[adrian1480]

seems like Audi is having major issues with carbon building up.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...-up-Megathread

As one considering buying an A4 as my next ride, how concerned should I be about this kind of thing relative to the longevity of the device?

any insight would be appreciated.

[BMW269]

Don't RS5 and R8 V10/GT have FSI ???
Good work Audi.

[ghosthi32]

here come the fanboys

[adrian1480]

not really looking for fanboy responses here. need genuine insight.

My lease ends next month and I'm undecided between a 335i coupe or A5/S5. my 3 years of BMW ownership have been perfect...but with the soon-to-change bodystyle, I'm hesitant to buy a 3er right now (plan is to just buy my next car). Now I'm starting to feel hesitant to buy the A5/S5.

[IMG]

I have been researching used RS4's and S4's recently as my next car and I think these might be deal-breaker issues. AOA is not manning up to the problem. From what if understand, they will only remedy (albeit temporarily since the carbon WILL come back) I your car throws a permanent code. They will not service your car if the code is temporary.

Getting the cleaning done out of warantey at the dealer will come to about $2k. You figure to fight the buildup, you may need to clean it every 5k to 10k miles. You tell me if thats a serious issue or not! Seems to me the severity of this problem is only starting to unravel. Many of their cars share these motors.

[adrian1480]

damn it.

welp, looks like if I go Audi, it will be in a lease scenario only. who would want to BUY a car that is going to cost them $2k bi-annually just to keep it running without throwing codes?

discouraging. very discouraging. considering I have scheduled an appointment with the owner of the BMW dealership I leased my current car from tomorrow...it's not looking good for Audi. If they can give me a too-good-to-pass-up deal on a 2011 335 with what I want on it...game maybe over for the Audi. too bad. it's a beautiful car.

if, however, I decide to lease...all bets are off. I contacted the Audi rep I've been in contact with for awhile regarding the tread linked in the OP. I'm very interested in hearing if the 2011's address this issue at all. or if it can be addressed at all. perhaps this is endemic to current FSI technology?

[Seminole]

Wow, that sucks. I was looking to replace my BMW in a few years possibly with a A5 2.0T S-Line since they look so sweet. This could be a huge turn off since I want to stay away from problem cars. I wonder if VW's have this problem as well (GTI specifically).

Might make the decision to get a F-150 Raptor that much easier

[1BMW4fun]

All direct inject engines are facing this issue not just Audi. It is the way the engine is designed. Lexus has somewhat solved the issue by putting in a secondary injector.

[M3_WC]

335 n54 with carbon buildup.

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8090

[bavarian beauty]

this is old news...been going on for years...with very little reaction from Audi!!!!

[chungdae]

^ That's why I left Audi. They do NOT care about service and their customers.

[bavarian beauty]

Originally Posted by chungdae

^ That's why I left Audi. They do NOT care about service and their customers.

me too!!!

[Draman]

It is a huge problem in the Audi community...but the HPFP is a huge problem in the BMW community, so not sure all those saying "this is why I left Audi" have much to stand on...

That said I haven't had any issues with my HPFP but I had to have my valves cleaned at 12k and 25k in my old A4 2.0T. I sold it after the 25k cleaning because I didn't want to deal with the issue again. No problems so far in the S5

[adrian1480]

thanks for the insight, Draman.

[b0bab0i]

Rev your car more often to get rid of carbon buildup.

If you have carbon buildup, it means you aren't driving your car hard enough. (pampering your car too much)

[BMW269]

+1 benmoooon. Audi owners drive there FSI like TDI.

[b0bab0i]

Originally Posted by Levi

+1 benmoooon. Audi owners drive there FSI like TDI.

[footie]

Since the fuel is injected right into the chamber I don't believe the type of driving will have that great of an effect. Yes it can be an issue but it's less of an issue that some make out, the only reason it's well documented on forums is that we all are enthusiasts and discuss all our praises and complaint, if someone came on to any of the threads discussing the lag issues with M-DCT they would run a mile before buying one, yet we all know it's not as bad as the mounting number of complaints would suggest.

On a plus note, according to Audi the latest engines (RS5 included) are much less likely to suffer from this, so fingers cross it may be behind us, if only for the fortunate few now with the latest cars.

[BMW269]

Originally Posted by footie

If someone came on to any of the threads discussing the lag issues with M-DCT they would run a mile before buying one.

M3 should not come with DTC. If it want's to be an M3 it must get a stick.

[chungdae]

Originally Posted by Draman

It is a huge problem in the Audi community...but the HPFP is a huge problem in the BMW community, so not sure all those saying "this is why I left Audi" have much to stand on...

That said I haven't had any issues with my HPFP but I had to have my valves cleaned at 12k and 25k in my old A4 2.0T. I sold it after the 25k cleaning because I didn't want to deal with the issue again. No problems so far in the S5

It's the principle. When I had my S4 and my RS4 I had these carbon build up problems. I even had the text-book scenario (sporadic check engine light). I would propose the problem to Audi and every time they told me "it corrected itself, there isn't anything we can do." That, to me, is incompetence. With BMW, when I had the shift knob problem they took it in and replaced it; they didn't give me the run around. I have yet to have any problems since.

[footie]

Originally Posted by chungdae

It's the principle. When I had my S4 and my RS4 I had these carbon build up problems. I even had the text-book scenario (sporadic check engine light). I would propose the problem to Audi and every time they told me "it corrected itself, there isn't anything we can do." That, to me, is incompetence. With BMW, when I had the shift knob problem they took it in and replaced it; they didn't give me the run around. I have yet to have any problems since.

And yet the lag issue in the M-DCT has taken close on 18 months for BMW to get under control.

Basically what I am trying to say is that may be some problems take longer to cure and can cause more of a problem for the manufacturer than others and you have to always remember that every DI engine regardless of the manufacturer had these problems, not just VAG. Also in VAG's defense the latest information from Audi is that the latest FSI engines are problem free.

But the weird thing is that I have driven DI equipped cars for quite a few years with the longest single period of 3yrs at 38,000miles and it never had an issue of carbon build up. Maybe I was very lucky.

[quagmire]

Is there any symptoms to tell if there is a big build up of carbon without tearing the engine apart?