2006 A6 4.2 V8 Avant - gearbox and Quattro servicing?

[RoVoFob]

I am a week into owning a 2006 A6 Avant 4.2 Quattro and am looking to spruce it up where I can. It looks very tidy and drives nicely, but I’m sure there are a few areas where it could benefit from attention.

It has had three oil services in the last 10,000 miles or so, so that side seems to be covered - the most recent a month ago or so. I’m wondering about what automatic gearbox servicing and 4WD servicing would be valuable, though.

It has 88,000 miles on it. I believe Audi presents the gearbox as ‘sealed for life’ but I understand that flushing the transmission fluid is a good idea - is this just an ATF flush or something else? Would you recommend doing that now?

What’s the score on servicing the Quattro system - are there set servicing intervals? What exactly is changed - is this another fluid flush?

Finally, it has air suspension. Is anything needed to keep this in good nick or simply a case of run the car until this breaks and then replace it?

Thanks. I’m fully up to speed on servicing for BMWs and Volvos of this age, but less so the peripheral Audi systems to keep on top of…

[Dr G]

Officialy none; but it's of an age where preventative maintenance and simply replacing aging parts cannot hurt it, and should help durability/reliability.

A ZF agent/specialist is probably the best, most cost effective person to do the gearbox oil. It's not a cheap job.

The diff is simply a drain and refill job if you want to. Oil doesn't last forever (no matter what Audi say) and any competent garage should be able to do this for you.

I did my gearbox oil (manual, no service interval) at 80 for peace of mind and do the differential oil twice as often as VW say.

[TroubledSoul]

If I remember rightly. that gearbox will have a filter in it that you will need to change as well as the fluid. At least, my S6 did...

[Dr G]

ZF 6HP does, yes.

[RoVoFob]

Dr G said:

Officialy none; but it's of an age where preventative maintenance and simply replacing aging parts cannot hurt it, and should help durability/reliability.

A ZF agent/specialist is probably the best, most cost effective person to do the gearbox oil. It's not a cheap job.

The diff is simply a drain and refill job if you want to. Oil doesn't last forever (no matter what Audi say) and any competent garage should be able to do this for you.

I did my gearbox oil (manual, no service interval) at 80 for peace of mind and do the differential oil twice as often as VW say.

Thanks for the info Dr G.

I’ve been doing some searching today and looks like CCM near Gatwick is one good option as a ZF Pro Tech Plus Accredited garage: https://www.gearbox-flushing.co.uk/services/filter... Looks like £409 is the standard A6 cost. Is that typical for this kind of thing? Suspect they may charge more for a V8 model, just because they can…but maybe I’m being overly cynical!

Stephens Engineering in Ware is another ZF Pro Tech option. Never heard of any of these garages, so will read some reviews.

This place in Hitchin has a slick website and offers engine and gearbox rebuilds, so you’d expect changing gearbox oil/filter to be something they’d do: https://www.vwaudispecialists.co.uk/. Anybody heard of them? Would be handy to have a gearbox and Quattro service done at the same time, but if going to a ZF specialist is worth its weight in gold, I’ll do that.

Decisions, decisions…

[RoVoFob]

TroubledSoul said:

If I remember rightly. that gearbox will have a filter in it that you will need to change as well as the fluid. At least, my S6 did...

Thanks.

So, the work I need to specify is an automatic transmission fluid flush with new filter, and an oil flush for the Quattro rear diff. Is that right?

Just want to be sure what I need, so I can make sure the garages I speak to don’t quote for half jobs and cutting corners.

Thanks again.

[tomsugden]

Talk to Tim at the Phirm.

https://www.thephirm.co.uk/

He will be able to tell you anything you need to know, and do the work for you too.

[a7x88]

tomsugden said:

Talk to Tim at the Phirm.

https://www.thephirm.co.uk/

He will be able to tell you anything you need to know, and do the work for you too.

They did the gearbox change in my S6 (as well as a lot of other jobs!) - highly recommend them

[Dr G]

RoVoFob said:

Looks like £409 is the standard A6 cost. Is that typical for this kind of thing?

Not done one in a good while but sounds cheap.

The oil from Audi is expensive and they take a surprising volume of it; I guess though if that's a ZF agent they're probably not ordering from Audi as same spec likely available elsewhere for a lot less.

Often a little more labour on quattro cars to remove bits for access.

[RoVoFob]

a7x88 said:

tomsugden said:

Talk to Tim at the Phirm.

https://www.thephirm.co.uk/

He will be able to tell you anything you need to know, and do the work for you too.

They did the gearbox change in my S6 (as well as a lot of other jobs!) - highly recommend them

Cheers. Will talk to them about the bits and bobs I need.

