
220 Checking and Filling
Battery
General information
Under normal operating conditions, the bat
tery in your Audi does not need any mainte
nance. With
high outs ide temperatu res or
long daily drives we recommend that you have
the electro lyte level checked by a service fa
cility. The e lectrolyte level shou ld also be
checked each time the battery is charged
c:>page222.
Have the battery checked when you take your
vehicle in for service. You are well advised to replace a battery that is older than 5 years.
With certain types o f airbag deployment, the
battery is disconnected from the vehicle elec
trica l system for safety reasons
c;, .&. in Re
pair , care and disposal of the airbags on
page 156.
Disconnecting the battery terminals
Some vehicle functions such as power win
dows are unavai lable if the battery termina ls
are d isconnected. These functions have to be
relearned after the battery terminals are con
nected again. To prevent this, the battery
should only be disconnected from the vehicle
electrical system when absolutely necessary
for repairs .
To reprogram the functions, proceed as fol lows:
Function Reprogramming
Power window one-c;, page 40, Correcting
touch up/down power window mal-
function functions
Remote control key If the vehicle does not
or react to the key, it
convenience key must be synchroni zed
c:>page 33
Digital clock c:>page 10
ESC indicator light The indicator light
goes out after driving
a few meters
Vehicles not driven for long periods
If you do not drive your vehicle over a period
of severa l days or weeks, e lectrica l compo
nents are gradually sca led back or switched
off. This reduces energy consumption and
maintains starting capability over a longer pe
riod
c;, page 190. Some of the conven ience
functions may not operate, such as the interi
or lights or power seat adjustment. The con
venience functions will be availab le aga in
when you switch on the ignition and start the
engine.
Winter operation
During the winter months, battery capacity
tends to decrease as temperatures drop. This
is because more power is also consumed wh ile
sta rting, and the headlights, rear window de
fogger, etc. , are used more often.
Avoid unnecessary power consumpt ion, par
ticularly in city traffic or when traveling only
short distances. Let your authorized Aud i
dealer check the capacity of the vehicle bat
tery before winter sets in ~ page 222. A well
charged battery will not on ly prevent starting
problems when the weather is cold, but will
also last longer.
A WARNING -
-Work on the battery requ ires expert
know ledge. Contact your authorized Audi
dealer qualified repair facility for infor
mat ion regarding the vehicle battery.
There is a risk for chemical burns or ex
p losions.
- Never open the vehicle batte ry . Do not
try to change the battery electrolyte lev
el. Otherwise explosive gas will escape
from the battery and increase the risk of
an explosion .
(i) Tips
If your vehicle is left standing for several
weeks at extremely low temperatures, the
vehicle battery should be removed and
stored where it w ill not freeze. This will ..,.

232 Tire s and wheel s
the time it was manufactured . For the
location of the label
c::> page 229, fig . 156.
Most ti res lose a ir naturally over time. They
can also lose some a ir if you drive ove r a pot
ho le or hit a curb while parking . It is usua lly
not possible to see whether the radial tires
used today are under inflated just by looking
at them.
Therefore, be sure to check tire pressures at
l east once a month and always before going
on a long tr ip. Make sure to take the number
of people and the amount of luggage into ac
count when adjusting tire pressure for a trip -
even one that you would not consider to be
" long." See
c::> page 233 , Tires and vehicle
load limits
for more important information .
Always use an accurate tire pressure gauge
when checking and adjusting inflation pres
sures . Check all of the t ires and be sure not to
forget the spare t ire . If the pressure in any tire
is too high when the tire is "cold ," le t air out
of the tire slowly with the edge of the tire
gauge and keep checking the pressure until
you reach the pressure that is correct for the l oad (passengers and luggage) and kind of
driving you plan to do .
I f the pressure in any tire is too low, note the
diffe rence between the pressure in the cold
tire and the pressure you need and add the air
that you need to reach the cor rect pressure for
the vehicle load (passengers and luggage) for
the tires on your veh icle as lis ted on the on
your veh icle and in this manual and the k ind
of dr iv ing you pla n to do .
