2013 AUDI A8 Owners Manual

Adjusting the exterior lighting
The settings are adjusted in the MMI.
~ Select: ICARI f u nct ion button> Car systems
control button > Vehicle sett ings > E xterior
lighting .
Automatic headlights
You can a djust the fo llow ing settings in the
Automatic headl ights men u:
Headlight s activation time -You can adjus t if
the hea dlights sw itch on
Early , Med . or Late
according to the sensitivity of the light se nsor .
Audi adaptive light* -You can sw itch adaptive
l ig ht
On a n d Off .
Automatic high beams*
You can switch th e high beam assist on and
off .
Daytime running lights
USA models :
You can sw itch the dayt ime ru n­
n ing lights
on and off .
Canada models:
The function ca nnot be
turned off. It is activated a utomat ica lly each
time the ignition is switched on. This menu item is shown "greyed out" .
Coming home, Leaving home
The coming home function illuminates the
a rea outside the vehicle when yo u switch the
i gnit ion off and open the driver's door. To turn
the function o n, select
Lights when leaving
car > On .
The leav ing home function illuminates the
area outside the vehicle when yo u un lock the
ve hicle. To t urn the funct ion on, select
Lights
when unlocking car > On .
The coming home and leaving home functions
only operate when it is dark and the light
switch is in the
AUTO pos ition.
Clear vision 4 7
Turn signal and high beam lever
The lever on the left side of the steering col ­
umn is used to operate the turn signals and
the high beam as w ell as th e headlight flash­
er.
Fig. 39 T urn signal and high beam lever
The t urn signa l and hig h beam lever has t he
fo llow ing funct ions :
Turn signals ¢ Q ©@
N 0 ,._
± .. a,
~ Push t he leve r up as fa r as i t can go t o tur n
on t he righ t turn s igna l or d own to t urn on
t he le ft turn s ignal
¢ fig . 39 .
~ Move the leve r br iefly u ntil yo u meet res ist ­
ance and re lease it to f lash three times.
~ Move the lever (up or down) until you meet
resistance and hold it there to determine
the flashing t ime for the tu rn signals.
High beam ~D @
~ Push t he leve r forward to sw itch on the high
beam (veh icles with hig h beam ass ist*
¢ poge4 8).
~ Pull the lever back towards you to sw itch off
the high beam .
Headlight flasher ~D ©
~ Pull the lever towar d the steering wheel to
use the headlight flasher.
Notes on these features
- The turn signals on ly wor k w it h t he igniti on
sw itche d on . T he indica to r li ghts
II or B in
the inst rument cluster¢ page 11 also blink .
- Aft er you h ave tu rned a cor ner, the tu rn s ig -
na l swi tches off au toma tica lly .
- The
high beam wo rk s onl y w hen the he ad-
lights a re on . The indic ator ligh t
ii in the .,.

48 Clear vis ion
instrument cluster illuminates when the
high beams are on.
- T he
headlight flash er works only as long as
yo u hold the lever -even if there are no
li ghts turned on . The indicator light
El in
the instrument cluster i llum inates when you
use the headlight flasher.
A WARNING
Do not use the hig h beam or headlight
flasher if you know that these could blind
oncoming traffic.
High beam assist
App lies to vehicles: with high beam assist
The high beam assist au tomatically swi tches
the high beams on or off, depending on the
surroundings and traffic conditions .
Fig. 40 Turn sig na l an d high beam leve r: T urnin g on
an d off the high be am assist
Act ivating h igh beam a ssis t
8
9 :r ... (0
Requirement: The light sw itch must be in the
AUTO position, the low beam headlights must
be on and the high beam assis t must be
switched on in the Infotainment <=>
page 47.
.. Press the leve r into position @ in order to
act ivate the high beam assist . The indicator
li ght
ml turns on in the instrument cluster
display and the h igh beams switch on or off
automat ically. The indicato r light
El turns
on if the high beams were switched on .
Switching the high beams on /off
manually
Requi rement : Hig h beam ass ist is activated .
