My iX + what i've done so far...

[audiquattrot]

Haha. I just got the same badge in the mail yesterday. Beautiful car. Miss my b5 a ton. Had one from 2001-2009 that I drover almost 200k miles since new

[audiquattrot]

The new daily/winter beater replAcement....ix I'm taking off salty duty to try to preserve it from rusting out. Will still get a ton of use since I drive a lot

Had the allroad 24hrs, and cleaned the wheels thoroughly, leatheriqued the leather, installed the red flag, replace all the wipers, swapped out the crappy 8k hid bulbs to 5k spares I had laying around, swapped out the crappy led fogs to regular incadenscet bulbs & polished out the foggy headlights w my porter cable

[KI4UJO]

I have to ask - how bad is the allroad w/maintenance? I've heard tons of horror stories, but what's the reality?

[audiquattrot]

I have to ask - how bad is the allroad w/maintenance? I've heard tons of horror stories, but what's the reality?

The stories u heard are true. From air suspension, to turbos, to tranny (if u get auto)...all three are catastrophic if u don't have the ability or resources to keep up when (not if) they go bad. I purchased this from my Audi mechanic I've known for years and at least it has been converted to coilovers so no air suspension to worry about. These cars don't live life wo a CEL too....

Ask me why I bought one again lmao

[KI4UJO]

Ok, so everything I head was true. I understand - I bought a beater e32 750il last year - I still haven't actually driven it yet.

[rzerob]

I like the All-road, and with a manual and coil-overs you only have to worry about the turbo. It's a manual right?

[bradnic]

that's what I'm talking about. beautiful

[bradnic]

I have to ask - how bad is the allroad w/maintenance? I've heard tons of horror stories, but what's the reality?

The stories u heard are true. From air suspension, to turbos, to tranny (if u get auto)...all three are catastrophic if u don't have the ability or resources to keep up when (not if) they go bad. I purchased this from my Audi mechanic I've known for years and at least it has been converted to coilovers so no air suspension to worry about. These cars don't live life wo a CEL too....

Ask me why I bought one again lmao

You guys need to stop quoting the posers at jalopnik lol. That said you have to put maintenance in up front. If you're not willing to do that get a simpler car.

We're not your typical car owner here right? AR is the perfect DD enthusiast car. I'd personally never put a manual in an AR because I have plenty of other more sport oriented cars. Who the hell wants to shift in bumper to bumper heavy commuter traffic?

I've put 40k miles into my AR. The only unique maintenance work I've done compared to other cars with similar mileage is air suspension. That's it. But I HAVE done alot of maintenance.

I've had zero problems with the auto. In the AR it's upgraded with a sport mode manual shift. The early models even had a TIP steering wheel with thumb paddles (easy to retrofit and code.) These ZF 5 speed trannies are supposed to be maintenance free.. e.g. never swap out the fluid. F that. Swap the fluid and the filter. You can also get a tranny tune to sharpen up the shifts. As to reported tranny problems, what I've heard about are torque converter failures on early models and transmission controller issues. I've also heard about clutch packs needing replacement but there are several DIYs out there to deal with that. The transmission ECU is mounted inside a sealed enclosure by the passenger seat. I've had no problems with the tranny, torque converter or transmission controller. Mine is an 04 model though. Usually a good idea to buy a later model car in a production run. You may have some "de-contenting" to deal with, but in general the cars have been sorted out quite well as you near the end of the production run.

Personally when the time comes I'll pick up a ZF Services refurbished tranny as we intend to keep the car for at least another 200k miles.

You can't get around replacing all the engine seals and most of the hoses. It's a must do. There's also a secondary air injection system for cold start emissions. The air pump goes bad and gets noisy, flows poorly and generates a CEL. Sometimes there's problems with the Kombi valves (one on each head in the rear of the motor). Swapping this out truly sucks.

I've had zero problems with my K03 turbos. When the time comes I'll put in real K04s like the RS6.

The air suspension is complicated, and the bags eventually start to leak. So a coilover swap is a practical thing to do and probably recommended for most people. The Continental-Teves OEM bags and shocks are insanely expensive (think $700-900 a corner), but Arnott makes excellent replacement bags and offers bilstein replacements. Their front bilsteins used to blow seals, and rode too harsh. They have a new design now which I haven't tried but other AR folks like them. So I run Arnott gen2 bags front and rear, new OEM front shocks, and rear bilsteins. The rear ride is a bit harsh. The front ride is absolutely perfect.

As to the suspension arms and links themselves, this car is heavy as sin. The suspension bits take a beating and the parts are specific to the AR. Fortunately there's plenty of good aftermarket replacement parts out there. I of course went with the OEM versions, but straight from TRW Italy (the parts have the 4 rings ground off lol). I replaced everything except for the rear control arms, and I installed hotchkiss sways front and rear which I think are absolutely mandatory on this car.

Our car has been running perfectly for the last 2 years. Next to our E30 vert and the new IX it's our absolute favorite ride.

[bradnic]

front BBK
OEM touAReg 17Z 6 piston brembos with upgraded Porsche pistons, black powdercoat
mercedes C230 sport rotors (lots of info on quattroworld)


rear BBK
OEM audi S8 rear caliper and rotors (I swapped the rotors out after this pic as ECS sent me the wrong ones)

[The Dark Side of Will]

As to reported tranny problems, what I've heard about are torque converter failures on early models...

This is reality. 20+ years ago, some engineer at ZF was trying to save a Euro and used a crappy material on an o-ring *INSIDE* the torque converter. This o-ring seals the pressurized oil which applies the torque converter clutch to lock up the converter. *EVERY* car with a ZF 5HP19 transmission, including BMWs and Jaguars as well as Audis, has problems with the TCC's giving up. The only solution is to replace the converter. We were able to find a remain unit for $250ish so we didn't have to pay Audi's $1300 price tag for an equivalent unit.

I did that job on my Ex's 2001 C5 A6 3.0. It looked like the least frustrating way was to pull the entire powertrain and front subframe as a unit, then split the trans off outside the car. The cam sensor housings on the back of the cylinder heads actually were not leaking. I was amazed.

[bradnic]

That's excellent feedback thanks!!

Yeah pulling a TC means dropping the drivetrain for sure. Cool you found a reman. I'd say if the TC hasn't given out by 100k it's not going to. we have 118k on our car right now.

Anyway ARs definitely have a 'mechanical headache' rep that's true. As audiquattrot mentioned, if you know the car's been well maintained you're fine. Just be prepared to put the maintenance investment in if you want one, and if you're not hands on this probably isn't the right car for you.

[audiquattrot]

Still waiting for new front valence from Bmw Germany so my ix is still stalled at the bodyshop

Had front tint installed on the allroad since the rears were done. The rear metered at 7%! Hate dark tint but I wasn't about to peel them off given my patience level doing that once on my m3....so I had 15% installed up front

[audiquattrot]

And the not so pretty w the allroad. Had cancer hidden under the door blades. I had a feeling it did, so I grinded everything down, primed and resprayed w rattle cans. Can't even tell what lurked behind :). All the doors had bubbling around all the points were the blades slide into

[stonea]

^Its posts like that, that makes me never want to pull back any trim or anything like that off my ix. I guess its like Schrodinger's cat.

[audiquattrot]

still waiting for my E30 from body/paint. :neutral: almost 6months and counting.