Never e xceed th e ma ximum inflatio n pres
sure li sted on th e tire s id ewall for an y rea
son .
Remember that the vehicle manufacturer, not
the tire manufacturer, determ ines the correct
tire pressure for the t ires on your vehicle .
It is important to check the tire pressure when
the tires are cold .
- Read the req uired ti re pressure from the tire
pressure label. The tire pressure labe l is lo
cated on the driver's side B-pi llar . - Tu
rn the va lve stem cap counter -clockwise
to remove it from the tire va lve .
- Place the air pressure gauge on the va lve.
- The tire pressu res should only be checked
and adj usted when the tires are co ld. The
slightly raised pressures of warm tires must
not be reduced.
- Adjust the tire pressure to the load you are
carrying.
- Reins tall the valve stem cap on the va lve.
When should I check the tire pr essure ?
The correct tire pressure is especially impor
tant at high speeds. The pressure should
the refore be che cked at least once a mo nth
and always before sta rting a jo urney. Do not
f orget to c heck the ti re p ress ure for the spare
whee l
c::> page 247.
When should I adjust the tire pressures?
Adjust the t ire pr essure to the load you are
ca rrying. After cha ng ing a whee l
or replacing
whee ls you have to adjust the ti re p ress ures
on all whee ls. In addition, you m ust then
store the new tire pressures in the tire pres
s u re monitoring system
c::> page 243 .
A WARNING
Incorrect tire pressures and/or underinfla
tion can lead sudden tire fa ilure, loss of
control, collision, serious personal injury
or even death.
- When the warning symbol
RIJ appears in
the instrument cluster, stop and inspect
the t ires.
- Incorrect tire pressure and/or underinfla
tion can cause increased tire wear and
can affect the handling of the vehicle and
stopping abi lity.
- Inco rrect tire pressures and/or underin
f lation can a lso lead to s udden t ire fail
ure, including a blowout a nd sudden de
f lation, ca using loss of veh icle cont ro l.
- The driver is responsible for the co rrect
tire pressures for all tires on the veh icle.
The appli cable pressure values are locat
ed on a sticker on the dr iver's side B-pil-
lar .
~

Driving with different tires reduces vehi
cle handling and can lead to a loss of
control.
- If the spare ti re is not the same as the
tires that are mounted on the vehicle -
for example with winter tires -only use
the spare tire for a short period of time and drive with extra care. Refit the nor
mal road wheel as soon as safely possi
ble.
- Never drive faster than the maximum
speed for which the tires on your vehicle
are rated because tires that are driven
faster than their rated speed can fail
suddenly.
- Overloading tires cause heat build-up,
sudden tire failure, including a blowout
and sudden deflation and loss of control.
- Temperature grades apply to tires that
are properly inflated and not over or un
derinflated.
- For technical reasons it is not always
possible to use wheels from other
vehicles -in some cases not even wheels
from the same vehicle model.
- If you install wheel trim discs on the ve
hicle wheels, make sure that the air flow
to the brakes is not blocked. Reduced air
flow to the brakes can them to overheat, increasing stopping distances and caus
ing a collision.
- Run flat tires may only be used on
vehicles that were equipped with them at the factory. The vehicle must have a
chassis designed for run flat tires. Incor
rect use of run flat tires can lead to vehi
cle damage or accidents. Check with an
authorized Audi dealer or tire specialist
to see if your vehicle can be equipped
with run flat tires. If run flat tires are used, they must be installed on all four
wheels. Mixing tire types is not permit
ted.
(D Note
- For technical reasons, it is not generally
possible to use the wheel rims from oth-
Tires and wheels 239
er vehicles. This can hold true for wheels
of the same vehicle type.
- If the spare tire is different from the
tires that you have mounted on your ve
hicle (for example winter tires or wide
profile tires), then use the spare tire for a
short period of time only and drive with
extra care. Replace the flat tire with the
tire matching the others on your vehicle as soon as possible.
- Never drive without the valve stem cap .
The valves could get damaged .