If the high beams d id not switch on/off a uto­
matically when expected, you may instead
switch them on/off manually:
.. To swi tch the hig h beams o n manually ,
press the lever into position
(D . The indica ­
to r li ght
II turns on. To switch the high
beams off again, pull the lever into pos ition
@ .
.. To switch the hig h beams off man ually after
they have turned on automat ica lly, pull the
lever i nto pos it io n @ .
Oper ating the headlight flasher
.. To operate the flashers while the h igh beam
assist is act ive, pu ll the lever into position
@ . The high beam assist will remain act ive.
Messages in the in strument clu ster
di splay
Headlight assist: System fault
D rive to your authori zed A udi dealer immedi ­
ately to have the ma lfunction corrected. Yo u
can still switch the high beams on or off man­
ually.
Headlight assi st: Unavailable. No camera
view
T he came ra v iew is b locked, for examp le by a
sticker or deb ris .
T he sensor is loca ted between the inter io r
r earview mirror a nd the w indshield. There­
f ore , do no t place any s tickers in this a rea o n
t h e windshie ld .
Service setting
The re is a different sens it iv ity sett ing for serv­
ic ing . Thi s sett ing can be activat ed by pressing
and holding the b utton on the in ter io r r ear­
view m irror for mo re th an 18 seconds. The
LE D next to the button blinks three times.
If
yo u have accidentally se lected this service
funct ion, the orig inal sensitivity will be a uto­
matically restored the next t ime yo u sw itch
t h e ignit ion on. ..,.

_& WARNING
High beam assist is only i ntended to assist
the driver . The driver is sti ll responsible for
cont ro lling the h eadlights and switching
the high beams on and off manually de­ pen ding on traffic, ligh ting and visibili ty
condi tions. Failure to interve ne manually
may lead to r isk o f accident . It m ay be nec­
essary to operate the high beams man ual ­
ly in the following sit uat ions, e .g .:
- For adverse wea ther conditions such as
fog, heavy rain, blowing snow or s praying
water .
- On roads where oncoming traffic may be partia lly obsc ured s uch as exp ressways .
-If there are in dividuals on the road wi th
no light ing or poor lightin g, such as cy ­
cli sts .
- In tight c urves and on steep slopes .
- In po orly lit areas.
- With stro ng re flecto rs su ch a s signs.
-If the area of t he wind shie ld nea r th e
sensor is fogg ed over, d irty, icy or cov­
ered w it h a st icker.
(D} Tips
- The high beam ass ist is active above a
speed of approx . 25 mph (40 km/h).
- If afte r activation, you r speed falls below
approx . 15 mph (24 km/h), the hig h
beams w ill automa tica lly be switched
off .
Interior lights
Front and rear interior lighting
Fig. 41 Headl iner: Front in te ri or l ights
Clear vi sion 49
Fig . 4 2 Rea r headliner: Read ing l ig ht
Press the appropriate button r::;, fig . 41:
El-Inte rior light ing on/off
~ -Door contact swi tch. The interio r ligh ting
turns o n automatically when yo u unl ock the
v e hicle, open a door or sw itch the ignition
off .
The inter ior light ing turns off s evera l seconds
after you close the doors, when you lock the
vehicle or when you switch the ignition on .
When a doo r is open, the l ight turns off after
a few minutes.
~ -Read ing lights on/off
@[I -Switching the rear read ing lights on/off
from the cockpit.
I REAR MODE i* -Sw itch ing the rea r reading
li gh ts on/off from the cockpit: press the
I REAR MODE i bu tton and then the appropriate
button ~ in the cockpit.
Ambience lighting
App lies to vehicles : wit h ambience lig hting
You can select a color profile and br ightness
for t he ambie nce lighting in various areas of
the veh icle, called zones .
Turning ambience lighting on
.. Select in the MMI: ICAR lfunction button>
Car systems control button > Vehicle set­
t ings > Interior light ing > On .
Adjusting /turning off the brightne ss
.. Select in the MMI: ICAR lfunction button>
Car systems control b utton > Vehicle set­
tings
> Inte rior lighting > Brightness .

