2012 AUDI A6 airbag

Safet y fir st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Driving Safely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Proper occupant seating posit ions . . . 124
Driver and passenger side footwell . . . 128
Pedal area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Stowing luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
R eport ing Safety Defects . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Why safety bel ts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Safety belt p re tens ioners . . . . . . . . . . 140
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
I mpor tant th ings to know . . . . . . . . . . 1 42
Fr ont airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
M onitoring the Advanced Airbag
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Knee airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Side curta in a irbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Ch ild Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . 168
C hi ld safety seats ............ .... . 174
Install ing a chi ld safety seat . . . . . . . . 179
L A TC H L ower ancho rages and tethe rs
fo r ch ild ren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2
Addit io nal Informa tion 186
Audi pre sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Pr even ta ti ve passe nger p rotec tion 18 7
Vehicle operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Intelligent technology . . . . . . . . 189
N ot ice about da ta re corded by vehi cle
con trol mo dules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Electronic stabilization program (ESP) 189
Bra king . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Electro-mechanical power assist . . . . . 193
Driving w ith your quattro ® . . . . . . . . . 193
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Table of contents 3
Driving and environment . . . . .
196
T he first 1,000 miles (1 ,500 km) and
afterwa rds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Catalytic co nverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Avoid damaging the vehicle . . . . . . . . . 197
Drivi ng throug h wate r on roads . . . . . 198
Operate your vehicle eco nomically and
min imize poll ution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
D riving with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
T ra ile r tow ing t ips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Cleaning and protection . . . . . . 204
General infor mation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4
C are of ex ter ior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4
Care o f inte rior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Fuel supply and filling your
fuel tank ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .... ... .
215
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
F uel tank. ... .. .... . ... ...... ... . 216
Checking and filling . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Engine hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Engine o il . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Engine cooling system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Battery . .. .. .. .... .. ........ ... . 230
Windsh ie ld/headlight washer
c onta iner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
T ires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
T ire pressure mo nitoring system 253
Do-it -yourself s ervice . . . . . . . . . 256
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
T ru nk escape h andle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
E mergency warn ing triangle . . . . . . . . 256
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Changi ng a wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
•
•

(!) Door handle
@
®
©
®
®
(j)
Audi side assist d isplay
Power locking sw itches
Memory function buttons . ... .
Aud i side assist button .. .. .. .
A ir vents with thumbwheel
Control lever for :
- T urn signal an h igh beam
@ Multifunction steering wheel
with:
- Horn
- Driver's airbag
- Driver information system but-
tons . .. ............. .... .
- Audio/video, telephone and
vo ice recogn ition buttons
- Steering wheel heating* ... .
- Shift padd les* (mu ltit ron -
. ®) 1c or ... .... .. .. ... .. .. .
- Shift padd les* (tiptronic ®) . . .
® Instrument cluster ..... .. .. .
@ H ead-up Display* ...... .. .. .
@ Windsh ield washer system
l ever .... .. .. ... ..... ... .. .
@ Buttons for :
- MM I display
- Reset button for tr ip odome-
ter .. .. ................. .
@ Starting the engine if there is a
malfunction ........... .... .
~ Knee airbag* .......... .... .
@ Steering whee l adjustment, de­
pending on equipment:
- mechanical . ............. .
- electrical ......... ...... . .
@ Leverfo r:
- Cruise contro l system
- Adaptive cruise cont ro l* . ... .
@ Button for switch ing the Head­
up Display* on/off, adjusting the
h eight .. ................ . .
@ Instrument illumination ... .. .
@ Eng ine hood release .... .. .. .
@ D ata Link Connector for On
Board Diag nos tics ( OBD II) . .. .
87
35
53
87
43
146
23
68
105
11 1
11
27
46
26
72
159
69
69
76
78
27
44
220
28
In strument s and control s 9
@ Light sw itch ..... . .. .. ..... .
@ Buttons for :
- All -weathe r lights*
- Night vision assistant* .. ... .
- Rear fog lights . .......... .
@) Rear lid switch . .... ........ .
@ Power exterior m irror adjust-
ment .. .. .. .. ............ .