(® For the sake of the environment
Dispose of old tires in accordance with the
local requirements.
Uniform tire quality grading
-Tread wear
- Tract ion AA A B C
- Temperature AB C
Quality grades can be found where applicable
on the tire side wall between tread shoulder
and maximum section width
c;, page 236,
fig. 160.
For example: Tread wear 200, Traction AA,
Temperature A.
All passenger car tires must conform to Feder
al Safety Requirements in addition to these
grades.
Tread wear
The tread wear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified
government test course.
For example, a tire graded ISO would wear
one and one half (11/2) times as well on the
government course as a tire graded 100.
The relative performance of tires depends upon the actual conditions of their use, how
ever, and may depart significantly from the
norm due to variations in driving habits, serv
ice practices and differences in road character-
istics and climate.
ll-
•
•
•

246 What do I do now?
What do I do now?
Luggage compartment
lid emergency release
In case of an emergency , the rear lid can be
opened from the inside using the trunk es
cape handle .
Fig. 162 Re ar lid op ening : access to th e e merg en cy re
l ease
To reach the emergency release mechanism,
the rear bench seat backrest must be folded down
~ page 61 .
,. Push the latch upward in the direction of the
arrow until the lock releases .
The trunk escape handle inside the rear lid is
made of fluorescent material to glow in the
dark .
A WARNING
The trunk escape handle is to be used only
m an emergency .
@ Tips
The emergency release lever should never
be used as a handle for closing the rear lid.
General information
,. Park the vehicle as far as possible from mov
ing traffic in the event of a flat tire. In the
event of a flat tire, park the vehicle on a lev
el surface .
It you are on a steep incline, be
especially careful.
,. Set the parking brake.
,. Switch the emergency flashers on.
• Put on a reflective vest, if available.
• Setup the warning triang le, if available . •
Have the passengers exit the vehicle. They
should move to a safe place, for examp le
behind a guard rail.
A WARNING
-
Pay attention to the steps above. They are
for your protection and the for the safety of other drivers.
A WARNING
Improper use of the vehicle jack can cause
serious personal injuries .
- Never use the screw driver hex head to tighten wheel bolts, since the bolts cannot attain the necessary tightening tor
que if you use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident .
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on
ly for your vehicle model. Under no cir
cumstances should it be used to
lift
heavy vehicles or other loads; you risk in
juring yourself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, which could cause an accident.
- Support the vehicle securely with appro
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a potential risk for injury.
- Never use the jack supplied with your
Audi on another vehicle, particularly on a
heavier one. The jack is only suitable for
use on the veh icle it came with.
(D Tips
- Some of the onboard items listed above
are provided on certain models only or
are optional extras.
- Before storing the jack*, make sure it is
wound back down as far as it wil l go.

Equipment
Vehicle tool kit
Applies to vehicles: with vehicle tool kit
Fig . 163 Luggage compartment: cargo floor cover
folded upward
The vehicle tool kit is located in the luggage
compartment under the ca rgo floo r cover
¢ fig. 163.
Cargo floor cover
.. Hang the plast ic hook on the luggage com
partment weather str ip -arrow-
c:> fig. 163.
Spare tire
General information
Applies to vehicles: with space-sav ing spa re tire (compact
spare t ire)
F ig. 164 Luggage compartment: cargo floor cove r
fo lded upward
F ig. 165 Compact spare tire
What do I d o now ? 24 7
The spare tire c=;,fig. 165 is intended for short
term use only. Have the damaged tire checked
and replaced if necessary by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified repair facility as soon
as possible.
There are some restrictions on the use of the
compact spare tire. The compact spare tire
has been designed specifically for your type of
vehicle. Do not replace it with the spare tire
from another type of vehicle .
Removing the spar e tir e
.. Lift the cargo floor by the plastic handle.
.. Hang the plastic hook on the luggage com
partment weather strip@¢
fig. 164 .
.. Remove the subwoofer*, if necessary
c=;, page248 .
.. Tu rn the large screw counter-clockwise .
.. Remove the spare tir e.
