2018 AUDI A8 ESP

About this Owner's Manual
This Owne r's Manual applies to a ll versions of
this mode l.
It contains important information,
tips, suggestions and warn ings for using your ve ­
h icle.
Keep this manual in yo ur vehicle at all times . This
is especially important if you loan your vehicle to
others or sell it.
This owner's manua l descr ibes the
equipment
range
specified for this mode l at the time of
printing. Individua l equipment options described
may on ly be availab le at a later date or may on ly
be offered in certain countries .
Some sections in this manua l do not apply to all
ve hicl es. When this is the case, the beginning of
the sect ion ind icates the
validity, for example
"Applies to vehicles : with cruise contro l system".
Optional or vehicle-specific equipment is also
ident ified with an asterisk"*" .
The
illustrations in this manual are a guide .
Some of the detai ls in your vehicle may differ
from the illustration.
A ll
directions , such as "left", "right", "front" and
"rear", are based on the vehicle's direction of
travel.
* Optiona
l equipment or vehicle -speci fic equip­
ment
.,.. The section continues on the next page.
~ & Cross reference to a "WARN ING " within a
section. If a page number is indica ted, the
WARNING is located o utside of the section.
A WARNING -
Tex t with this symbol contains information
about safety and how to reduce the risk of se­
rious personal injury or death.
(LlJ) Note
Text with this symbol contains informat ion
about reducing the risk of damage to your ve­
hicle .
@) For the sake of the environment
6
Text with this symbol contains informat ion on
protecting the environment.
(D Tips
Text with this symbo l contains additional use­
f ul info rmation.

lL t:0 ....
"" ......
"" .... 0 0 :c ' Multifunction steering
wheel
Operating
A pp lies to: ve hicles with mult ifunction steering wheel
You can opera te various MM I functions and the
driver information sys tem, change the volume,
and turn the voice reco gnition system * on and
off with the multifunction steering wheel.
F ig. 5 Driver info rmat ion sys te m
Fig . 6 M ult ifunct ion steer ing w heel operat ion
Requ irement: the ign it ion and the MMI must be
sw itche d on
<=:>page 135.
Operating the driver information system
The drive r information system contains mult iple
tabs @<=:> fig. 5 that display various informat ion
@ .
The fo llow ing tabs are available, depending on
ve hicle equ ipment:
First ta b Vehicle information,
assis tance systems
Second tab
a) Indicator lights, driver
messages, speed warn-
i n g system
Cockpit overview
T hir d t ab bl Nigh t vision assist*
<=:> page 109
Fourt h tab Radio/media
<=:> page 13
Fifth tab Telephone*
<=:> pag e 14
Sixth tab Navigation *
<=:>page 15
•l Thi s tab is only v is ible if at least o ne in dica tor lig ht or
messa ge is show n or if t he co rr espo nding syste m is
sw it c h ed on .
b) Thi s tab is on ly v is ib le if Night vis io n ass ist• has been act i­
vat ed .
@ !<1 t> ! Button
- Switching tabs : press the l<1 1> I button repeated­
ly unt il t he desired tab is shown (for example,
Rad io) .
@ lil Button
-Opening /closing the submenu : press the~
button.
® Left thumbwheel
-Selecting a function in a menu/list : tur n the
left t humbwheel to the desired function (for
examp le, select ing a frequency).
- Confirming a selection : press the left thumb­
wheel.
- Zooming in/out on the map : when a map is
disp layed, turn the left thumbwheel to zoom i n
and out on the map.
- Quick scrolling through lists : tur n t he le ft
thum bwhee l quickly .
Additional function buttons
Applies to: vehicles wit h mult ifunct ion stee rin g w hee l
Fig. 7 Rig ht s ide of t he mult ifun ctio n stee rin g wheel
11

Cockpit overv ie w
lig ht also turns on. Make sure t hat the speed
does not go above the speed displayed. Drive to
an author ized Audi dealer or authorized A udi
Serv ice Facility immediately to have the malfunc­
tion corrected .
