. A slight fault with the handbrake sensor which can fool the car into believe the brake has not been deactivated. I’ve got the part and a fix lined up. Faulty driver heated seat which is a bigger issue so just waiting on diagnosis and likely bill. Expecting that to sting.

Put all this aside and I am absolutely thrilled. A huge amount of car for the money (just over £11k).

I still have mine and enjoying it very much. I have over 140,000 miles on it now and it still impresses me with how it performs. It has been a while since I posted, but the only significant expenses over the last couple of years have been

• Bluetooth module needed replacing
• Auxiliary heater that I got secondhand to replace the old one that failed, which worked perfectly and is already being called on now the weather has turned cooler.
• A hole in the air con condenser
• Most recently the oil level sensor and pressure switch, but the sensor is a sump off replacement.

I do have a slight brake judder right now, but expect to be able to live with it until the disks need doing next.

If I had to replace it, I really can't think of another car to consider, as I need the space occasionally with a motorbike restoration underway and eldest at university, so my days of going smaller are still a while away.

[jasongtr]

Bit of a thread resurrection

I’m picking up a Q7 4.2tdi tomorrow, I think it’s been MTM mapped too so hopefully it will get along the road nicely

Just need to get used to driving a cathedral I guess...

[bridgland]

I Still have mine and it has been a superb car. Obviously people give it a bit of a sneer occasionally, but with everything it has in it, I wouldn't find another car with the same spec for what I would be able to get if I sold it. Youngest going to Cardiff university, so it will be put back into relocation service without a doubt.

[Adrian E]

jasongtr said:

I think it’s been MTM mapped too so hopefully it will get along the road nicely

Give QST in Haywards Heath (qstuning.com) a call to confirm if they've seen it for mapping - they're the official MTM agent in the UK. Unfortunately it's quite common for people to buy the MTM badges on ebay and just stick them on......

Should indeed shift well if it has

[ChocolateFrog]

I watched these for ages. I prefer the look of the Touareg but by all accounts the V8 is leaps ahead of the V10.

Facelift versions with the ZF 8 speed actually seem to hold their value reasonably well for a big expensive car (after the initial depreciation hit.