50 Clear vision
• Turn the knob to the desired vehicle area
and press the knob. The bar that appears in­
dicates the selected brightness.
• To increase or reduce the br ightness, turn
the knob and press it.
Selecting a color profile*
• Select in the MMI: ICAR l function button >
Car systems control button > Vehicle set­
tings
> Interior lighting > Color profile .
The ambience lighting turns on when the
function is activated in the MMI and when you
turn the headlights on whi le the ign ition is
switched on.
Adjusting the brightness
You can adjust the brightness for the four
zones
Front top , Front footwell , Rear top and
Rear footwell or for All areas at the same
t ime.
Selecting a color profile
You can select from the Ivory, Polar and Ru­
by/Polar
color profiles.
(D Tips
The settings are automatically stored and
assigned to the remote control key that is
in use .
Instrument illumination
You can adjust the brightness of the instru­
ment and display illumination.
Fig . 43 Instrument illumin ation
• Press the knob to release it.
• Turn the knob toward"-" or"+" to reduce or
increase the brightness . •
Press the knob again to return it to its origi ­
na l position .
(D Tips
The instrument illum ination (for dials and
needles) lights on when the ignition is
switched on and the vehicle lights are
turned off . As the daylight fades, the illu­
mination of the dials likewise dims auto­
matically and will go out completely when
the outside light is very low. This feature is
meant to rem ind you to switch on the
headlights when outside light conditions
become poor.
Vision
Sun visors
E )
Fig. 44 Sun visor
I ± .., m
T he sun visors for the driver and passenger
can be released from their brackets and
turned toward the doors~
fig. 44 (!). They
can a lso be moved back and forth lengthwise
in this position.
T he mirror light swi tches on when the cover
over the vanity m irror @opens .
T he re is a shade between the dr iver's and pas­
senger's s un visors that can be used to cover
the gap above the rearview mirror.

Sun Shade
Fig. 45 Cockp it : Sun shade switch
Fig. 46 Rear door: S un shade button
Extending/retracting the rear window
shade*
• To extend or retract the sun shade from the
cockpit ,
press the W button in the center
console
r::;, fig. 45 .
• To extend or retract the sun shade from the
rear of the vehicle ,
press the~ button in
the door
c:::> fig. 46.
Extending the rear door sun shades*
• Close the window in the rear door.
• To extend the sun shade
from the driver's
seat,
pull the left/r ight rear power window
switch
~ in the driver's door.
• To extend the sun shade from the
rear of
the vehicle ,
pull the power window switch
~ in the left/right rear door.
Retracting the rear door sun shades*
• To retract the sun shade from the driver's
seat,
press the left/ right rear power w indow
swit ch~ in the drive r's door.
• To retract the sun shade from the
rear of
the vehicle ,
press the power window switch
~ in the left/right rear door.
Clear vision 51
You can adjust the settings for the rear sun
shade so the shade retracts automatically
when you select the reverse gear. Select:
CAR
funct ion button > Car systems control button
>
Vehicle settings > Automatic rear blind >
On . The settings are automatically sto red and
ass igned to the remote control key. The sun
shade extends aga in as soon as the vehicle be­
gins traveling forward at a speed greater than
9 mph (15 km/ h), as long as the ig nition has
not been sw itched off in the meantime.
& WARNING ~
When lowering or raising the sunshade,
make sure there is nothing in its way and
that it has a free path to travel. This cou ld
cause personal injury.
-
(D Tips
- Pressing the button G&l severa l t imes
consecutively can trigger the overload
protection. The sun shade can only be ex­
tended/retracted again after a brief wait­
ing period.
- The rear window sun shade only func­
tions when the vehicle interior is warmer
than 14°F (-10°C) .
Vanity mirror in the rear
Applies to vehicles: wit h va nity mirrors in th e rear
Fig. 47 Rea r headl iner: van ity mirro r
• Press the button to fold the mirror open.
T he mirror lighting turns on automatically.
• To change the mirror's angle, move it for­
ward/back with your hand.

