Auto-dipping passenger mirror fun and game

This is the continuation of the story I began to tell on the "What have you done with your B9 today" thread. The intention had been to tell the whole story once it was complete, but elements leaked out yesterday so some aspects will be familiar to those who followed that.

Briefly, the auto-dip has never worked consistently since I took delivery on 1 September. I don't use it very often as I try to avoid parallel parking if possible due to incompetence. However, the auto-dip is a really useful facility to have when parking a larger car and when parallel parking is not your forte. By November it seemed to have stopped working altogether and at times the passenger side adjustment wouldn't work either, so the car was booked in for attention during December.

First development in the story: I was rung by the service department to say that, having looked at the car, they believed the problem was that it didn't have the auto-dip feature. It was something to do with the PX codes, or in other words there's no auto-dipping function because the computer says no. When I asked how in that case they thought it had worked previously, that explanation rather fell apart. So I consulted the A4 marketing brochure to show the basis on which I had spec'd folding mirrors; that the passenger side dips when selecting reverse. I can't remember the exact wording, but because it didn't say 'automatically' the service guy tried to argue that the mirror does dip, but you have to do it manually. By now, I was starting to lose patience so we consulted the sales guy who had sold it to me. He pulled up the Audi internal spec which stated quite unequivocally that it was an automatic dipping function. Round one to me.

So the Master Tech came out, sat in the car and with the spare key proceeded to run through the auto-dipping procedure. It worked perfectly! He did it over and over and it worked every time. I asked whether the fact that he was using the spare key had any relevance, to which he shook his head. So I was advised to keep an eye on it and if it played up again, to book it in once again for attention. Before I drove off (this time using the 'main' key) I tried the auto-dip just to check and it didn't work, so I raced back into the service reception and collared the service guy and took him out to the car to show him. He went and found the Master Tech and they were able to see that it had stopped working. The Master Tech agreed that there must be some intermittent fault and that the car would have to be booked in again for further investigation. Round 2 to me.

Fast forward to Tuesday of this week and the car is once again in the workshop. I leave the spare key with them again. Service guy phones me late afternoon to say that the auto-dip is working perfectly and has been doing so all day. They have run a number of tests and no faults show up. He suggests leaving it with them for a further day and they will run further tests.

Yesterday afternoon the service guy rings again to report the same results and that they can find no fault. I ask whether the tests they have been running consist of hooking it up to a laptop and he says yes, as well as road tests. So I ask whether anybody has taken the mirror assembly apart to check for anything obvious, such as a loose wire and he tells me that with warranty work they do not dismantle anything until a faulty function is observed. I tell him that if they can't fix it with their diagnostic testing, then I shall insist that somebody does take it apart.

I post the day's developments on here and by sheer luck Beagle replies that he has had the exact same problem and that in his case it was the spare key that was programmed to perform the auto-dip whilst the 'main' key wasn't and that in his case, re-programming the main key has done the trick. Eureka! I didn't read his post until late last night so I couldn't contact the service dept until this morning, but what a good thing these owner forums are!

So this morning I phone the service guy and tell him Beagle's story and I drive over to the workshop where he and the Master Tech are waiting for me. We run through the auto dip using the spare key, just to show that everything is working fine. We then try the auto-dip with my key to show that it doesn't work. And then we try again with the spare key and it doesn't work! So we try again with my key and it still doesn't work. There follows a conflab between the Master Tech and the service guy of which I could only catch "refer this one" and I am asked to leave the car for another day with a tacit indication that they might start taking the mirror unit apart.

Meanwhile I am driving around in a facelift A3 2.0 tdi s line which I rather like. I'm no fan of diesel, but this one really flies and once on the move the engine noise is unobtrusive. It reminds me of my A3 (a 1.4 tfsi COD, which I really loved) but it doesn't match the A4 for refinement or ride comfort. Still a great little car though.

We're way beyond that stage, Jabba. When I first took it in to the workshop I think they thought it was me not understanding how to set it up, but they now appreciate there is a malfunction of some sort.

That's just what I thought - these guys are supposed to be experts. I wonder if the A4 is so technically advanced they just haven't caught up yet. And then you read about "our specially trained technicians". Hmmm...

One thing that did strike me was the cleanliness of the workshop. It was like an operating theatre with a floor as clean as any in your home. The technicians don't wear overalls and they wear surgical gloves, so no oily hands or dirty fingernails. All a bit of a contrast to the garage my mum worked at in the 70s and 80s where the mechanics (as they were then called) wore filthy overalls and worked with their bare hands and your shoes stuck to the thin layer of grease as you walked across the workshop floor.

I was told they will update me tomorrow, so I will post whatever the news is. I suspect I shall have the A3 for the weekend though. The last time I had a courtesy car for an extended period it was an A3 cabrio during June and the weather was ideal. Not so this time round

Today's update: the problem has been referred to Germany as the local technicians are stumped. So I have the little A3 for the week end at least.

So today they have told me that Audi Germany suggested disconnecting the battery for 24 hours so as to reset the systems. They did that yesterday and reconnected it today and everything is working fine, with both keys. They want to keep it overnight tonight and test it again tomorrow and if all is well I can pick it up.

