Ok so I am going to order the A6 Black Edition. The car seems to have some decent kit already but I wanted to know what essential add ons you recommend? I will already be adding sunroof and Havana Black paint. Is the Technology Pack worth paying extra for?
What options to get?
- Thread starter ryanb741
- Start date
gordie1973
Registered User
You'll get tonnes of advice here no doubt about it! I've just picked up my Bitdi in Saturday, second hand so had no real choice as it had 99% if every thing else I wanted, plus at the right price..... a few small but crucial things missing - 1) reversing camera - it's one of those things you will never miss unless you have had it before on a car, which I had! 2) auto dipping wing mirrors when you select reverse, pretty much as per point 1, but when you have to park on a road with big kerbs and have 20 inch alloys - it's something you think everybody owning one should have bought!
I love the tech pack, and the ambient lighting sets off the interior very well.
Good luck with the never ending quest for the right spec!
I love the tech pack, and the ambient lighting sets off the interior very well.
Good luck with the never ending quest for the right spec!
Honest John has a long term write up that details the best extras.
Tech pack is a must - it also now puts the actual sat nav map in the Driver binnacle. That will affect resale too.
I would always opt for ACC too if you do motorway miles.
On the dipping mirrors when reversing, this is on all cars as standard - when in reverse, adjust the offside mirror to desired angle, then each time you reverse with the mirror select knob on the left mirror, it will adjust the mirror automatically.
Tech pack is a must - it also now puts the actual sat nav map in the Driver binnacle. That will affect resale too.
I would always opt for ACC too if you do motorway miles.
On the dipping mirrors when reversing, this is on all cars as standard - when in reverse, adjust the offside mirror to desired angle, then each time you reverse with the mirror select knob on the left mirror, it will adjust the mirror automatically.
I've been unable to get the reversing mirror thing to work. Could I be missing something? I don't have the convenience key option if that explains it (i.e. still have to get key out of pocket to press and unlock the doors and no little red 'panic' button on the remote.)
You have to set the mirror when you are in reverse and the mirror only dips when the selector knob is on the left hand mirror.
If it is linked to memory seats and you don't have, then i thought someone could use vagcom to change this since this feature can work without. Worth asking on retrofit forum.
gordie1973
Registered User
Officially Audi only offer Mirror dip if you also spec electric seats. Not sure why this is the case when my wife's Golf Match has it as standard. However it seems to be a simple fix via VCDS to programme the A6 to include this featureNo memory seats. That could be it. I'll find out thanks.
Understand where you are coming from regarding the Tech Pack and I would not criticise anyone for speccing it, but when i was ordering my A6 a few months ago the dealer and also the Audi Finance person said it was not worth including as the car has Sat Nav as standard, it has little impact on the trade-in value and the full cost of the option would have been reflected in the PCP rental. On the strength of this I decided to manage without it for another 3 years and use my iPhone on the occasions I needed a more comprehensive set of traffic information
Interesting view @elan2s - and agree many of these options come down to the cost and need to be considered carefully. I did spec the Tech Pack and it is really a "nice to have" - it's not crucial, but it is great having Google Earth imagery both in the enlarged central display _and_ in the central of the driver's binnacle - I am not going to use the Hard Drive at all - only for the sat nav. That said, I personally think all of that will be changing in the next year and going the way of the new Audi TT, where the traditional Speedo and Rev counter etc are replaced with one huge display in the driver's binnacle that adapts to the particular situation... so landscape Sat Nav with reduced sized Speedo/Rev etc... so with this not sure how valuable my Tech Pack will be come 3 or 4 years time at re-sale....
Back to @ryanb741 's original question, I took delivery of my new A6 Black Edition in May... it comes well specced as standard, but here's what I ordered on top:
- LED Matrix Headlights - "only" (ha ha if only my wife could hear me say this!) about £960 extra on the Black Edition but forgetting the re-sale value, these things are TRULY AMAZING. I know I should have been out in the middle of the night before now trying them out (I had demoed them on a TT at the dealership), but I really only got to test them the other week driving through the New Forest and surrounding areas at night... it was like daylight! My wife was absolutely convinced that the occasional oncoming driver would flash us "because we were on full beam", but _none_ did... she was also convinced that ALL of the cat's eyes in the road from Southampton to Wimborne had been replaced because "they were so bright"!!! - thoroughly recommend this option, get it for YOU and not re-sale.
