Today I.....

If Audi don't wish us to soil their precious showroom floor whilst adding to their profit line, then I suggest they go back to the practice of years gone by. Put the 'parts department' around the back with its own entrance.

However if I was JIGSAW I would be apoplectic. Whatever your state, given your car has broken down and you've been trying to repair it already, the Doorman should be leading you to the parts desk not turning you away. Shame on them.
 
Because of the way Audi treated me when I had my first A2, maybe 10 years ago, across a range of dealers, I will never buy another car from an Audi dealer again. It's too easy for them and they don't give a stuff for the most part.

I mentioned this to the then head of Audi uk at an ADI a good few years ago, and I was given a hearing, but actually they don't care.

Since I have reduced my expectation, I have been lees disappointed. Just saying ...
 
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Today I .......approached her and pressed the remote, and I saw her flash her lights at me one last time. I opened her door and she whimpered, by means of the CCCU clicking, as she must have detected it was to be her last time she would have power, sadly I powered down the car by finally disconnecting the battery, and put her to rest, RIP my A2.




Cheers
Sarge
 
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Today I .......approached her and pressed the remote, and I saw her flash her lights at me one last time. I opened her door and she whimpered, by means of the CCCU clicking, as she must have detected it was to be her last time she would have power, sadly I finally powered down the car by finally disconnecting the battery, and put her to rest, RIP my A2.




Cheers
Sarge

Wow, that is powerful and quite upsetting.
 
Sorry didn't mean to upset anyone, just saying what I feel, as I do feel a strong connection to the car/s, I've likely to have had more A2's go through my hands then anyone else. I'm not just like any old breaker out there, and feel bad even though I have no choice with the 3 breakers due to go through my careful disassembly line.


I can't help to think/dream that if costs/finances weren't an issue, I'd be showing the world what the A2 is capable of!


Cheers
Sarge
 
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Today I fitted Osram Night Breaker Unlimited dipped beam and Philips LED sidelights.
Looking forward to going out this evening and seeing the difference.

Geoff
 
Today I fitted Osram Night Breaker Unlimited dipped beam and Philips LED sidelights.
Looking forward to going out this evening and seeing the difference.

Geoff

You will see a good improvement and they are well worth the money.

The only way to get an even bigger improvement is a Bi-Xenon (or HIDs)

I am so pleased with the Bi-Xenons, I finally have a crisp white, bright light that has a super fine cut off on dipped beam.

But the Night Breakers are the best value for money.

Steve B
 
You will see a good improvement and they are well worth the money.

The only way to get an even bigger improvement is a Bi-Xenon (or HIDs)

I am so pleased with the Bi-Xenons, I finally have a crisp white, bright light that has a super fine cut off on dipped beam.

But the Night Breakers are the best value for money.

Steve B

Can I ask a question? What things you need to have on a car in UK to have xenon headlights? Because in my country now it is very strict law to have aftermarket headlights with xenon bulbs. For us it's impossible because car should have such lighting option from factory (oem). Second thing you need a working washing system for headlights and automatic headlight leveling which depends from how much car is loaded, so them beam won't disturb other drivers. If theese three coditions are met then a car can be with either oem or non oem xenon headlights.

Talking about bulbs I went back to silverstars 2.0 because NBU only lasted for 6months, while previous silverstars lasted twice as much. If NBU have a longer life span there wouldn't be any questions.
 
Can I ask a question? What things you need to have on a car in UK to have xenon headlights? Because in my country now it is very strict law to have aftermarket headlights with xenon bulbs. For us it's impossible because car should have such lighting option from factory (oem). Second thing you need a working washing system for headlights and automatic headlight leveling which depends from how much car is loaded, so them beam won't disturb other drivers. If theese three coditions are met then a car can be with either oem or non oem xenon headlights.

Talking about bulbs I went back to silverstars 2.0 because NBU only lasted for 6months, while previous silverstars lasted twice as much. If NBU have a longer life span there wouldn't be any questions.

The law in the UK confuses people, especially in relation to the MOT test.

Some people believe that if you fit Xenon (HID) headlamps you have to fit auto levelling and headlamp washers, That is not the case at all.

The situation is that if a car is MANUFACTURED with Xenon / HID headlamps it must have auto levelling and headlamp washers and if these are not working when MOT tested it will fail.
BUT (and I have checked) if you have fitted Xenon / HID headlamps to a car that didn't have them from the factory, then you DON'T have to have headlamp washers or auto levelling fitted.

We are very lucky in the UK in that we can modify our vehicles without restrictions as long as the car is deemed safe and MOT worthy.

