A5 3.0 TDI Buying Advice

[Marty V8]

Hi,

I am thinking about swapping my current car for an Audi A5 and am leaning towards the 3.0tdi quattro with a manual box. It seems to be a quickish car which returns decent fuel economy.

I would be grateful for any buying advice on the A5 and on the 3.0 diesel in particular.

Thanks in advance.

Marty

[blueg33]

Marty V8 said:

Hi,

I am thinking about swapping my current car for an Audi A5 and am leaning towards the 3.0tdi quattro with a manual box. It seems to be a quickish car which returns decent fuel economy.

I would be grateful for any buying advice on the A5 and on the 3.0 diesel in particular.

Thanks in advance.

Marty

I have a 2007 A6 with the 3.0tdi engine. No problems with the engine at all

Can't comment on other A5 issues, but MMI is always worth checking fully for operation.

[dunmow70]

I have a 2006 A6 3.0 TDI with a manual box. 1st and 2nd are a little short and get a tad annoying in slow moving traffic, but otherwise I have no issues and plan to hang on to the car for a long time.

[Dr G]

Great pieces of kit and we sell loads of them.

Get: 19s, Nav, GSM.

Nice to have: B&O, AMI, electric seats, Xenons (standard on sport >08 and S Line 08>)

Don't worry about keyless go, the handles like breaking themselves.

All A5s suffer from chippy noses, they just do. Bit of light bolster wear is normal too. Finish on the MMI dial wears off. Mechanicals and electrics are all tough and don't really give issues. They sell well at every age and mileage as long as the spec is good.

[sparkythecat]

dunmow70 said:

I have a 2006 A6 3.0 TDI with a manual box. 1st and 2nd are a little short and get a tad annoying in slow moving traffic, but otherwise I have no issues and plan to hang on to the car for a long time.

I have the same car and agree with dunmow
First is that short, I can only conclude that it was designed to enable you to tow a disabled Challenger tank.

[Dr G]

It's short so you don't get caught crawling underneath an agressive boost threshold.

[Bitzer]

Dr G said:

Great pieces of kit and we sell loads of them.

Get: 19s, Nav, GSM.

Nice to have: B&O, AMI, electric seats, Xenons (standard on sport >08 and S Line 08>)

Don't worry about keyless go, the handles like breaking themselves.

All A5s suffer from chippy noses, they just do. Bit of light bolster wear is normal too. Finish on the MMI dial wears off. Mechanicals and electrics are all tough and don't really give issues. They sell well at every age and mileage as long as the spec is good.

Any issues with higher mileage, say 80K+. As these are cam chains, have you heard of any need to replace?

Has the injector issue been sorted on the 2007+ cars?

Many thanks.

[fatboy b]

I bought my 08 plate at 20k miles and 2 years old. It's a sport with 18" wheels. My advice would be to test drive sport Vs s-line and 18" Vs 19" wheels.

19" look good, but the 18" drive better, and the tyres are a tad cheaper if that matters to you.

Make sure you get the high-end console.

Fantastic cars, mine regularly does low 40s mpg on a 27 mile commute - mixture of A & B roads with dual carriageways doing 80 leptons.

[Marty V8]

Thank you everyone for the info.

I know that the daft electric handbrake can cause problems on Audi/VW's as a couple of people I work with have had handbrake/caliper problems, usually ending up with them locking on for no apparent reason. Has anyone has any similar experiences with this in the A5?

Regards

Marty

[fatboy b]

Marty V8 said:

Thank you everyone for the info.

I know that the daft electric handbrake can cause problems on Audi/VW's as a couple of people I work with have had handbrake/caliper problems, usually ending up with them locking on for no apparent reason. Has anyone has any similar experiences with this in the A5?

Regards

Marty

Only problem I've had with the handbrake is it not coming on after pulling the switch. Probably my fault for not making it a positive action, but you do have to be careful if you're parking on a hilll.

[blueg33]

No probs at all with the A6 handbrake.

[cduk]

I had an A5 3.0 TDI Sport for around two and a half years (manual).

The good stuff:

- Great car for going long distances - very refined. It's no sports car - a bit too heavy and not at all light-footed - but an excellent GT. (Sports) seats very comfortable.
- Handling is pretty good.
- Fantastic 3.0 TDI engine - quiet, flexible and powerful; very un-dieselly inside. Significant turbo lag below 1300 rpm.
- The B&O sound system is superb - would recommend searching out for a car with this if you're into music.
- Excellent brakes.
- Quattro means great traction, whatever the weather.
- Top-notch, squeak-free interior (apart from the creaking centre armrest whenever you lean on it - come on Audi...)
- Still looks great, four and a half years after launch.

The not-so-good stuff:

- My car wasn't entirely trouble-free. Nothing horrific, but a few things that cost a few hundred quid a time. It being a very early example may have been a factor; serious problems do not appear common.
- Very hard ride on the Sport (and S-Line too, presumably) - check you can live with it.
- Pricey (and stupid) independent Oil Service / Inspection service regime, "Inspection" visit still requires oil change even if it was recently done as part of "Oil Service" visit. Either I don't understand the logic or my local dealer didn't understand how this is supposed to work either.
- Clutch could get juddery from time to time.
- Watch out for steering wheel wobble at 60-80 mph - if present, it seems almost impossible to completely cure.
- Quite pokey in the back - passengers won't like it there for any great length of time.
- Frameless door glass freezes to the seals in cold weather, making doors very difficult to open/close.
- Tends to get through front tyres fairly quickly (15-20K) - although to be expected with this engine really. Rears last a bit longer.

