2016 AUDI A7 sensor

Audi side assist
(D Tips
-Si de ass ist is not active wh ile you are ma k­
i ng the a djustment .
- Your settings are automat ica lly stored and
assi gned to t he remote control key being
u sed.
Driver messages
Applies to veh icles: w ith Audi side assist
If s ide ass ist switches off by itse lf, t he LED in the
button turns
off and a message w ill appear in the
i n str ument cluster d isp lay:
Audi side assist not available: sensor blocked
The radar sensors' vision is affected. Do not cover
the area in fr ont of the senso rs with bike wheels,
stic kers, dirt or oth er objects. Clean the a rea in
fro nt of the sensors, if necessa ry ¢
page 98,
fig . 107 .
Audi side assist: currently unavailable
Side assist cannot be switched on tempora rily be­
cause t here is a ma lf u nction (for e xamp le , th e
battery c harge level may be too l ow).
Audi side assist: System fault!
T he system can not guara ntee that it wi ll detect
ve hicl es co rrectly a nd it is switche d off . The sen ­
s o rs have been disp laced or are faulty. Have the
system checke d by an auth orized A udi dealer or
author ized Audi Se rv ice Facility so on .
Audi side assist: Unavailable when towing
Side as sis t sw itches off aut omatically when a fac ­
to ry -insta lled t railer hitch is connected to t he
e lectr ica l co nnector on t he tra ile r. T he re is n o
gua rantee t he system w ill switch
off when using
a retrofitted tra ile r hitc h. Do n ot use s ide assist
wh en t owing a t ra ile r.
100

Parkin g sys tems
Parking systems
General information
A ppl ies to veh icles: w ith pa rk in g system plus/rear v iew ca m­
era/per ipheral came ras
Depending on your vehicle 's equipment, various
pa rking aids will help you when parking and ma­
neuvering.
The
p ark ing syste m plu s assists you when park­
ing by audibly and visua lly indicating objects de­
tected
in front of and behind the vehicle
¢ page
115.
The rear v iew ca mera shows the area beh ind the
ve hicle in the Infotainment display. This display
assists you when you are c ross or parallel parking
¢ page
116. In add ition, you are ass isted by the
functions from the parking system plus
¢ page
115.
The pe riph era l cam era s assist you with parking
and maneuvering. You are aided by var ious cam ­
eras depending on the vehicle equipment level
¢ page
119. In addition, you are assisted by the
functions from th e parking syst em p lus
¢ page 115.
A WARNING
-Always look for traffic and check the area
around your vehicle by looking at it directly
as well. The parking system cannot rep lace
the driver's attent ion. The dr iver is a lways
responsible for safety during parking and
f or all other maneuvers.
- Please note that some surfaces, such as
clothing, are not detected by the system.
- Sensors and cameras have blind spots in
wh ich peop le and objects cannot be detect­
ed . Be especia lly caut ious of ch ild ren and
animals.
- T he sensors can be displaced by impacts or
damage to the radia tor grille, bumper ,
wheel housing and the underbody . The park­
ing systems may become impai red as a re ­
s u lt . Have yo ur autho rized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop check their function .
- Make sure the sensors are not covered by
stickers, deposits or any other obstructions
114
-
as it may impair the sensor function. For in­
formation on cleaning, refer to¢ page
205 .
(D Note
- Some ob jects are not detec ted by the sys­
tem under certain circumstances :
- Objects such as barrier chains, trailer draw
bars, vertical poles or fences
- Objects above the sensors such as wall ex­
tensions
- Objects w ith specific surfaces or struc­
tures such as chain link fences or powder
snow .
- If you continue driving closer to a low-lying
object, it may disappear from the sensor
range . Note that you w ill no longe r be
wa rned about th is obstacle.
(D Tips
- The system may provide a warning even
tho ugh there are no obstacles in the cover­
age area in some situat ions, such as :
- certain road surfaces or for long grass.
- externa l ultrason ic sources e.g. from
cleaning vehicles.
- h eavy ra in, snow or thick vehicle exhaus t.
- We recommend that you practi ce parking in
a traff ic-free location or par king lo t to be­
come fam iliar with the sys tem. When doing
this, there should be good light and weather conditions.
- Yo u can change the vo lume and pi tch of the
signals as well as the display¢ page
124.
-Please refer to the instr uctions for towing a
trailer ¢ page
124.
-What appea rs in the infot ainmen t display is
somewha t time-delayed.

