[V8] Keys and radios

[Don Wasley]

Roger,

 

Thanks for the info..my 20+ years at dealerships in the various parts
departments isn't of much value to me since I worked for VW/Audi from 2002
thru 2006, long after the V8 came and went. I'll try to see if I can locate
any of my buddies that might (hopefully) still work there. The dealership I
worked for has a great customer base but super-lousy employer/employee
relationships with most of their employees except the old-timers that see
the BS and look the other way or at least, don't step in it like I did.
That's why I'm not there anymore. In any case, hopefully someone that I know
and maybe used to work with will still be there and I won't have to deal
with an inept parts person for what I need..

 

Thanks again,

Don

 

From: Roger M. Woodbury [mailto:rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 3:03 AM
To: dswasley at hotmail.com
Cc: v8 at audifans.com
Subject: Keys and radios

 

Don;  Some years ago...probably around the dawn of time, my local Audi
dealer told me that Audi could provide new keys from the VIN on all of their
cars, especially the V8.  As I recall the conversation then, it was going to
cost nearly $300 for a set. That would probably have been in 1999 or perhaps
2000.  

 

I don't know if this is still the case, but  Audi delivered all parts for
repair of the V8 via overnight delivery.  That was probably only for the
first decade of service, but I did have my first V8 at the dealer once or
twice for somethingorother and the part was hustled to them overnight.  My
first V8 was a '90 that I bought when it was less than eight years old.  

 

Today that same dealer still has a mechanic working there who was trained by
Audi when the V8 first came out.  There aren't many dealerships like that
anywhere.  I don't take my car there now, but at least they know what a V8
is whenever I call for a bit or piece.

 

I have had mixed experience with Bose radios in these cars.  The system in
my first V8 was poor and one or the other rear speaker would sometimes just
not work.  I never did anything about it because eventually, they just
stopped working.  After rebuilding the transmission in that car it went
away:  the bill scared me so badly I decided to do something completely
different.

 

The second V8 was a '93 4.2 car and the radio worked pretty well, although
eventually I think those rear speakers stopped working, or perhaps I stopped
them from working by disconnecting the power once the speakers started to
crackle.  I think i sold the car with the front speakers working, but I
really don't remember because I normally don't even have a radio on in the
car.

 

The third V8 had rebuilt speakers in the car when I bought it, and it has
worked exceptionally well until a bit more than a year ago when the entire
system stopped working.  I have never bothered to look into it because the
car has had so little use for the past two years there was no point.  

 

My wife's '94 100CS Avant has the same Bose system the V8 had that year, and
not long after getting that car (2001) the radio head failed. Audi replaced
it at no charge twice but each succeeding head unit failed the last time
when we were in Florida with the car. I went to a local audio shop and had
them put a new Nakamichi head unit in, running through the Bose speakers.  I
bought the Nakamichi head unit because it was the only thing I could find
that looked like it might actually belong in the dash and didn't look like a
chintzy juke box from a cheap New Orleans whore house.  It's worked very
well and although the radio doesn't quite match the dash and the face color
is wrong, it has done a good job.  The problem you may have it getting some
head unit to work with the Bose speaker amplifiers.  In the end you will be
much better off ripping out the entire system and starting over, assuming
you can find a head unit that will fit and not look stupid in the dash.  I
have had Alpine head units in some of  my cars, especially Porsches in years
past, but the last time I looked I thought all the Alpine stuff was made in
New Orleans....;)

 

For what it's worth....

 

Roger