Hope this helps - let me know if there's anything specific you want to know.

CD

[Gio G]

cduk said:

I had an A5 3.0 TDI Sport for around two and a half years (manual).

The good stuff:

- Great car for going long distances - very refined. It's no sports car - a bit too heavy and not at all light-footed - but an excellent GT. (Sports) seats very comfortable.
- Handling is pretty good.
- Fantastic 3.0 TDI engine - quiet, flexible and powerful; very un-dieselly inside. Significant turbo lag below 1300 rpm.
- The B&O sound system is superb - would recommend searching out for a car with this if you're into music.
- Excellent brakes.
- Quattro means great traction, whatever the weather.
- Top-notch, squeak-free interior (apart from the creaking centre armrest whenever you lean on it - come on Audi...)
- Still looks great, four and a half years after launch.

The not-so-good stuff:

- My car wasn't entirely trouble-free. Nothing horrific, but a few things that cost a few hundred quid a time. It being a very early example may have been a factor; serious problems do not appear common.
- Very hard ride on the Sport (and S-Line too, presumably) - check you can live with it.
- Pricey (and stupid) independent Oil Service / Inspection service regime, "Inspection" visit still requires oil change even if it was recently done as part of "Oil Service" visit. Either I don't understand the logic or my local dealer didn't understand how this is supposed to work either.
- Clutch could get juddery from time to time.
- Watch out for steering wheel wobble at 60-80 mph - if present, it seems almost impossible to completely cure.
- Quite pokey in the back - passengers won't like it there for any great length of time.
- Frameless door glass freezes to the seals in cold weather, making doors very difficult to open/close.
- Tends to get through front tyres fairly quickly (15-20K) - although to be expected with this engine really. Rears last a bit longer.

Hope this helps - let me know if there's anything specific you want to know.

CD

I also had one for 1.5 years and agree with some issues above, however without being reminded of these, my experience was a very good one.. They still look great!!

[Marty V8]

Thanks again for the information.

Good point to note about the frameless doors in icy weather.

[ahaughton]

I had a Quattro A5 3.0Tdi for about a year (sold it through lack of use). Stonking car and I'd buy another one in a heartbeat if I started doing more miles. Audi did a remap on it for me as well, damned quick after that and still within Warranty!

[Dr G]

Very firm ride? I'd not say so unless the car has S-Line suspension (no cost option on S-Lines not commonly taken up). I've always thought they were very well damped with the 19s (but I do hate squishy soft cars).

80k isn't an issue on one at all, where those 80k have been done might bring a clutch into the game at some point but we've mapped higher mileage cars and not had problems. They seem to be very durable.

[cduk]

Dr G said:

Very firm ride? I'd not say so unless the car has S-Line suspension (no cost option on S-Lines not commonly taken up). I've always thought they were very well damped with the 19s (but I do hate squishy soft cars).

'Fraid so. Again, might have been due to the fact mine was an early one on 18s - and to this day I haven't tried another. I'm no fan of soft suspension either, but there's a balance to strike with firm suspension in not making it too crashy at the same time; perhaps I didn't explain this properly. In mine at least, this balance wasn't met over the poor local road surfaces and unfortunately was one of the key reasons I got rid in the end - into another "Sport" variant of another brand which is much better in this respect. Later cars may be better..?

I had an A4 3.0 TDI SE as a loaner and that had a much more comfortable ride, but then of course handling suffers a bit.

Perhaps I'll stop now before I put the OP off too much; they are extremely solid and well-built. Just offering personal opinion/experience of what to look out for.

[Marty V8]

ahaughton said:

I had a Quattro A5 3.0Tdi for about a year (sold it through lack of use). Stonking car and I'd buy another one in a heartbeat if I started doing more miles. Audi did a remap on it for me as well, damned quick after that and still within Warranty!

Hi,

What was the purpose of the re-map? Was it simply for more grunt or was it to sort a problem out?

[Dr G]

cduk said:

'Fraid so. Again, might have been due to the fact mine was an early one on 18s - and to this day I haven't tried another. I'm no fan of soft suspension either, but there's a balance to strike with firm suspension in not making it too crashy at the same time; perhaps I didn't explain this properly. In mine at least, this balance wasn't met over the poor local road surfaces and unfortunately was one of the key reasons I got rid in the end - into another "Sport" variant of another brand which is much better in this respect. Later cars may be better..?

I had an A4 3.0 TDI SE as a loaner and that had a much more comfortable ride, but then of course handling suffers a bit.

Perhaps I'll stop now before I put the OP off too much; they are extremely solid and well-built. Just offering personal opinion/experience of what to look out for.

Personal preference I guess; I've always thought the ride in the B8 platform was very well resolved.

Remap on a 3.0 TDI is a lot of fun, bank on ~280 BHP and 400+ in the twist department.

[fatboy b]

Dr G said:

Personal preference I guess; I've always thought the ride in the B8 platform was very well resolved.

Remap on a 3.0 TDI is a lot of fun, bank on ~280 BHP and 400+ in the twist department.

I think I've asked before, but how much us that, and how long does it take?