M N <( I.J "". rl I.O
"' N I.O rl
Parking system plus
Description
Applies to vehicles: with parking system plus
Audi parking system plus provides audio and vis­
ual signals when parking.
Fig . 121 Di sp lay fie ld
Sensors are located in the front and rear bump­
ers. If these detect an obstacle, visual and in
some situations audible signals warn you.
Make sure the sensors are not covered by stick­
ers, deposits or any other obstructions as it may
impair the sensor function. For information on
cleaning, refer to¢
page 205.
The display field begins approximate ly at :
® 4 ft (1.20 m)
® 3 ft (0.90 m)
© 5.2 ft (1.60 m)
@ 3 ft (0.90 m)
The closer you get to the obstacle, the shorter
the interval between the audible signals. A con­
tinuous tone sounds when the obstacle is less
than approximately 1 ft (0.30 m) away. Do not
continue driv ing farther ¢&.
in General informa ­
tion on page 114,
~ 0 in General information on
page 114!
If the distance to an obstacle remains constant,
the volume of the distance warning gradually
drops after about four seconds (this does not ap­
p~ in the continuous tone rang~.
Parking systems
Switching on/off
Applies to vehicles: with parking system plus
Fig. 122 Cente r co n sole : pa rking a id b utton
Switching on
.. Shift into reverse, or
.. Press the
Pw.a button in the center console
¢
fig . 122 . A short confirmation tone sounds
and the LED in the button turns on .
Switching off
.. Drive faster than 6 mph (10 km/h), or
.. press the
Pw.a button, or
.. Switch the ignition off.
Visual display
The segments in front of and behind the vehicle
help you to determine the distance between you
and an obstacle . The red lines* mark the expect­
ed direction of travel according to the steering
angle . A white segment indicates an identified
obstacle that is outside of the vehicle's path . Red
segments show identified obstacles that are in
you r vehicle 's path . As your vehicle comes closer
to the obstacle, the segments move closer to the
vehicle . Th e coll is ion area has been reached when
the next to last segment is displayed. Obstacles
in the collision area, including those outside of
the vehicle's path, are shown in red. Do not con­
tinue driving forward or in reverse ¢&.
in Gener­
al information on page 114,
¢ (i) in General in­
formation on page 114!
115

Parking systems
Adjusting the display and the warning tones
Applies to veh icles: With parking system plus/rea rview ca m­
era/peripheral came ras
The display and warning tones can be adjusted in
the Infotainment.
~ Se lect: the ICARI function button > (Car )* Sys­
tems
contro l button > Dri ver assi stance > Park ­
ing aid .
Display
On * -
An optical disp lay is shown for t he parking
system plus, a rearview camera image is shown
for the rearview camera* .
Off -When the p ark ing system is sw itched off,
only audib le signa ls are given.
Warning tones
Front volume -
Volume for the front area
Rear volume -Volume for the rear area
Front frequenc y -Frequency for the front area
Rear frequency -Frequency fo r the rear area
Entertainment volume lowering -When the
pa rking system is turned on, the vo lume of the
aud io/v ideo source is lowered.
The newly adjusted value is briefly heard from
the signal generator.
(D Tips
- The warning tones can also be adjusted d i­
rectly by the visual display or the picture
from the camera . S imply press the
Settings
control b utton .
- Changed settings are activated when the
p arking system is switc hed on aga in.
- The settings for volume and frequency are
automat ically saved and ass igned to the re­
mote con trol key being used.
Error messages
Applies to veh icles: With parking system plus/rearview cam­
era/peripheral came ras
There is an e rror in the system if the LED in t he
Pw , button is b link ing and yo u hear a continuous
124
alarm for a few seconds afte r switching on the
par kin g system or when the parking system is al­
r eady act ivated . If the error is not corrected be­
fo re you switch off the ignition, the LED in the
Pw ,
button will blink the next time you switch on the
parki ng system by shifting into reverse.
Parking sy stem plus
If a senso r is fa ulty, the .f;l4 symbol will appear in
front of/behind the vehicle in the Infota inment
display. If a rear sensor is faulty, only obstacles
that are in areas @and @ are shown
<=:> page 115, fig . 121 . If a fro nt sensor is faulty,
o n ly obs tacles that a re in areas © and @are
shown. Ther e is a lso a system ma lf u nction if all
segme nts around the vehicle a re red or if no seg­
men ts a re dis played.
Peripheral cameras*
There is a system malfunct ion if the i:8l• • symbol
appears and the co rrespo nd ing display a rea is
shown in bl ue. The came ra is not wo rking in this
a rea.
Drive to an authorized A udi dealer or authorized
Audi Se rvice Facility immed iately to have th e
malfunction corrected.
Trailer hitch
App lies to vehicles: with parking system plus/rearview cam ­
era/periphe ral ca meras and trailer hitch
For vehicles us ing the trailer socket, the parking
system rear sensors do not turn o n when yo u
shift into reverse gear or when you press the
p,,1 A
button . This res ults in the following restrictions.
Parking sy stem plus
There is no d istance warning for the rear. The
front sensors remain act ivated. The visual display
switches to the trailer towing mode.
Rearview camera* /peripheral came ras*
There is no d istance warn ing fo r th e rea r. T he
front sensors remain act ivated . The visual display
switches to the trailer towing mode. The rearv iew
camera image will not show t he or ientat ion lines
and the b lue sur faces. .,._