--... Engine oil sensor
• Oil l evel! Sen sor d efe ctiv e
The sensor to check the engine oil leve l has
fa iled. Drive to an authori zed Aud i dea ler or au­
thor ized Audi Service Facility immed iate ly to have
the ma lfunction corrected .
f Engine warm-up request
0 Plea se warm up engine
Fue l has entered the eng ine oil, either from low
outside temperatures or frequent short drives .
Dr ive unt il the engine is warm so that the fuel in
the eng ine oi l will evaporate . Avo id h igh eng ine
speeds, fu ll acce le rating and heavy eng ine loads
when doing this.
jjl Tank system
Ill Plea se refuel
If t he i nd icator lig ht t urns on fo r the fi rst time
a nd the mess age appears, there a re abo ut 4 ga l­
lons (15 lite rs) of fue l le ft in the tank.
D Fuel tank s ystem malfunction! Plea se con­
tact dealer
There is a malfunction in the fue l tank system .
Drive to an a uthorized Audi dea ler or a uth orized
Aud i Serv ice Facility immediately to have the
malfunct ion corrected.
(D Tips
For more information on fueling, see
¢page 269 .
~ Washer fluid level
C Please refill washer flu id
24
Fill the washer fluid for the windshie ld washer
system and the head light washer system when
t h e ignit ion is switched
off ¢ page 281 .
• Windshield wipers
m Windshield wiper defective
There is a ma lfunction with the winds hield wip ­
ers .
D rive to an au thor ized A udi dealer or au tho riz ed
Audi Se rvice Facility immediate ly to have the
malfunction corrected.
~ /0~ Bulb failure indicator
If the S:$ ind icator light turns on, a bulb has
failed . The message indicates the location of the
bulb.
If the
II indicator light also t urns on, then a rear
fog light has failed. The position of the indicator
li ght corresponds with the location on the vehi­
cle.
Vehicle light s: Malfunction
There is a m alfu nction in the headlights o r the
li gh t sw itch .
D rive to an author ized Audi dealer or autho rized
Audi Se rvice Fac il ity immed iate ly to have the
malfunction cor rec ted .
_& WARNING
-Light bulbs are under pressure and can ex ­
p lode when b ulbs a re rep laced, w hic h in­
creases the ris k of in jury.
- With H ID headlig hts* (xenon -plus head ­
lights), the high-vo ltage component must
be handled correct ly . Otherwise, there is a
risk o f fatal in jury.
§.0 Headlight range control system
El He adlight range cont rol system: System
fault
There is a ma lfunction in the headlight range
contro l system, which may cause glare for other
drivers.
-

Opening and closing
Central locking
Description
You can lock and un lock the veh icle centrally . You
h ave the following options:
-Remote control key c> page 30
-Sensors in the door hand les* c> page 30
-Lock cylinder in the driver's door c>page 32
-Inter central locking switch ¢page 31
Turn signals
The tu rn s ignals flas h tw ice when you un lock the
ve hicle and flash once whe n you lock the veh icle.
I f t he ve hicle is unlocked and the flashing cont in ­
ues, then
-One of the doors, the luggage compartment lid
o r th e hood is open
-T he ign ition is still switched on
-T he selector lever is not in the P pos it ion
Auto Lock
The Auto Lock function locks all doors and the
luggage compartment lid once the speed has ex­
ceeded approximately 1S km/h.
The vehicle can be unlocked if the opening f unc ­
tion in the centra l locking system switch is used
or one of the door handles is pulled. The Auto
Lock function can be sw itched on and off in the
Infotainment system
¢ page 32 .
In t he event of a crash with airbag deployment ,
the doors will a lso automatica lly unlock to allow
access to the ve hicle.
Se le cti ve door unloc king
The doors and luggage compartment lid wi ll lock
when they close. You can set in the Infotainment
system whether only the driver's door or the en ­
tire ve hicle should be unlocked when unlocking
¢page 32.
Unintent ionally loc king yourself out
~ On ly lock your vehicle when a ll of the doors and ....