@) Power w indows .... ........ .
@ MMI display
@ Emergency flashers .. .. .. ... .
@ Glove compar tment ........ .
@ Front passenger's airbag .... .
@ Valet parking feature ....... .
@ Drives (MMI)
@ Buttons/Indicator ligh ts for
- P arking system ........... .
- PASSENG ER AIR BAG OFF ... .
- Rear w indow power sun
shade* ....... ...... ..... .
- Electron ic Stabilization Pro-
gram (ESP) .. .. .......... .
@) Climate controls, depending on
vehicle equipment:
- Three-zone cl imate control ..
- Four-zone automat ic climate
contro l ... .. ............ .
@ Storage compa rtment or ash-
t ray* with c igaret te lig hte r* ...
@ I S TAR T ENGINE ST OPI button
@ MMI controls
@ 12-volt socket *, ( upholder
@ Elec tromechanical parking
brake .. .. .. .. .... ... .... . .
@ Depend ing o n veh icle equ ip­
ment, selector lever (a utomatic
t ransmission) for
- m ultitronic ® ............. .
- S tronic ®
(D Tips
41
41
97
41
36
48
38
42 56
146
38
113
155
45
191
64
66
54 ,54
70
55 ,55
73
102
107
- Some of the equipment o r feat ures
shown in the genera l ill ustration may be
standard equ ipment on your vehicle or
may be opt ional equ ipment depending

18 Instruments and warning/indicator lights
level warning 11!1. By then, your engine
may already have suffered serious dam·
age .
~ Engine oil level
• WARNING: Please add oil immediately
When the symbo l an d the driver message ap­
pear, the oil has to be replenished r ight now
co page 222.
If th e indica tor light and the message appear,
a d d engine oil immed iate ly
co page 225.
Ill Add oil, max . x qt (l). You may continue
driving
W hen the symbol and the dr ive r message ap­
pear, add t he amo unt of o il appearing in the
d is pl ay a t the next opport unit y
co page 222 .
~- Steering column lock
• Do not drive vehicle: Steering defective
If t he indicator light tu rns on and t he mes­
sage a ppears, t he re is an ele ct ro nic steer ing
col um n lo ck ma lf u nction. You c annot sw itch
the ign ition on.
D o
not tow your vehicle because i t ca nnot be
s teered. Seek professional ass istance.
1!!11 Steering lock : system fault . Please con­
tact dealer
If the indicator light t urns on and t he mes­
sage appears , th ere is an elect ronic steer ing
column lock ma lfunction .
Drive to yo ur autho rized Aud i dea le r i mmedi­
ately to have the mal function corrected.
A WARNING
Your vehicle must not be towed in the
event of a malfunct io n in the electron ic
s te eri ng colum n loc k because i t cannot b e
s teer ed du e to t he locked s teering . If it is
to wed w ith the s tee ring lo cked, there is
t he ri sk of an accide nt.
© -Engine start system
• Engine start system fault. Please con­
tact dealer
If th e indicato r ligh t turns on and the mes ­
sage app ears, do
not switch the ig nitio n off
be cause you may no t be a ble to sw itch i t on
ag ain .
D rive to your authorized A udi dealer i mmed i­
ate ly to have th e ma lfu nction corr ected .
II! Engine start system fault. Please con ­
tact dealer
If the indicato r light turns on and the mes ­
sage appears, there is a malfunct ion in the en­
gine sta rt system.
Drive to your authorized A udi dealer immedi ­
ate ly to have the ma lfunction corrected.
~ii !i: Safety systems
The fl (USA models)/ E,i (Canada models) in­
dicator light mo nitors the sa fety systems e.g.
airbags , pretensione rs and illuminates fo r a
f e w s econds each time you switch the ign it io n
o n .
If the
fl (USA models)/ E,i (Canada mode ls)
i ndicato r light does not go o ut, or if it illum i­
na tes whil e you are driving, o r if it s tarts to
blink, then there is a malfu nctio n so mewhe re
i n t he sys te m .
If the light does no t illumina te
whe n you swi tch the ig nitio n on, this also
mea ns there is a mal funct ion .