- Panoramic sun roof - this seemed to take my final PCP payment DOWN!! and it really lightens up the A6 interior. Very glad to have it.
- Parking system - have used the auto-parking a few times to demo to people and it's quite freaky... but works very well! Still not used to the camera and am wary of trusting _myself_ (not the tech) to depend on the camera when parking.
- Ambient Lighting - there is hardly anything written about this online and the Audi description / pictures are woeful in brochures. Will it add resale value? Probably not... though it might make the car more desirable. It is _very subtle_ but if you regularly park in dark/unlit areas in the winter, you'll be grateful. Oh lastly, for the record, it doesn't light in different colours... just a variable white colour which you dim using the MMI.
- Heated steering wheel - aww schucks... at £180 why not!? (Don't tell my wife!) - for such a low amount compared to the car value, this might be useful on super cold days and will add desirability when reselling - possibly! You've got to really dive into the config system to find this one to put on the order!
- Heated front and rear seats - with leather, I think you have to get at least heated front seats and it works out at only an incremental amount more to get rear too - the kids will be grateful - one day.
- Folding mirrors - I need these to get my car in the garage - yes I am one of those strange traditionalists that puts their car in a garage overnight!
Hope this all helps/adds to the discussion
(p.s. Final tip for anyone with an upgraded stereo... do not really on bog-standard MP3s... I have re-ripped ALL of my music collection to FLAC or Windows Lossless format and now I've stopped whinging that the stereo wasn't up to scratch!!!)
Back to @ryanb741 's original question, I took delivery of my new A6 Black Edition in May... it comes well specced as standard, but here's what I ordered on top:
- LED Matrix Headlights - "only" (ha ha if only my wife could hear me say this!) about £960 extra on the Black Edition but forgetting the re-sale value, these things are TRULY AMAZING. I know I should have been out in the middle of the night before now trying them out (I had demoed them on a TT at the dealership), but I really only got to test them the other week driving through the New Forest and surrounding areas at night... it was like daylight! My wife was absolutely convinced that the occasional oncoming driver would flash us "because we were on full beam", but _none_ did... she was also convinced that ALL of the cat's eyes in the road from Southampton to Wimborne had been replaced because "they were so bright"!!!
- thoroughly recommend this option, get it for YOU and not re-sale.- Panoramic sun roof - this seemed to take my final PCP payment DOWN!! and it really lightens up the A6 interior. Very glad to have it.
- Parking system - have used the auto-parking a few times to demo to people and it's quite freaky... but works very well! Still not used to the camera and am wary of trusting _myself_ (not the tech) to depend on the camera when parking.
- Ambient Lighting - there is hardly anything written about this online and the Audi description / pictures are woeful in brochures. Will it add resale value? Probably not... though it might make the car more desirable. It is _very subtle_ but if you regularly park in dark/unlit areas in the winter, you'll be grateful. Oh lastly, for the record, it doesn't light in different colours... just a variable white colour which you dim using the MMI.
- Heated steering wheel - aww schucks... at £180 why not!? (Don't tell my wife!) - for such a low amount compared to the car value, this might be useful on super cold days and will add desirability when reselling - possibly! You've got to really dive into the config system to find this one to put on the order!
- Heated front and rear seats - with leather, I think you have to get at least heated front seats and it works out at only an incremental amount more to get rear too - the kids will be grateful - one day.
- Folding mirrors - I need these to get my car in the garage - yes I am one of those strange traditionalists that puts their car in a garage overnight!
Hope this all helps/adds to the discussion
(p.s. Final tip for anyone with an upgraded stereo... do not really on bog-standard MP3s... I have re-ripped ALL of my music collection to FLAC or Windows Lossless format and now I've stopped whinging that the stereo wasn't up to scratch!!!)
The tech pack is more for the bigger screen and now getting the map in the DIS. I don't know about PCP and monthly payments - but it is one of the best features for making the cabin more beautiful.
Having almost all options on my car, the ones that have stopped me trading it in / can't live without on my next main family car:
The special ones:
Interestingly / annoyingly, the A7 came with HUD as part of tech pack advanced which is why so many A7's have it, and almost no A6's have it.