~ the luggage compartment lid are closed and the N
~ remote contro l key is not in the vehicle. This 0 :c ' Open ing and cl osing
helps to prevent you from locking yoursel f out
accidentally .
T he following condi tions p reve nt yo u from lock ­
i ng yo ur remote cont rol key in t he veh icle:
-If the driver's door is open, the vehicle cannot
be locked by press ing
t h e ~ button on t he re­
mote co ntro l key o r touching the locking sensor
on a door.
-I f the most recently used conve nience key* is
detec ted in t he luggage compartment, the l ug­
gage compa rtment lid a utoma tica lly unloc ks
again after closing it.
-If the conven ience key* that was last used is de ­
t ected ins ide t he ve hicle, then the vehicle can­
not be locked from the o utside .
Closing aid on the doors*
The veh icle doo rs a re equipped with closing aids.
When clos ing a door, yo u on ly have to le t it fall
li gh tly into t he lat ch.
It then closes automatically
Q &. .
A WARNING ~ -
-W hen you loc k yo ur vehicle from outside,
nobody- espec ia lly children
-sho uld rema in
inside the veh icle. Remember, when you
lock the vehicle from the outside the wi n­
dows cannot be opened from the inside .
-When you leave the vehicle, a lways take t he
ig nit ion key with yo u. This will prevent pas­
sengers (ch ildren, for examp le) from acci­
denta lly being locked in the veh icle sho uld
t hey a ccidentally p ress the powe r locking
sw itch in the doo rs.
-D o not leave ch ildre n ins ide the veh icle un­
supe rvised. I n an emergency it would be im­
possible to open the doo rs fro m the ou tside
w itho ut the key .
-Appli es to ve hicles w it h powe r side doo r
close r*:
-When closing a door, ma ke sure nothing
can interfere with the door. T his could
ca use serio us personal injury.
-You can stop the door from closing at any
time by p ullin g on the inside or o utside
door handle .
27

lL t:0 ....
"' ......
"' .... 0 0 :c ' The settings in the Infotainment system deter­mine if the entire vehicle or only one of the doors
is unlocked when unlocking the vehicle
c:> page 32.
_&. WARNING
Read and heed all WARNINGS c:> .& in Descrip­
tion on page 2 7.
@ Tips
If your vehicle is left standing for a long peri­
od of time, note the following:
-The proximity sensor switches off after a
few days to save energy. You then have to
pull once on the door handle to unlock the
vehicle and a second t ime to open it.
-The energy management system gradually
turns off unnecessary convenience functions
to prevent the vehicle battery from draining
and to mainta in the vehicle's ab ility to start
fo r as long as possib le. You may not be able
to unlock your vehicle us ing the convenience
key.
- Fo r an explanation on conformity with the
FCC regulations in the United States and the
Industry Canada reg ulations, see
c:> page 339 .
Central locking switch
Fig. 25 Dr iver 's door: centra l lock ing sw itc h
Op eni ng and clos ing
Fig. 26 Rear doors: central lock ing switch
"To lock the vehicle, press the ffi button c:> fig . 25
or c:> fig. 26, c:> &_ .
.. To unlock the vehicle, press the crl button .
When locking the veh icle with the central lock ing
switch, the following app lies:
-Opening the door and the luggage compart­
ment lid from the
outside is not poss ible (for
secur ity reaso ns, such as when stopped at a
light).
- The LED in the central locking sw itch turns on
when all doors are closed and locked.
- Front doors: you can open the doors individual­ ly from the inside by pulling the door handle .
- Rear doors: to unlock the doors, pull on the
door ha ndle
one time . To open the doors, pull
on the door handle
again .
- In the event of a crash with a irbag deployment,
the doors unlock a utomat ically to allow access
to the vehicle.
_&. WARNING
- The central locking switch a lso works when
the ign ition is switched off and automatica l­
ly locks the entire vehicle when the
ffi but ­
ton is pressed.
- The cent ral locking switch is inope ra tive
when the vehicle is locked from the outside.