Snow chains
For technical reasons, the use of snow cha ins
on the compact spare tire is not permitted.
If you have to drive with snow chains and a
front tire fails, mount the spare wheel in place
of a rear tire. Install the snow chains on the
rear tire that you removed, and install that in
place of the front tire that fa iled .
A WARNING
-After insta lling a spare tir e, the tire pres
sure must be chec ked as soo n as possi
b le. The t ire p re ssu re is availab le on
¢page 229, fig.157
- If the spa re tire is more t han 6 years old,
use it only in an emergen cy and wi th ex
treme caution and careful driv ing.
- T he spare ti re is in tended only fo r tem
pora ry and short-te rm use .
It should be
rep laced as soon as possible wi th the
normal whee l and tire.
- After mo unting t he com pact spare t ire,
the t ire pressure mus t be checked as
soon as possible. T he tire pressure of the
compact spare tire must be 4.2 bar; oth
erw ise, you risk having an acc ident.

-Make sure that passengers wait in a safe
place away from the vehicle and well
away from the road and traffic.
- To help prevent the vehicle from moving
suddenly and possibly slipping off the
jack, always fully set the parking brake
and block the wheel diagonally opposite
the whee l being changed. When one
front whee l is lifted off the gro und, plac
ing the A utomat ic Transm iss ion in P
(Park) wi ll
not prevent t he vehi cle from
moving .
- Before you change a wheel, be su re the
ground is leve l and fi rm.
If necessary,
use a st urdy board under the jack.
- Always store the vehicle tool ki t, the jack
and the replaced ti re in the l uggage com
partment¢
page 12 7 .
Changing a wheel
When you change a wheel, follow these
quence described below step-by-step and in
exactly that order.
1. Remove the d ec orative wheel cov er* . For
more deta ils see also
c:>page 249, Deco
rative wheel covers
or ¢ page 2 50,
Wheels with wheel bolt caps.
2. Loosen the wheel bolt s c:> page 250.
3. Locate the proper mount ing point for the
jack and align the jack below that point
<=> page 251.
4. Raise the car w ith the jack c:> page 251.
5. Remove the wheel with the flat tire and
then install
the spare ¢ page 252 .
6. Tighten all wheel bo lts light ly.
7 .
Low er the ve hicle with the jack.
8. Use the wheel bolt wrenc h and
firmly
tighten all whee l bolts c:> page 250.
9. Replace the decorative wheel cov er*.
A WARNING
Always read and follow all WARNINGS and
information
c:> .&. in Raising the vehicle on
page251
and ¢page 253.
What do I d o now ? 249
After changing a wheel
A wheel change is not complete without the
doing the following.
.,. Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack*
and the replaced tire in the luggage com
partment
c:> page 127.
.,. Check the tir e pr essure on the spare whee l
immed iate ly afte r mounting i t.
.,. As soon as poss ib le, have the
tight ening
torque s
on all wheel bolts checked w ith a
torque wrench . The correct tighten ing tor
que is 90 ft lb (120 Nm).
.,. Have the flat tire
replaced as soon as possi
ble.
@ Tips
- If you notice that the wheel bo lts a re
corroded and difficult to turn while
chang ing a tire, they should be replaced
before you c heck the tightening torque.
- Drive at reduced speed until you have the tightening torques checked.
- After changing a whee l, the ti re press ure
in all four tires must be checked/correct
ed and the tire pressure monitoring indi
cator must be stored in the M MI
c:>page245.
Decorative wheel covers
App lies to veh icles: w ith decorat ive w hee l cove rs
The decorative wheel covers must be removed
first to access the wheel bolts.
Fi g. 167 Chang ing a whee l: Removing th e w hee l cover
Removing
.,. Insert the hook (provided with the vehicle
t oo l kit) in the ho le in the whee l hub cover .
i,,.

250 What do I do now?
• Pull off the decorative wheel cover
Q fig. 167.
Wheels with wheel bolt caps
Applies to vehicles: with whee l bo lts wit h caps
The caps must be removed first from the
wheel bolts before the bolts con be un
screwed .