A WARNING ~
If yo u have a ma lf un ction in t he safety sy s-
tems , contact you r authorized Audi dea le r
i mmediately. Othe rwise the safety sys­
tems may not work pr operly in an acc i­
dent.

-When you leave the vehicle, always take
the ignition key with you. This will pre­
vent passengers (children, for example)
from accidentally being locked in the ve­ hicle should they accidentally press the
power locking switch in the doors .
- Do not leave children inside the vehicle
unsupervised. In an emergency it would
be impossible to open the doors from
the outside without the key.
- Applies to vehicles with power side door
closer*:
- When closing a door, make sure noth­
ing can interfere with the door. This
could cause serious personal injury.
- You can stop the door from closing at
any time by pulling on the inside or
outside door handle .
@ Tips
-In the event of a crash with airbag de­
ployment all locked doors will be auto­
matically unlocked to give access to the
vehicle occupants from the outside.
- If the power locking system should mal­
function, you can lock the driver's door
using the mechanical key¢
page 36 .
-If the power locking system should fail,
you can still open the fuel tank flap in an
emergency ¢
page 218.
-You are well advised not to keep valua ­
bles inside an unattended vehicle, visible
or not . Even a properly locked vehicle
cannot provide the security of a safe .
- If the LED in the upper edge of the driv­
er's door panel comes on for about 30
seconds after the vehicle is locked, there
is a malfunction in the power locking or
the anti-theft warning system. Have the
malfunction corrected by an authorized
Audi dealership or qualified repair facili­
ty.
Opening and closing 33
Setting power locking
T he driver can determine the functions for
power locking in the MMI .
.,. Select: !CAR !function button> Car systems
control bu tton > Vehicle settings > Central
lo cking .
Unlock doors -
You can decide if All doors or
only the
Dri ver should unlock. The rear lid al­
so unlocks when
All is selected . If you select
Driver in a vehicle with a convenience key* ,
only the door whose handle you pull will un­
lock.
If you select
Driver , all the doors and rear lid
will unlock if you press the
ffi button on the re­
mote control master key twice .
Lock exterior trunk handle -If you selec t On,
the rear lid handle is locked . In this case the
rear lid can be opened with the button
a on
the master key or with the
a button in the
driver's door . In vehicles with a convenience
key* , you can still open the rear lid using the
handle if an authorized master key is near the
proximity sensor .
Fold mirrors* -If you select On, the exterior
rearview mirrors fold in automatically when
you press the
(TI button on the remote contro l
master key or touch the sensor* in the handle .
Lock when driving -If you select On, the vehi ­
cle locks automatically when driving. All of
the doors and rear lid lock.
Tone when locking -When you select On, a
confirmation tone sounds when you lock the
vehicle.

36 Opening and clo sing
- Rear doors : pu ll the door handle once to re­
l ease the lock. Pull the handle
again to open
the door .
- If you have a crash and the airbag is activat­
ed, the doors automatically un lock .
A WARNING
-The power locking switch works with the
ignition off and automatically locks the
entire vehicle whe n it is actuated .
- On a vehicle locked from the outside the
power locking system switch is inopera­
t ive .
- Locking doors from the inside can help
prevent inadvertent door opening during
an acc ident and ca n also prevent unwa nt­
ed entry from the outs id e. Locked doors
can, however, de lay ass istance to ve hicle
o ccupants and hold up res cue efforts
from the o utside in an a ccident or other
emergency.
(D Tips
Your vehicle is locked automatically at a
speed of 9 mph (15 km/h)
Q page 32 . You
can unlo ck the vehicle again us ing the
open ing f unct ion in the power lock ing sys ­
tem switch.
Emergency locking
Each door must be locked separately if the
pow er locking system fails.
Fig . 2 4 Doo r: Em erge ncy loc king
An emergency lock is located on the f ront end
of the passenger's door and the rear doors (on ly visible when door is open) .
.. Remove the mechanical key
Q page 31 .
.. Pull the cover cap out of the opening
~fig . 24 .
.. Insert the key in the ins ide slot and turn it
all the way to the right (right door) or left
(left door) .