What is worse, is that BMW have released a HUD retrofit for most cars for little over £600.
Steering wheel is too big IMO. Lack of DAB is outrageous.
Having almost all options on my car, the ones that have stopped me trading it in / can't live without on my next main family car:
- Head Up Display - I rarely look at the binnacle now. I stress less about speed traps etc.
- Top View - the size of the A6 with 20" wheels creates the need for this. None of my alloys are marked and parking is a doddle with this. In London, it is brilliant.
- ACC - just for motorway it's a concentration saver. Best with Tech Pack advanced.
The special ones:
- LED: You can easily live without, but definitely worth it are the LED lights, apart from bringing more road presence, the night time driving is amazing. On the facelift, this is less an issue (LED as standard) and I've read that Matrix LED lighting still too slow to react, annoying other road drivers.
- Electric seats - this comes with S-Line spec I think??? either way - can't have a lucury car without this. Just annoying the passenger side doesn't have memory.
- Electric tailgate - you kick under the bumper to open the boot which is more useful than you would think. Electric close is just brilliant.
- Ambient lighting - gives such a nice ambience
- Electric steering wheel adjustment - if you can find it, it's great. Steering wheel moves out of the way when you power down.
- Sports Diff - if you like corners, this is great, especially for a big car, it helps. Worth getting with S-Line suspension which reduces body roll even further and car looks lower and meaner 20mm lower.
- Powerfold mirrors - always loved these when locking doors.
Interestingly / annoyingly, the A7 came with HUD as part of tech pack advanced which is why so many A7's have it, and almost no A6's have it.
What is worse, is that BMW have released a HUD retrofit for most cars for little over £600.
Steering wheel is too big IMO. Lack of DAB is outrageous.
@woollyjoe did you see my comment right above about the Matrix LED Lights? Where are you reading that it's annoying for other drivers? The lights were reacting so quickly that neither me or my wife could see any sudden changes when the lights were going and on black dark roads, other road users had plenty of chances to flash me - none did. I think they're brilliant... that said I haven't been on the receiving end...
As to electric tailgate - I have the Avant, so electric tailgate/boot opening is standard, but I am concerned about the convenience key - that you need to make the "kick under boot" function work - too many cars are being pinched at the moment because apparently there's a kit on eBay that you can buy for about £20-35 that enables car thieves to just sit and record the keys and then pinch the car - Seems to be a major problem for Range Rovers but BBC Watchdog (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...gramme-electronic-keys-steal-luxury-cars.html ) listed Audi in there too.
Matrix LED - Honest John reported that they were not working quick enough. I have the pre facelift C7 so my LED's only dynamic to road itself. I get flashed a lot by other drivers just because the colour is white and they think they are full beam until you give them a flash back.
The electric tailgate is not standard on Saloon which is what I have.
RE the keyless - I forgot to add that as a special feature I love. You are exaggerating the problem, but sure, I agree but not going to let this stop me having a better car. You do need to be much more organised than ebay and £35 to do what BBC watchdog are showing. My car has tracker and there are plenty other security features you can use to prevent the car being stolen. A simple accelerator lock, steering wheel lock, lockable post when car is parked and so on. Looking at cars that are stolen, their locations are half the issue.
The electric tailgate is not standard on Saloon which is what I have.
RE the keyless - I forgot to add that as a special feature I love. You are exaggerating the problem, but sure, I agree but not going to let this stop me having a better car. You do need to be much more organised than ebay and £35 to do what BBC watchdog are showing. My car has tracker and there are plenty other security features you can use to prevent the car being stolen. A simple accelerator lock, steering wheel lock, lockable post when car is parked and so on. Looking at cars that are stolen, their locations are half the issue.
Ok I'll check the Honest John review...but I've not been flashed once
On keyless fair points and I (would certainly!) hope it is absolutely more difficult than just ordering a £35 gadget on eBay... and agree that it's maybe location centric problems too...
Cheers
I can only comment on the options I was after, and fitted to mine. bought the car second hand and it took over 12 months of hunting to get some of the bits I wanted, and some bits I wasn't bothered about.