Fig. 168 Chang ing a w hee l: rem ov ing the w heel bo lt
caps
Removing
• Push the plastic clip (provided with the vehi
cle too l kit) over the whee l bolt cap until the
inner retainers on the clip align with the
edge of the cover .
• Remove the cap with the
plastic clip (vehicle
tool kit)
Q fig . 168.
Refitting
• Place the caps over the wheel bo lts and
push them back on.
The caps are to protect and keep the wheel bolts clean.
Loosening and tightening the wheel
bolts
The wheel bolts must be loosened before rais
ing the vehicle .
Fig. 1 69 Changing a whe el: loosening the w hee l bol ts
Loosening
• Slide the wheel wrench onto the wheel bolt
as far as it will go.
• Take tight hold of the
end of the wrench
handle and turn the wheel bolts
counter
clockwise
about one single turn in the direc
tion of arrow
Q fig . 169.
Tightening
• Slide t he wheel wrench onto the wheel bo lt
as far as it w ill go.
• Take tight hold of the
end of the wrench
handle and turn each wheel bolt
clockw ise
until it is seated .
A WARNING
--Do not use force or hurry when changing
a wheel -you can cause the vehicle to slip
off the jack and cause serious personal
in ju ries.
-Do not loosen the wheel bolts more than
one turn
before you raise the vehicle with
the jack . - Yo u risk an inju ry.
© Tips
-Never use the hexagonal socket in the
hand le of the screwdr iver to loosen or
tighten the wheel bolts.
- If a wheel bolt is very tight, you may find
it eas ier to loosen by carefully pushing
down on the end of the wheel bolt
w rench with
one foot only. As you do so, ..,.

252 What do I do n ow ?
-Support the vehicle securely with ap
propriate stands if work is to be per
formed underneath the vehicle;
otherw ise, there is a potential risk for
in Jury .
- To help preven t injury to yourself and
your passengers:
- Do not raise the vehicle u nti l you a re
sure the jack is sec urely e ngaged .
- Passengers mus t not rema in in the ve
h icle when it is jacked up .
- Ma ke sure that passengers wait in a
safe p lace away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffic.
- Make sure jack posi tion is co rrect, ad
just as necess ary and then contin ue to
raise the jack .
- Changes in temperature or load can af
fect the height of the vehicle .
0 Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the s ill. Pos ition
the vehicle ja ck only at the designated lift
ing poi nts on the sill. Othe rwise, your vehi
cle will be damaged .
Taking the wheel off/installing the spare
Follow these instructions s tep-by-step for
c hanging the wheel.
Fig . 172 Chang ing a w hee l: u sing th e screw driver ha n
dl e (w it h th e bla de re mov ed) to t urn the bolts
Fig. 173 Ch ang ing a wheel : alignment p in in sid e th e
t op hole
After you have loos ened all wheel bo lts and
raised the vehicle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows :
Removing the wheel
.,. Use the hexagon al so cket in th e screwdri v
er handle
to completely remove the top
most whee l bolt and set it aside on a
clean
surfac e Q fig. 172 .
.,. Screw the threaded end of the al ignme nt
p in
from the tool k it hand-t ight into t he
empty bol t hole
Q fig . 173.
.,. Then remove the other wheel bolts as de
scr ibed above .
.,. Take off the whee l leaving the a lignment pin
in the bo lt ho le
Q (J) .
Putting on the comp act sp are wheel
.,. Lift the spare whee l and carefully slide it
over the alignment p in to guide it in place
Q (J) .
.,. Use the hexagonal socket i n the screwdriver
handle to screw in and tighten a ll whee l
bolts
slightly .
.,. Remove the alignment pin and insert and
tighten the rema ining whee l bolt slightly
like the rest .
.,. Turn the jack handle counter -clockwise to
lower the vehicle until the jack is fully re
leased .
.,. Use the wheel bolt wrench to tighten all
wheel bo lts fi rmly
Q page 250 . Tighten
them
crosswise , from one bolt to the (ap
proximately) opposite one, to keep the
wheel cente red.