[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

VAG TDI engines are very mod friendly and stage 1 remap with stock hardware (ECU update) will give you good gains. It will be a software update + some tuners will suggest for filter upgrade too (BMC or K&N).
My TDI is running on stage 1 with 190 BHP and 400NM (Tuner quoted numbers) and K&N filter as stock replacement.

Thanks sunikkat! While I'd love the extra power, I'm usually a fan of stock builds with 0 mods. The maximum I'll do, and in most cases this is needed, is to black out the roof, door mirrors and wheels!

Maybe that bug hasn't caught onto me yet!

[Ashwintona675]

Congrats on your car and welcome to the club. I have a preowned A3 as well. 2016 model Premium plus S Line done 65k kms so far. (15K by me). It comes with rear view camera, I guess you have the premium variant and hence the missing cam. It should be a simple retrofit.
A3 is a very underrated sedan eh? Mainly because of its On road price back then. In the used market it is a sweet deal. Mileage beyond any luxury car can dream of. Interior oozes class. And the build quality is amazing.
Enjoy your beast brother. Dont forget to get the puddle lights. It's a neat party trick. ��

[v1p3r]

From this

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

The CLA had been my dream since I started working back in 2016 on my humble salary of 6000 rupees a month and 5 years later of drooling...

to this

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

I took delivery exactly a month later...

What a journey! Congratulations!

[prateekchanana]

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

Prateek thank you so much! Do you have a link for the exact item? I will check with a technician immediately. This would probably be all the upgrades I need!

Do they also have upgrades that synchronize with the Audi Plug In app? I checked out some videos over Youtube where complete car data was visible on a device in real time.

I made a thread regarding the same while adding it to my A4. Here is the link for the same -

Link (DIY: Adding Apple Carplay / Android Auto to my Audi A4 (B9))

Regarding the Audi Plug in app, I use the Audi connect dongle. They sell it at 50% off for 10k. You can go through my ownership review to check the same. Not aware about any third party adapters for this.

I also added a plug n play dash cam recently from FITCAMX which takes power from the rain sensor and looks very neat. Will be adding a post for that soon.

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by Ashwintona675

Congrats on your car and welcome to the club. I have a preowned A3 as well. 2016 model Premium plus S Line done 65k kms so far. (15K by me). It comes with rear view camera, I guess you have the premium variant and hence the missing cam. It should be a simple retrofit.
A3 is a very underrated sedan eh? Mainly because of its On road price back then. In the used market it is a sweet deal. Mileage beyond any luxury car can dream of. Interior oozes class. And the build quality is amazing.
Enjoy your beast brother. Dont forget to get the puddle lights. It's a neat party trick.

Hi Ashwin! Underrated is not the word!

1. No one believes the actual mileage figures this diesel motor produces, upwards of 26 easily if left around 65-70km/h for a trip.
2. Dreading the thought of what to pick next when the time for an upgrade does come. 20L for a new car from 2 segments lower! There is no match on the used market for this value.

Lovely looking alien and Thank you!

Btw where have you been getting the service done from? And how has the experience with reliability been?

Originally Posted by v1p3r

From this

to this



What a journey! Congratulations!

Thank you! Means alot! Really worked my butt for this one haha!

Originally Posted by prateekchanana

I made a thread regarding the same while adding it to my A4. Here is the link for the same -

Link (DIY: Adding Apple Carplay / Android Auto to my Audi A4 (B9))

Regarding the Audi Plug in app, I use the Audi connect dongle. They sell it at 50% off for 10k. You can go through my ownership review to check the same. Not aware about any third party adapters for this.

I also added a plug n play dash cam recently from FITCAMX which takes power from the rain sensor and looks very neat. Will be adding a post for that soon.

Thanks Prateek! Going to spend some time with your thread this weekend!

[Ashwintona675]

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

Btw where have you been getting the service done from? And how has the experience with reliability been?

My warranty is up, so i have been to going to a FNG in Chennai. Apart from the regular service, brake pads and discs were the only regular wear and tear. It is best to get it done from a FNG. 25K for the service with all OEM parts and AMS Engine Oil.