Once the door has been closed, it can no lon­
ger be opened from the outside. The doo r can
be opened from the inside by pulling the door
handle. If the child safety lock in a rear door is
activated, you must f irst pu ll the door handle
on the inside . Then you ca n ope n the doo r
from t he outside .
Rear lid
Opening and closing rear lid
Fig. 25 Drive r's doo r: remote rear lid re lea se
Fi g. 2 6 Posit io n of h an dl e in th e r ear l id
Opening the rear lid
.. Press the midd le butto n~ on th e remote
cont ro l maste r key for at least one second,
o r
.. Pull the re lease but to n
l= I in the driver's
door
Q fig. 25, o r
.. Press t he handle on the rear lid
~ fig. 26.

42 Clear vision
visibility conditions. For example, fog cannot be detected by the light sensors.
So always switch on the headlights
io
under these weather conditions and
when driving in the dark.
- Crashes can happen when you cannot see
the road ahead and when you cannot be
seen by other motorists . Always turn on
the headlights so that you can see ahead and so that others can see your car from
the back.
(D Note
The rear fog lights should only be turned
on in accordance with traffic regulation, as
the lights are bright for following traffic.
@ Tips
-In the event of a light sensor malfunc­
tion, the driver is notified in the instru­
ment cluster display~
page 22.
- You will hear a warning tone if you open
the driver door when the exterior lights
are switched on.
- Please observe legal regulations when
using the lighting systems described .
Emergency flasher
The emergency flasher makes other motorists
aware that you or your vehicle are in an emer­
gency situation.
Fig. 33 Center console : emerge ncy flasher switch
• Press the switch~~ fig. 33 to turn the
emergency flashers on or off.
When the emergency flasher is on, all four
turn signals blink at the same time. The turn signal
indicato r lights ¢ Q in the instrument
cluster, as well as the light in the emergency
fl asher switch ~ blink likewise. The emergen­
cy flashers also work when the ignition is
turned off.
The emergency flashers will turn on automati­
cally if you are in an accident where the airbag
has deployed .
(D Tips
You should turn on the emergency flashers
when:
- you are the last vehicle standing in a traf­
fic jam so that any other vehicles coming
can see you, or when
- your vehicle has broken down or you are
in an emergency situation, or when
- your vehicle is being towed by a tow
truck or if you are towing another vehicle
behind you.
· Adjusting the exterior lighting
The settings ore adjusted in the MMI.
• Select: I CAR I function button > Car systems
control button > Vehicle settings> Exterior
lighting.
Automatic headlights
You can adjust the following settings in the
Automatic headlights menu :
Headlights activation time -You can adjust if
the headlights switch on
Early , Med. or Late
according to the sensitivity of the light sensor .
Audi adaptive light* -You can switch adaptive
light
On and Off .
Daytime running lights
USA models:
You can switch the daytime run­
ning lights
on and off.
Canada models:
The function cannot be
turned off.
It is activated automatically each
time the ignition is switched on. This menu
item is shown "greyed out".

50 Seat s a nd s tor ag e
Seats and storage
General recommen­
dations
Why is your seat adjustment so
important?
The safety belts and the airbag system can
only provide maximum protection if the front
seats are correctly adjusted.
There are various ways of adjust ing the front
seats to provide safe and comfortable support
for the driver and the front passenger . Adjust
you r seat prope rly so that :
- you can easily and quick ly reach all the
switches and controls in the instrument
panel
-your body is prope rly supported thus reduc­
ing physical stress and fatigue
- the safety be lts and a irbag system can offer
maximum protection
¢ page 142 .
In the following sec tions, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust you r seats .
There are special regulations and instructions
for insta lling a child seat on the front pas­
senger's seat. Always fo llow the information
regarding ch ild safety provided in
q page 168, Child Safety.
A WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the driver and
all other passengers can result in serious
personal in jury.
- Always keep your feet on the floor when
the vehicle is in motion -never p ut your
f eet on top of the instrument panel, out
of the w indow or on top of the seat cush­
ion . Th is app lies especially to the passen­
gers .