Airbag syste m
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat wi ll be seri­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been installed on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­
ceivable s ituations that may happen dur ing
the usef ul life o f you r vehicle.
- The inf lating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infa nt carrier w ith great force and w il l
smash the ch ild seat and child agains t the
backrest, center armrest, door, or roo f.
- Always insta ll rearward -facing child re­
straints on the rear sea t.
-If you mus t install a rearward facing chi ld
seat on the fron t passenger sea t beca use of
exceptional circ umstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear ­
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the a irbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger 's seat:
-Always make sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and ce rtified by its man­
ufact urer for use on a front seat wit h a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forwa rd-facing child rest raint
up against or ve ry nea r the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the se at's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possib le, before installing the fo r­
war d-fac ing c hild restraint . The backrest
must be adjuste d to an up right position .
150
-
-Always ma ke sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that w ill cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when i t is
not, or to s ignal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person a ctua lly
si tti ng on the se at. T he presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the p assenger
front airbag to be turned on when it s hou ld
be off, or co uld cause the a irbag to wo rk in a
way that is different from the way it would
have worked without the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OF F light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very impo rtant parts of the Advanced A irbag
System i n it. T hese pa rts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing, b ra ckets,
and more. The control u nit mon itors the system
o n the fron t passenger seat when the ign it ion is
swi tched on and turns the airbag indica tor ligh t
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected~
page 155. Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Adv a need A irbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
A irbag System for the front passenger seat from
do ing its job in a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag Sy stem consists
of the following:
- Cras h sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measu re vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide i nfo rmat ion to the Advanced Airbag
System abo ut the sever ity of the cr ash.
- An ele ct ro nic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensor s for front and s ide impac ts. The
cont ro l uni t "dec ides" whether to fire the fron t
airbags based on the information received from
the crash se nsors . The control unit a lso "de ­
cides" whether the sa fety belt pretensioners
should be activated. ..,_

-An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve for the driver inside the steering
wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger .
- A capacitive passenger detection system under­
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys­
tem measures the electrical capacitance of the
person in the seat. The information registered
is sent continuously to the electronic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster~
page 154.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation registered is sent continuously to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
panel ~
page 155, fig. 160 and tells you when
the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned
off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transmits this information to the electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle.
~ - Never remove the upholstery from the front <(
~ passenger seat.
~ -Never disassemble or remove parts from the 1.1'1
N seat or disconnect wires from it. ID ......
Airbag system
-Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat. The capacitive pas­
senger detection mat in the front passenger
seat will not function properly if it is punc­
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenger seat . Such ob­
jects can influence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working properly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air­
bag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restraint system on
this seat.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger seat .
The additional layers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurately
measuring the capacitance of the child safe­
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
working properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket. Such
devices can influence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint
~
151