52 Clear vision
Wiper and washer
system
Switching the windshield wipers on
Fig. 48 Wind shie ld wipe r lever
Move the windshield wiper lever to the corre­
sponding position:
@ - Windshield wipers off
(I) -Rain sensor mode. The windshield wipers
switch on once the vehicle speed exceeds ap­
proximately 2 mph (4 km/h) and it is raining.
The higher the rain sensor sensitivity is se t
(switch @to the right), the earlier the wind­
shield wipers react to moisture on the wind­
shield. You can deactivate rain sensor mode in
the MMI, which will then activate intermittent
mode. Select:
ICARI function button > Car sys­
tems
control button > Driver assist > Rain
sensor
> Off. In intermittent mode, you can
adjust the interval time using the switch @.
@-Slow wiping
@-Fast wiping
© -Single wipe. If you hold the lever in this
posi tion longer, the wipers switch from slow
wiping to fast wiping .
® - Clean the windshield . The wipers wipe
one time after several seconds of driving to remove water drople ts. You can switch this
function off by moving the lever to position ®
within 10 seconds after the afterwipe . The af­
terwipe function is reactivated the next time
you switch the ignition on.
Cleaning the headlights. The headlight wash ­
er system* only functions when the headlights
are on . If you move the lever to position ®, the headlights and the night vision system
camera* are washed in intervals.
.&_ WARNING
-
- The rain sensor is only designed to assist
and support the driver.
It remains entire­
ly the driver's responsibility to monitor
outside weather conditions and to man­
ually activate the wipers as soon as rain
or drizzle reduces visibility through the
windshield.
- The windshield must not be treated with
water-repellent materials. They can in­
crease glare under poor visibility condi­
tions such as wetness, darkness, or when
the sun is low on the horizon. In addi­
tion, they can cause the windshield wip­
ers to chatter.
- Properly functioning windshield wiper
blades are required for a clear view and
safe driving
q page 53, Replacing
windshield wiper blades.
(D Note
- In the case of frost, check whether the
windshield wiper blades are frozen to
the windshield. Switching on the wind­
shield wipers can damage the wiper
blades!
- Prior to using a car wash, the windshield
wiper system must be switched off (lever
in position @). This helps to prevent un­
intentional switching on and damage to
the windshield wiper system.
- Do not use the wipers to clear a frosted
window . Using the wipers as a conven­
ient ice scraper will destroy the wiper
blades .
(D Tips
-The windshield wipers are switched off
when the ignition is off . Activate the
windshield wipers after the ignition is
switched back on by moving the wind­
shield wiper lever to any position.
- Worn or dirty windshield wiper blades
result in streaking. This can affect the

rain sensor funct ion . Check your
windshield wiper b lades regularly.
- The washer fluid nozzles of the wind­
sh ield washer system are heated at low
temperatures when the ig nitio n is on .
- When stopping temporarily, e .g. at a
traffic light , the set speed of the wind­
sh ield wipers is automatically red uced by
one speed.
Replacing windshield wiper blades
Wip er blad es in good condition h elp keep the
windshield clear.
Fi g. 49 Rem ov ing wi nds hield w iper bla des
Service pos ition
.. Switc h the windshield wipers off (posit ion
@ ¢
page 52, fig . 48).
.. Se lect in the M MI:: !CAR ! function button>
Car s ystem s control button > Servicing &
che ck s > Wip er servic e po sition > On . The
wi ndshield wipe rs move into the serv ice po­
s ition.
Or
.,. Swi tch the ignition off and move the wind­
shield wipe r lever to posit io n © ¢
page 52 ,
fig . 48.
R emoving the wiper blade
.. Fold the w indshield wipe r arm away from
t h e windshie ld.
.,. Press the locking knob(!)
¢fig. 49 on t he
wiper blade . Hold the wiper blade fi rm ly.
.. Remove the w iper blade in the direction of
the arrow .
Clear vision 5 3
Installing the wiper blade
.. Insert the new w iper blade into the mount
on the wiper arm @unti l you hear it latch
i nto place .
