48V electrical systems
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
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From: Ohio
Well it definitely applies to the Audi's in my showroom that sit, even on a battery tender, and get all sorts of faults and electrical system errors. Today a brand new Q8's left headlight wasn't working because the 48V was drained, after recharging it was working again but the fault codes had to be cleared. Frameless-window indexing has issues on the A7/Q8 lines as well when the 48V is low.
Perhaps BMW and Mercedes are far better off with this system, but I've heard similar issues as such with customers who don't drive their cars a lot, whereas other customers that regularly drive their cars have zero issues.
Perhaps BMW and Mercedes are far better off with this system, but I've heard similar issues as such with customers who don't drive their cars a lot, whereas other customers that regularly drive their cars have zero issues.
The A8s had a recall early onto stop it but it wasn't rolled out to the other cars at the time, a lot of guys were quite mad about it since one mode of failure bricks the car.
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Joined: Feb 2021
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From: California
That said I have heard of people having issues with electrical system malfunctions on the BMWs/Mercedes but no clue how widespread that issue is on their brands.
Lexus Champion
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From: Ohio
Early Mercedes are bad, they seem to be okay now. I've only needed to do 2
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2010
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From: Alberta
Ok, I've seen this specifically apply to the large body Audi MLBevo models (A6 and Q7 and up) which use the 48V system and have not seen this on any of the smaller models with the 12V system.
While it may be vehicle specific, there is a clear trend that points to 48V being the issue here. This is a separate issue from the 48V/Starter Generator issue that plagued MY23 and older Audis.
While it may be vehicle specific, there is a clear trend that points to 48V being the issue here. This is a separate issue from the 48V/Starter Generator issue that plagued MY23 and older Audis.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
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From: Ohio
Yep, they got cheap. Audi has been dumbed down in deference to Porsche, Lambo and Bentley to carry those sectors of cars. All companies are doing it these days but it sucks to see what used to be vs now, there are practically no options left even on the high end cars
Lexus Fanatic
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From: Alberta
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
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From: Ohio
It's easier to mass scale but way worse if something was designed badly, like the new connectors for 48v. I would argue we should push hard for the absolute best sealing, tensioned, wear resistant, and easy to unlock connectors we can or you know they will half *** the quality for margins.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: May 2012
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From: Maryland
When the 48v system is drained it makes the car VERY unhappy. This has happened to me twice, when the windows were tinted and the car was coded. The guy who did my coding was able to clear all the errors because he was in the system already, the dealer had to do it after the tinting, etc.
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I thought this wiki page was very interesting.
48-volt electrical system - Wikipedia
as you may know, tesla has now announced a standardized set of just 6 connectors that could be used on vehicles and they want to share the design with others.
with the higher voltage and standardized connectors, manufacturing can be simpler and less expensive and the cars more capable in many areas.
#discuss
48-volt electrical system - Wikipedia
as you may know, tesla has now announced a standardized set of just 6 connectors that could be used on vehicles and they want to share the design with others.
with the higher voltage and standardized connectors, manufacturing can be simpler and less expensive and the cars more capable in many areas.
#discuss
In 2011, German car manufacturers Audi, BMW, Daimler Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen[4] agreed on a 48V system[clarification needed] supplementing the legacy 12V low-voltage automotive standard
In December 2023, in order to accelerate the adoption by other automakers of 48 V system voltage for automotive components, Tesla offered a "48-volt electrical system whitepaper" to all industry leaders. CEO Jim Farley confirmed that Ford had received a copy and agreed to 'help the supply base move into the 48-volt future".
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
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From: Ohio
No you just can't get certain stuff anymore. Audi Exclusive doesn't offer even 1/4 of what they did in my generation of car, they fully expect you to just go to Bentley instead. We never even got the D5 W12 here, if you want one stateside you need to first buy an S8 LWB with as many options as possible then install a Flying Spur engine yourself and buy the correct inner subframe, mounts, ECU pair, and accessory lines to get what they never gave us......yes said project is in progress btw. I WILL have one W12 of every generation including D5 lol!
No you just can't get certain stuff anymore. Audi Exclusive doesn't offer even 1/4 of what they did in my generation of car, they fully expect you to just go to Bentley instead. We never even got the D5 W12 here, if you want one stateside you need to first buy an S8 LWB with as many options as possible then install a Flying Spur engine yourself and buy the correct inner subframe, mounts, ECU pair, and accessory lines to get what they never gave us......yes said project is in progress btw. I WILL have one W12 of every generation including D5 lol!
vw -> audi -> porsche -> bentley
get over the audi obsession, flip a few of those cars you've got, and just get a bentley. .
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
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From: Ohio
My next 4 door is going to be a 4 door flying spur speed though so I guess they "won" with their plan in the end since I'm being forced to go that way for an upgrade