My dad used to live walking distance from there, but sadly he’s about 150 miles away now. Doh.

[RoVoFob]

Dr G said:

Not done one in a good while but sounds cheap.

The oil from Audi is expensive and they take a surprising volume of it; I guess though if that's a ZF agent they're probably not ordering from Audi as same spec likely available elsewhere for a lot less.

Often a little more labour on quattro cars to remove bits for access.

Thanks. As you said, Quattro may hike up the price…

Will make some calls and see how the costs compare.

[annodomini2]

Dr G said:

ZF 6HP does, yes.

Some do, some don't.

My 3.0Tdi didn't have one.

[RoVoFob]

So…I’ve phoned seven different companies for gearbox oil change quotes and have had completely different figures back from two companies so far.

Company 1: ZF Pro Tech Plus members, Hertfordshire
£336 inc VAT for fluid, filter and sump gasket
£456 inc VAT (if plastic sump)

Company 2: Audi tuning company, Oxfordshire
£872.99 inc VAT (£457 of this is transmission fluid alone)

Company 2’s website states £648 for a gearbox oil change on a CS RS6 (including ATF oil, oil strainer, gaskets, washer, plug and labour)

Is company 1 very cheap and company 2 very expensive, or am I missing something?

Thanks.

[shtu]

I'd guess that's a healthy "audi specialst" labour markup, plus buying in many 1 litre bottles of the Audi-label-bottle fluid. A ZF shop will probably have drums of the stuff.

Years back I did a trawl for all the various manufacturer part numbers of the correct fluid, and stopped at 10 or so - everything from Ford to Land Rover to Kia.

iirc you'll be on ZF LifeGuard 6 or equivalent, M1375.4 - Shell, Ravenol, Motorcraft (and more) all make equivalents. I seem to remember Mercon SP was the cheapest option at the time, but that was 5+ years ago.

https://aftermarket.zf.com/remotemedia/lol-lubrica...



Me? I'd probably go to the gearbox place.

[RoVoFob]

So here’s the rundown so far…did contact two other places that haven’t got back to me yet.

Don’t understand how the ZF accredited places can charge such different prices; couldn’t justify paying Company B prices when their credentials seem similar to Company A.

Company D is out for being too expensive compared with Company E, which is well respected and has been recommended further up this thread.

Company C is out, as going to a ZF accredited place or Audi specialist would make more sense.

Happy to name all the companies/DM anyone with more details if you’re interested, but I’m wary of PH’s OTT take on naming and shaming.

Anything to be wary of here? I’m thinking of going with Company A or Company E with ZF parts and also getting them to do a Quattro service and change the rear brakes at the same time.

Thanks for all your thoughts so far.

——————————————————————————————————————
Company A: ZF Pro Tech Plus members, automatic gearbox specialist, Hertfordshire
£336 inc VAT for fluid, filter and sump gasket
£456 inc VAT (if plastic sump)

Company B: ZF Pro Tech Plus Accredited automatic gearbox specialist, Surrey
£792.49 inc VAT (inc flush)
£652.73 inc VAT (exc flush)

Company C: BMW specialist that offers ZF gearbox servicing, Essex
£360 inc VAT

Company D: Audi tuning company, Oxfordshire
£872.99 inc VAT (£457 of this is transmission fluid alone)
[Website states £648 for gearbox oil change on CS RS6 (including ATF oil, oil strainer, gaskets, washer, plug and labour)]

Company E: VAG specialist, Surrey
£724.33 inc VAT (Audi parts)
£584.33 inc VAT (ZF parts)

[RoVoFob]

shtu said:

I'd guess that's a healthy "audi specialst" labour markup, plus buying in many 1 litre bottles of the Audi-label-bottle fluid. A ZF shop will probably have drums of the stuff.

Years back I did a trawl for all the various manufacturer part numbers of the correct fluid, and stopped at 10 or so - everything from Ford to Land Rover to Kia.

iirc you'll be on ZF LifeGuard 6 or equivalent, M1375.4 - Shell, Ravenol, Motorcraft (and more) all make equivalents. I seem to remember Mercon SP was the cheapest option at the time, but that was 5+ years ago.

https://aftermarket.zf.com/remotemedia/lol-lubrica...

Me? I'd probably go to the gearbox place.

Thanks. Yes, I’m sure. That place is still about 20% more than the other VAG specialists, though, which seems a bit extreme…

The expensive place did specify LL8 Gearbox oil (G060162A2), if that means anything.

[RoVoFob]

After the recommendations from several people on here, I’m off to The Phirm tomorrow for gearbox and Quattro servicing, rear brakes and a good check over.

Thanks for all the info and recommendations. Wish me luck!