Airb ag syst em
manufacturer's instructions require the use
of a towel, foam cushion or something else
to properly position the child restraint,
make certain that the
PA SSE NGE R A IR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever
the chi ld restraint is insta lled on the front
passenge r seat.
- If the PA SSEN GER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immed iate ly in­
sta ll c hild restra int in a rear seating position
and have the a irbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer .
_& WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets we t, dry i t i m­
mediately .
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger sea t,
this can keep the airbag system from work ­
ing properly and may, for instance, deacti­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If th is
happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay on together with
the airbag ind icator light
fl in the inst ru­
ment cluster.
- If liquid is poo led on the seat, but has not
soaked in, this may a lso keep the airbag sys ­
tem from work ing properly and cause the
passenge r frontal a irbag to be enab led
(turned on), even tho ugh there is a properly
insta lled child restraint system on the sea t.
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat cus hion can have the same effect .
If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light light
will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The fron t Advanced A irbag System and the s ide
a ir bags s upplement the prote ction offered by the
front three-point s afety be lts wi th pre tensioners
a nd load limiters and the adjustable head re ­
straints * to he lp red uce the risk of i njury in a
wide range of acc ident and crash situations . Be
sure to read the important informat ion about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter.
152
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de­
pend on the dece leration meas ured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic control unit. Crash severity depends on speed and decel­
eration as we ll as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the crash .
On the passenger side, regardless of safety belt
use, the front passenger frontal airbag will be
turned
off if the electrical capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenge r detection system on
the front passenger seat is less than the amount programmed in the electronic cont rol uni t. T he
fron t passenger frontal airbag will a lso be turned
off if the capac itance meas ured by the sys tem for
the front passenger seat equals that of an infant of about one year of age in one of the chi ld seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys ­
tem under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208. The
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on a nd stays on to tell you when the front Ad ­
vanced Airbag System on the passe nger side has
been t urned
off ¢ page 155.
_& WARNING
To reduce the ris k of inj ury w hen an a irbag i n­
fla tes, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of posit io n in any way,
your r isk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive se rious injuries and
co uld even be killed if yo u are up ag ains t t he
ai rbag or too close to it when i t inflates -
eve n with an Advanced Airbag
¢ page 143.
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig . 159 Inflated fro nt a irbags
" "' 0 ± ., a,

Airbag syste m
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the a irbag unfo lds or by be­
ing pushed into you as the a irbag inflates .
- Never hold th ings in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use .
- Never transport items on or in the area of
the front passenger seat. Objects could
move into the area of the front airbags dur­
ing braking or other sudden maneuvers and
become dangero us projectiles that can
ca use serio us pe rsonal injury if the airbags
inflate.
- Never place or attach accessor ies or other
objects (such as cup holde rs, telephone
brackets, large, heavy or bu lky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the steer ing whee l, instru­
ment pane l, seat backrests or between
those areas and yourse lf. These objects
could cause injury in a crash, especially
when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air­ bag during braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near t he airbags c an become
project iles and cause injury, part icularly
when the seat is reclined .
- Never place or transpo rt obje cts on the
fron t passenger seat . Objects on the front
passenge r seat co uld cause the capacitive
sensor in the seat to signal to airbag system
that the seat is occupied by a person when it in fact is not , or that the person on the seat
is heav ier than he or she actually is . The
change in elect ric capac itance because of
s uch objects can cause the passenger front
airbag to be turned on when it should be off,
or can cause the airbag to work in a way that
is diffe ren t from the way it would have
worked without objects on the sea t.
- Always make sure that there is no thing on
the front passenger sea t that will cause the
capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the Airbag System that
154
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actua lly
sitt ing on the seat . The presence of an ob­
ject could ca use the passenger front a irbag
to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way that is different from the way it would have
wo rked witho ut the ob ject on the seat.
A WARNING
-
T he fine dus t created when airbags deploy can
cause breathing pro blems for people with a
h istory of asthma or other breath ing condi­
tions.
- To reduce the risk of breathing p roblems,
those with asthma o r other respiratory con­
ditions sho uld get fresh air right away by
getting out of the vehicle or opening win­
dows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags de­
ploy, wash your hands and face w ith m ild
soap and water before eat ing .
- Be careful not to get the dust into your eyes,
or into any cuts or scratches .
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
flush them w ith water.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
t!i Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function of
the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag moni ­
toring indicator light and the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light.
The Advanced A irbag System as well as the side
airbags and side curtain airbags wit h ejection
mitigation features (incl uding the e lectronic con ­
trol unit, sensors and system w iring) are all
monitored continuously to make sure that they
are funct ioning properly whenever the ign ition is
o n. Every t ime you turn on t he ignit io n, the air ­
bag system indicato r light
fl will come on fo r a
few seconds (fun ct ion check).
ll>