If your seating posi tion is incorrect,
yo u increase the r isk of injury in the case
of sudden braking or an acc ident.
If the
a irbag infla tes and the seating positio n
is incorrect, this could result in personal
injury o r even death.
- It is import ant for bo th the driver and
front passenger to keep a distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between them­
selves and the steering wheel and/or in­
strument panel. If you're s itting any
closer than th is, the a irbag system can­
not protect you properly . In addition, the
front seats and head restraints must be
adjusted to your body height so that they
can give you max imum protect ion.
- Always try to keep as much distance as
possible between yourself and the steer­
ing wheel o r inst rument pane l.
- Do not adjust the driver's o r front pas­
senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
Your sea t may move unexpected ly, caus­
ing sudden loss of vehicle cont rol and
personal injury . If you adjust yo ur seat
while the veh icle is moving, yo u are out
of posit ion.
Driver's seat '
The correct seat position is important for safe
and relaxed driving.
We recommend tha t you adjus t the dr iver's
seat in the fo llowing manner :
.,. Adjust t he seat in fo re and aft direction so
t ha t you can eas ily pus h the peda ls to the
floor w hile keeping your knees sl igh tly bent
q A in Why is your seat adjustment so im ­
portant? on page 50.
.. Adjust the back rest so that when you sit
w ith your back against t he backrest, you can
still grasp the top of the steering wheel.
.. Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge
is as even as poss ible with the top of your
head . If that is not poss ible , try to adjust
t he head restraint so that it is as close to
t his pos it ion as possib le
q page 52.
A WARNING
Neve r place any objects in the dr iver's foot ­
well. An object could get into the pedal
area and interfere with pedal function . In
case of sudden braking or an acc ident, you
would not be able to brake or accelerate .

Front passenger's seat
Always move the front passenger seat into the rearmost position.
To avoid contact with the airbag while it is de­
ploying, do not sit any closer to the instru­
ment panel than necessary and always wear
the three-point safety belt provided adjusted
correctly. We recommend that you adjust the
passenger's seat in the following manner:
.. Move the front passenger seat into the rear­
most position of the fore and aft adjustment
range
~ .&. in Why is your seat adjustment
so important? on page 50.
• Bring the backrest up to an (almost) upright
position.
Do not ride with the seat reclined .
.. Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge
is as even as possible with the top of your
head. If that is not possible, try to adjust
the head restraint so that it is as close to
th is position as possible ¢
page 52.
.. Place your feet on the floor in front of the
passenger's seat .
Front seats
Controls
The operating logic for the switches corre­
sponds to the construction and function of
the seat.
Fig. 45 Front seat: adjusting the seat
@ -adjusting lumbar support*: press the but­
ton in the corresponding position¢.&,.
@ -Moving the seat forward/back: press the
button forward/back ¢ ,&. .
@ -Mov ing the seat up/down: press the but­
ton up/down ¢,&. . To adjust the front section
Seats and storage 51
of the seat, press the front button up/down
¢ ,&. .To adjust the rear section of the seat,
press the rear button up/down ¢,&. .
© -Backrest forward/back: press the button
forward/back
~ ,&. .
A WARNING
-
-Never adjust the driver's or front pas­
senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
If you do this while the veh icle is moving,
you will be out of position. Always adjust
the dr iver's or front passenger's seat
when the vehicle is not moving.
- Be careful when adjusting the seat
he ight. Check to see that no one is in the
way, or serious injury cou ld result!
- Because the seats can be electrically ad­
justed with the ignition off, never leave
children unattended in the vehicle. Unsu­
pe rvised use of the electric seat adjust­
ments may cause serious injury .
- To reduce the risk of injury in the case of
sudden braking or accident, front pas­
sengers must never r ide in a moving ve­
hicle with the backrest reclined. Safety
be lts and the airbag system on ly offer
maximum protection when the backrest
is upright and the safety belts are prop­
erly positioned on the body. The more
the backrest is reclined, the greater the risk of personal injury from an incorrect
seating position and improperly posi­
tioned safety belts.
Armrest
There is a storage compartment under the
armrest.
Fig. 46 Cockp it : center armrest