- Locked doors ma ke it more diffic ult for
emergency workers to get into the vehicle,
which puts lives at r isk. Do not leave anyone
behind in the vehicle, especially c hildren .
(D Tips
Your vehicle locks automatically when it
reaches a speed of 9 mph (15 km/h) (Auto
Lock)
c:> page 27 . You can unlock the vehicle
31

Opening and clo sin g
vehicle. Always keep the luggage compart­
ment lid and the doors closed when the ve­
hicle is not in use.
- Always make sure no one is in the luggage
compartment lid's range of motion when it
is clos ing, especially near the hinges. Fin­
gers or hands could be p inched .
(D Tips
When the vehicle is locked, the luggage com­
partment lid can be unlocked separately by
pressing the
c:;, button on the remote control
key. The luggage compartment lid locks auto­
matically when it is closed again .
Automatic luggage compartment lid
Applies to: ve hicles w ith a utomat ic luggage compartment lid
The luggage compartment lid can be opened and
closed automatically .
Fig . 31 Luggage compartment l id :@ clos ing button ,@
l ock button (vehicles with convenience key•)
Open ing th e lug gage comp artmen t lid
.,. Press and hold the ~ button on the remote
control key for at least one second . Or
.,. Pull the las I button in the drive r's door briefly
c::> page 33, fig . 29 . Or
.,. Press the handle in the luggage compartment
li d
c::> page 33, fig. 30.
Clo sing the luggage compartment lid
.,. Pull the button las I in the dr iver's door until the
luggage compartment lid is closed
o &_ . Or
.,. Press the las! button in the luggage compart­
ment lid
c::> fig. 31. The luggage compartment
l id will automatically lower and close
c::> ,&. . Or
.,. Press and hold the button ~ on the remote
contro l key unt il the luggage compartment lid
34
is closed (vehicles with convenience key*) c::> A .
Or
.,. Press the ~ button c::> fig. 31 in the luggage
compartment lid (vehicles w ith convenience
key*). The remote contro l key must not be
more than approx imately 4 ft (1.5 m) away
from the luggage compartment and it must not be inside the vehicle . The l uggage compart­
ment lid wi ll automat ica lly lower and close. The
veh icle locks
c::> ,&. . Or
.,. Press the hand le in the luggage compartment
lid. The luggage compartment lid will automat­
ically lower and close
o A .
The opening/clos ing process will s top immedi ­
ate ly if:
- You p ull/re lease the
l ,;.::, I button in the dr iver's
door, o r
- You press/release the
las! button on the remote
cont rol key (vehicles with convenience key*), o r
- You press the
las ! or {fJ button (vehicles wi th
convenience key*) in the luggage compartment
lid, o r
- You push the ha ndle in the l uggage compart­
ment lid, o r
- You press against the luggage compartment lid
aga inst the direction it is moving, or
- When someth ing blocks the luggage compart­
ment lid or makes it difficult for the lid to
move.
If you press the handle or one of
the~ or~ but­
tons (vehicles with convenience key*) now, the l uggage compartment lid w ill either open or
close, depend ing on what angle it is at.
.&, WARNING
- Read and follow all WARNINGS c::> .& in De­
s cription on page 2
7 .
- After closing the luggage compartmen t lid,
always pull up on it to make s ure that it is
properly closed . Otherwise it could open
suddenly when the vehicle is moving .
- To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas from
being drawn into the vehicle, a lways keep
the l uggage compartment l id closed whi le
driving. Never transport objects larger than
those which fit complete ly into the luggage
..,

lL t:0 ....
"' ......
"' .... 0 0 :c ' area, because then the luggage compart­ment lid cannot be fully closed .
- Never leave your vehicle unattended espe­
cially with the luggage compartment lid left
open . A child could crawl into the car
through the luggage compartment and pull
the lid shut, becoming trapped and unable
to get out . To reduce the risk of personal in­
jury, never let children p lay in or around
you r vehicle . A lways keep the luggage com­
partmen t lid as well as the vehicle doo rs
closed when not in use.