Active cruise - love my toys and this is great, ok really only used on the motorway but it's worth it
Sports diff - really gives the car bite on the corners, if you enjoy a spirited drive worth the cost. I was initially after an RS but couldn't stretch the funds high enough so this gave me some of the fun.
Dynamic steering - just just no!!
Folding mirrors - looks cool when you lock as they fold, a gadget but nice.
Audi connect - if it didn't come with the advanced tech pack I wouldn't of bothered, google maps is nice to have but the rest is easier on the smart phone.
Pre sense plus - actually quite handy on the motorway for the blind spots given the length of the beast.
Brake guard - it has actually beaten me to the brakes on an occasion so must work well lol
Front and rear parking sensors - very handy although they can be over sensitive going red when I've still got a 1.5 feet to go.
The larger screen on the tech pack is very nice and having the directions in the centre binnacle is fantastic and very flash hahaha
Bum warmers - first frosty morning you will regret if you don't
4 zone climatic control - pointless, especially if you have kids!
Options are a personal thing don't let dealers persuade you other wise, from experience they tend to know f all....
Enjoy creating the list!!
Active cruise - love my toys and this is great, ok really only used on the motorway but it's worth it
Sports diff - really gives the car bite on the corners, if you enjoy a spirited drive worth the cost. I was initially after an RS but couldn't stretch the funds high enough so this gave me some of the fun.
Dynamic steering - just just no!!
Folding mirrors - looks cool when you lock as they fold, a gadget but nice.
Audi connect - if it didn't come with the advanced tech pack I wouldn't of bothered, google maps is nice to have but the rest is easier on the smart phone.
Pre sense plus - actually quite handy on the motorway for the blind spots given the length of the beast.
Brake guard - it has actually beaten me to the brakes on an occasion so must work well lol
Front and rear parking sensors - very handy although they can be over sensitive going red when I've still got a 1.5 feet to go.
The larger screen on the tech pack is very nice and having the directions in the centre binnacle is fantastic and very flash hahaha
Bum warmers - first frosty morning you will regret if you don't
4 zone climatic control - pointless, especially if you have kids!
Options are a personal thing don't let dealers persuade you other wise, from experience they tend to know f all....
Enjoy creating the list!!
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The facelift introduced Accoustic Glass to the drivers and passenger doors. This is actually laminated glass and therefore it would be something of a challenge for a thief to break the glass, lean in and plug the device into the OBD port to unlock the car. far be it for me to suggest that Audi introduced this only for the benefit of our ears and with no thoughts as to the improved security! BTW the car is quieter too.
To woolyjoe's point DAB has been standard (not just on the A6) since 2013.
Think carefully about the Panoramic Sunroof on the Avant. Whilst it undoubtedly is a nice feature and will lighten up the very black interior of the S-line, many people seem to have had issues with them failing, also every 2 years it requires a maintenance service at a cost of about £160
Strangely something the sales people seem to "forget" to tell the customer. Been postings on other boards complaining about this
I'll bear that in mind as I am thinking of switching to an Avant soon, just bought a big dog!
You sure about the laminated glass on side windows? The A7 has it as standard, but wasn't aware it was in A6. The double layered glass is amazing.
The Acoustic windscreen is standard, but it is still one piece of glass.
The Acoustic windscreen is standard, but it is still one piece of glass.
My new A6 is much quieter than the previous (Nov 2011) A6 model... I will have to check tomorrow to see if there are any tell tale signs on the glass code that the side windows at the front are laminated?
Hhhmm didn't know that about the sun roof! But any part of the car that opens... and in this case directly exposed to the sun in many cases I would think, should be checked on a semi-regular basis... the whole family enjoys it anyway!
Thanks all. Car ordered. Ended up going S-Line not BITDI as I felt the 20" wheels gave a firm ride around London.
Specced;
Sunroof
Parking Pack
Privacy Glass
Ambient Lighting
Tech Pack
Folding Mirrors
Delivery should be mid November. Pretty excited actually. Got a really good deal on it too so overall happy to remain with an Audi (current car is a 2013 A3 Sportback S Line)
Specced;
Sunroof
Parking Pack
Privacy Glass
Ambient Lighting
Tech Pack
Folding Mirrors
Delivery should be mid November. Pretty excited actually. Got a really good deal on it too so overall happy to remain with an Audi (current car is a 2013 A3 Sportback S Line)