I have personally driven a "roadworthy and legal" Settee, Skip, motor boat and seen a garden shed, all legal for the road !

The downside is that there are a few cars in the UK that have dangerous modifications, but fortunately these are very rare.

Steve B
 
Oh, so you have slightly better laws there.

But as a driver who passes by those aftermarket xenon headlight users in the road, I completely agree that autolevelling should be required. On the other hand sometimes I wish to have xenon lights, but I like oem parts, so if audi decided that our a2s are good enough without xenon/HID lighting - so be it :)
 
Oh, so you have slightly better laws there.

But as a driver who passes by those aftermarket xenon headlight users in the road, I completely agree that autolevelling should be required. On the other hand sometimes I wish to have xenon lights, but I like oem parts, so if audi decided that our a2s are good enough without xenon/HID lighting - so be it :)

The A2 headlamps are very poor and much dimmer than they should be (in my view) so I don't actually think that they were "good enough" for Audi either, but it was the best they could come up with.

I have tried 100W headlamp bulbs and they were much better but they are illegal in the UK as well.

I then tried proper LED headlamps (not just an LED bulb) and they were brighter still but the beam spread was terrible and could have dazzled oncoming traffic.

As for the Bi-Xenon projectors I now have they has a very clear cut off, as clear as I have seen, so they will not be dazzling anyone. I have them adjusted quite low anyway and with passengers (or heavy items) in the back they don't raise high enough to dazzle anyone anyway.

As for the self levelling, the height adjuster on the A2 is good enough to handle that and being blinded by a non xenon headlamp is pretty much as dangerous as being blinded by any bulb. So I am VERY happy with my xenons, they are bright and very white and the beam pattern is spot on. I think they are the perfect solution to the dim standard bulbs on the A2 (and they are legal, which is more than can be said about the 100w bulbs I had to use to get a decent light before now)

But I know what you mean about being dazzled by xenons, I have been dazzled a few times and it was by OEM xenons that were either faulty or where the driver had them on main beam, more often than not.

I don't like dazzling, but I don't like having headlamps that are as powerful as a couple of candles either, so I had to do something.

Great chatting with you, have fun.

Steve B
 
I'm not saying this to you Birchall personally. I believe you have expensive and good, high quality headlights.

but in my country we have average car age something about 13 years it is really annoying to pass such cars which owners are using HIDs in a most basic headlights which are not even of a clear glass like our a2. So that is a problem, or was, because now such drivers can lose their MOT just on the street. Another thing is like 90% of drivers are not using levelling function from inside.. And there was when you were not able to get MOT if it is not working, people do not understand why it is so useful. And I hope that one day our drivers will be more sophisticated and self cautious. So I'm talking from my perspective which is obviously different from yours.

By the way I found my a2 lighting really good after I was driving vw passat with non oem halogen headlights. :)
 
Good to hear your views and I agree with them, it is just that I have been lucky to find a set of xenons that seem to be safe and bright. They were not hugely expensive (£130 a pair including digital ballasts) they were just well designed.

We are in agreement that badly fitted kits or those that have a poor beam spread are simply dangerous.

Steve B
 
Today I.... Dropped my wheels off at wheel clinic to be refurbed - going for Anthracite rather than the original polished and lacquered finish. Also drained and refilled the gearbox oil and fitted new pads and discs.

Simon.
 
Sco, well done!

Today I.. cleaned the interior :) need to go for a wash because the forecast is saying no rain for a week.
 
Thanks! Tomorrows work plan is starter motor strip and re-grease and passenger door check-strap. Depending on what state the strap is in I'm hoping to be able to repair rather than replace ;-)

Simon.
 
So today I did manage to strip the starter motor - seemed all more or less ok internally although there was some light scuffing on the solenoid plunger which I polished out and then applied a thin smear of Moly grease to. The motor contains an epicyclic gear train to increase the torque that the motor applies to the flywheel ring gear - I suspect the noise that you can hear when it doesn't disengage smartly is the epicyclic being driven in reverse as it were.

Also had a look at the passenger door check strap - what are those door trim pop studs like to get off! Anyway the nylon bushes just seemed to have minor wear rather than any damage so just lubed and refitted for the time being. Also replaced a few missing engine under-tray fasteners and tried to tidy up the bottom edge of the front bumper - where it meets the under-tray it was a little deformed so used some heat to encourage it in the right direction ;-)

Simon.
 
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Today I fitted 2 rear springs new alloys and also carried out a full service removed the stupid tuning box. And finally changed the front discs and pads.

Cheers Raj
 
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