- Never close the l uggage compartment lid
ina ttentively or without checking first . Al­
though the closing force of the l uggage
compartment lid is limited, you can still se­
riously injure yourself or others.
- Always ensure that no one is within range of
the luggage compartment lid when it is
moving, in particular close to the hinges and
the upper and lower edges
-fingers or
hands can be pinched.
- Never try to interfere w ith the luggage com­
partment lid or help it when it is being
opened or closed automatically .
(D Tips
- The settings in the Infotainment system de­
termine if the luggage compartment lid can be opened us ing the handle
q page 32.
- When the vehicle is locked, the luggage
compartment lid can be unlocked separately by pressing the
l .::s l button on the remote
control key. The luggage compartment lid l ocks automatically when it is closed again .
- You can close the luggage compartment lid
us ing the remote control key (veh icles w ith
convenience key*) up to a d istance of ap­
p rox imately 9 feet (3 m).
- The luggage compartment lid can be oper­
ated manually if the veh icle battery is low.
It is necessary to use more force when doing
th is. Move the lid slowly to red uce the
amount of force needed.
Op eni ng and clos ing
Opening the luggage compartment lid with
foot motion activation (kicking movement)
Applies to: vehicles with convenience key and sensor-cont rol­
led luggage compartment lid
F ig. 32 Rear of the vehicle : foot movement
Requi rements : you must be carrying your veh icle
key with you . You must be standing at the center
behind the luggage compartme nt lid . The dis ­
tance to the rear of the veh icle must be at least 8
in (20 cm) . The ignition must be switched off.
Make s ure yo u have f irm footing .
.,. Move your foot back and forth below t he bump ­
er
q fig . 32 . Do not touch the bumpe r. Once the
system recogn izes the movement , the luggage
compa rtment l id will ope n.
T he luggage compartment lid will only open if
you make the movement as descr ibed . T h is pre­
vents the luggage compa rtment lid from open ing
due to similar movements, such as when you
walk betwee n the rear of the vehicle and your ga­
rage door .
General information
In some si tuations, the f unct ion may be lim ited
o r tempora rily unavailable . T his may happen if:
- the luggage compartment lid was closed imme ­
diately before .
- you park close to a hedge and the branches
move back and forth under the veh icle for a
long per iod of t i me
- you clean your veh icle, for example with a pres ­
sure washer or in a car wash
- there is heavy ra in
- the bumper is very dirty, for example after d riv-
ing on salt-covered roads
..,.
35

Opening and closing
-there is interference to the radio signal from
the vehicle key, such as from cell phones or re­
mote controls
Emergency unlocking the luggage
compartment lid
In the event that the central locking system mal­
functions , the luggage compartment lid can be
opened at the lock cylinder .
AUD.a.
Fig. 33 Luggage compartment lid: mechanica l key in lock
cyl inde r
.,. Remove the integrated mechanical key
-N CX) '9 ::c
"" "'
<=> page 29 or use the separate mechanical key.
" Insert the mechanical key in the lock cylinder as
pictu red.
"T urn the key approximate ly 45° to the right
<=> fig. 33. The luggage compartment lid opens.
The key cannot be pulled out in the released posi­
tion .
_&. WARNING
-After closing the luggage compartment lid,
make sure that it is latched. The luggage
compartment lid could otherwise open s ud­
denly whi le driving, even if the lock cylinder
is closed. This would increase the risk of an
acc ident.
- Never drive with the luggage compartment
lid ajar or open, because poisonous gases
can enter the vehicle interior and create the
risk of asphyxiation .
36
Opening the luggage compartment lid
from the inside in an emergency
Fig. 34 Inne r luggage compartment l id : lever
" Pull the lever downward c> fig . 34 .
@ Tips
Never close the luggage compartment lid us­
i ng the emergency handle.
Child safety lock
Fig. 35 Section of dr iver 's doo r: co ntrols
Fig. 36 Rear door: child safety lock
Vehicles with [!] button
" To activate/deactivate the inner door hand le
-N
~ co
"'
and the power window switch for the respective
rear door, press the
l eft/right [±] button in the ..,,