I can raise this tomorrow, but I presume all my settings on the MMI (and others that I haven't yet thought of) have been wiped too, so I shall have a bit of fiddling around to do when I get it back. I love the little A3 I've been driving around in, but I am missing my A4.

So I'm very late with an update, but I'm already fed up with this issue. That probably tells you how successful the visit to the service dept was.

They couldn't get the mirror to malfunction. They kept the car for several days and referred the problem to the technical gurus at Audi who suggested disconnecting the battery for 24 hours. The mirror continued to function perfectly normally with both ignition keys so I collected the car, there being nothing further they could do. Before I drove off, I checked the operation of the mirror with the service guy standing beside the car and we agreed it was all working.

Arriving home on my driveway, I decided to set the mirror to the position I wanted when it dips. It pointed down perfectly while reverse gear was engaged. However, when I engaged park, the mirror remained dipped. The car was parked facing the garage door, so I reversed back out on to the road in order to drive forward, expecting the mirror to return to the normal position, but it stayed dipped. I drove a short distance and pulled up to test the mirror again and this time it wouldn't adjust at all. After a bit more driving, stopping and testing, the normal adjustment returned, but nothing would happen while reverse was engaged. And that remains the situation today. I've tested it each time I've driven it since and it still won't adjust while reverse is engaged. So the car is booked in again for Monday for further investigation and I've been asked to be prepared to leave it with them long term.

To be continued...

You've lost me there a bit, Geoff, but as I said, I reversed back out on to the road so that I could drive forwards fast enough for the mirror to return to the normal position.

One thing that makes me feel so peeved about this is seeing Syrian children damaged by bombs on the news at night and there I am worrying about a stupid ****** mirror.

Today's loaner is an A4 TDI 150 saloon in SE trim and with manual gearbox. My objections to diesel continue to be beaten down by the modern Audi diesels I am driving, but I still couldn't bring myself to buy one. That said, this car ain't bad! Also, as it is an SE, it has softer suspension than my s-line which makes for a softer ride. Not dramatically softer, but noticeably so.

One thing I've noticed is that the gear change is not as silky smooth as the A3 loaner I had a few weeks ago and the A3 I owned until September. No other real criticisms though. My wife and I are away next weekend for our wedding anniversary and we were slightly concerned that our A4 might not be available for the trip. However, if we travel in this A4 I shall be quite happy.

Agree with you about the long movement. Feels like an old car, like the original mini for example. Exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

Pierreluigi - I don't have electrically adjustable seats, so only dipping passenger mirror in my case. The problem is no different whichever key I use.

The auto-dip is not set via the MMI. It's more straightforward than that! You engage reverse, turn the mirror adjuster switch to point to the passenger mirror and then adjust the dip to where you want it. When you're happy with the dipped position, move the gear selector out of reverse and return the mirror adjuster to the off position. When you drive forward above 10 kph or so, the passenger mirror should return to the normal position.

As for courtesy cars, I don't ask for one - it's just automatically offered by the dealer. I presume it's because my car is under warranty and in theory I should not be without a car for the warranty period. In the past they have said that there is a £15 admin fee, but I have never been asked for it when collecting my car. With the current visits to the service dept no admin fee has been mentioned. I just have to pay the first £500 of any insurance claim (although a few weeks ago the excess was only £250, but that may be because this time I have an A4 whereas last time it was a A3)

wideboybloke said:

Agree with you about the long movement. Feels like an old car, like the original mini for example. Exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

Click to expand...

I did a lengthy drive in the loaner last night and concluded that I definitely don't like the gear change. I'm glad now that I chose s-tronic for my car, although I do live in fear that it will pack up unexpectedly. Thank goodness for the warranty, while I have it.

Yes. Once the dipped position is set, the passenger mirror will only dip when the adjuster switch is pointing to the passenger mirror. I can see why you would leave it permanently pointing to the passenger mirror, but wouldn't you want it in the normal position when reversing into a car park space where you have a car on either side?

It transpired subsequently that my problem was nothing to do with the keys, but I understand that the dealer is able to do something with the programming of them. I'd be wary of disconnecting the battery as there could be other matters that are affected by disconnection and then you will be in further trouble. Are you out of warranty with your car? If not, I'd ask the dealer to investigate your problem.

An update. The workshop have had the car since Monday. Service guy phoned on Wednesday to say that this time, the auto-dip has played up for them - something it wouldn't do on previous visits. So they had replaced the door switch and the auto-dip was still faulting. The next step was to be replacement of the mirror unit, which they did on Thursday. Friday morning the service guy rang to report that replacement of the mirror unit seemed to do the trick and invited me to collect the car. On leaving the workshop I checked the auto-dip in the service guy's presence and it wouldn't work! Then it suddenly started working and it's been fine since. I operated it several times throughout the day and it was fine every time.

So I am to monitor it for a few days and refer back if it faults again. The next item to be replaced if it does play up is the door lock. Who would have guessed, but at least we are now getting somewhere with it.

Watching the mirror takes my mind off worrying that the gearbox is going to play up!

We're away for the weekend at the moment. To get here we drove M3, M25, M26 and then M20 and this car loved it! Can't sing it's praises highly enough for that type of joiurney.