.. Place the wiper arm back on the windshield.
.. Switch the ignit ion on.
.. Select:
I CAR ! function button > Car systems
control button > Servicing & checks > Wiper
serv ice position > Off .
Or
.. Press the windshie ld wiper lever.
.&_ WARNING
- If the windshie ld w ipers smear the w ind­
shie ld , clean the wiper b lades with wind­
shie ld washer fluid. If the w iper blades
are ex tremely dirty, you can a lso clea n
them with a so ft sponge o r clo th.
- For your safety, you should rep lace the
wiper blades once o r twi ce a year. See
your author ized Audi dealer for replace­
ment b lades.
(D Note
- T he windsh ie ld w iper blades m ust only
be folded aw ay whe n in the service pos i­
tion! Otherwise, yo u ris k damaging the
paint on the hood or the windshie ld wip ­
er motor.
- Yo u should not move your vehicle or
press the windshield wiper lever when
the wipe r arms are folded away from the
w indshield. The windsh ield wipers wou ld
move back into their or iginal position
and could damage the hood and wind­
shield .
- To help prevent damage to the w iper sys­
tem , always loosen blades wh ich are fro­
zen to the windshield before operating
w ipers .
- To help p revent damage to wiper blades,
do not use gasoline, kerosen e, paint
thinne r, or other solvents on or near the
w iper blades .
- T o help prevent damage to the w iper
arms or other components, do not at-
t empt to move the wipe rs by hand. .,._

54 Clear vis ion
@ Tips
- Commercial hot waxes applied by auto­
matic car washes affect the cleanability
of the windshield .
- You can also use the service position, for
example, if you want to protect the
winds hield from icing by using a cover .
- You cannot activate the service position
when the hood is open.
Mirrors
Adjusting the exterior mirrors
... g C)
I
~
Fig. S O Fo rw ar d s ecti on of driver's armr est: powe r m ir­
r or con tro ls
T urn the knob to the desired position :
Q/P -In th is position, you can adjust the
driver's and front passenger's exter io r mirrors
by turn ing the knob in t he des ired direction .
®-The m irrors are heated depending on the
outside temperature .
8 -The exte rior m irrors fo ld in. In the MMI,
you c an se lec t if the m irror s fold in automat i­
cally when you lock the vehicle ¢ page
33 .
Tilt funct ion for th e pa ssenger' s mi rro r
To help yo u see the c urb when bac king into a
parking space, the su rface of the mirror tilts
slightly . The knob must be in the P posit ion
for this to happen .
You can ad just the tilted mirror s urface by
turning the knob in the desired direction .
When you move out of reverse and into anoth­
er gear, the new mirror posit ion is stored and
assigned to the key you are using . T
he mi rror goes back into its orig inal position
once you drive forward faster than 9 mph (15
km/h) or switch the ign ition off .
A WARNING
--
-Curved (i .e. conve x) mirror surfaces in­
crease your fie ld of view. Remember that
veh icles o r ot he r objects will appea r
smalle r and farther away than when seen
in a flat mirror . If you use th is m irror to
estimate distances of following ve hicles
when chang ing lanes, yo u co uld estimate
i n correct ly and cause an accide nt.
(D Note
- If the m irror housing is moved uninten­
ti onally (for examp le, w hile parking your
veh icle), then yo u must first fold the mir ­
ror electrically. Do not re adjust the mir­
ror housing man ually . You co uld damage
the motor which controls the mirror .
-If you wash the vehicle in an automatic
car was h, you must fo ld the exter ior mir­
rors in to reduce the risk of damage to
the mirro rs. Never fold power folding ex­
terior mirrors by hand. O nly fold t hem in
and out using the power controls.
{I) Tips
- The exterior m irror settings are stored
w ith the memory function*
¢ page 65 .
-If there is a malfunction in the electrical
system, you can sti ll adjust the exterior
m irrors by pressing the edge of the mir­
ror .
Dimming the mirrors
Fig. 5 1 Auto matic dimming rearview mirro r