One lucky thing was, the previous owner got the DSG oil changed in his final service. So absolutely nothing major in the foreseeable future. Make sure you change yours at 50-60K kms.

Reliability is absolutely amazing. Like you, i have taken it to some hills and non-existent roads there as well. Handled all those really smooth. One suggestion is within city in bumper to bumper traffic, shift to manual and keep it at 1. Because the DSG will keep switching to 2 and 1 constantly and this will reduce the life. Just something i follow to improve the transmission life.

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by Ashwintona675

My warranty is up, so i have been to going to a FNG in Chennai. Apart from the regular service, brake pads and discs were the only regular wear and tear. It is best to get it done from a FNG. 25K for the service with all OEM parts and AMS Engine Oil.

One lucky thing was, the previous owner got the DSG oil changed in his final service. So absolutely nothing major in the foreseeable future. Make sure you change yours at 50-60K kms.

Reliability is absolutely amazing. Like you, i have taken it to some hills and non-existent roads there as well. Handled all those really smooth. One suggestion is within city in bumper to bumper traffic, shift to manual and keep it at 1. Because the DSG will keep switching to 2 and 1 constantly and this will reduce the life. Just something i follow to improve the transmission life.

Hey thanks a ton for the advice on the manual crawling! Never would haave thought of it, I've been switching to N and D in traffic and haven't let it remain in D while stationary, I can feel the car doesn't like it, all that friction has to come off somewhere, though alot of my friends have been leaving it in D brakes held.

Audi has quoted me around 30k for the oil + filter + inspection and various cleaning operations, I thinking of letting them go ahead with it, considering I was alright with 37k for my Honda.

It's at 49k right now, Maybe I can get DSG oil changed next service? They've not recommended it on the 5th service as per their schedule.

Thanks in advance!

Also please share a few more photos of your beauty if you don't mind! I loved the silver more, both my Rapid and City were in silver. It just ages much better and retains its luster well.

[viXit]

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

.... though alot of my friends have been leaving it in D brakes held.

you need not shift to N.

The car automatically engages the clutch when you come to a standstill. so there is nothing to worry about. Just go to manual or sport to avoid shifting between d1/d2 back and forth, which like others mentioned, is what kills the box.

Congratulations on the car! real inspiration. Hope you enjoy a trouble free ownership for miles and miles to come.

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by viXit

you need not shift to N.

The car automatically engages the clutch when you come to a standstill. so there is nothing to worry about. Just go to manual or sport to avoid shifting between d1/d2 back and forth, which like others mentioned, is what kills the box.

Congratulations on the car! real inspiration. Hope you enjoy a trouble free ownership for miles and miles to come.

Thanks a ton! I feel quite guilty just leaving it in Drive, the engine is clearly working from the sound of things but no movement is being done, are you sure this is good thing? Not really accustomed to mechanics!

[Moto_MP]

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

Greetings everybody!

Attachment 2343882
MH Traffic Police taking some very expensive photos of my Car! - Expressway

Just curious, from this picture it looks like your sunroof is open, above 100km/hr

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by Moto_MP

Just curious, from this picture it looks like your sunroof is open, above 100km/hr

You are correct! It always is, specially when there's no sun and rain.

Infact I drove through a thunderstorm last trip with the sunroof open, the wind acts like a sort of curtain over the car when you're traveling fast enough. Blissful chilly feeling while the wipers worked extra hard to provide the much needed visibility!

[IanNazareth]

Dear BHPians! Some quick updates over the last 12 months since I posted, how the car has been fairing overall and general.

1. Got annual service done from Audi South last August - 2022. Since it was my first year with the car, I basically asked them to do a full check up and give me list of all the service requirements as per their schedule.

Apart from all the below attachments, they recommended changing the rotors and pads. The pads I got changed but the rotors they said could be deferred to another year which is what I have done.

Below is the exact invoice copy for your reference.










I will attach some more images and updates of the odo, it's been driven almost everyday as it's my only car and used for work. The diesel really is pocket friendly in that regard.

[IanNazareth]

Hi Guys! This is an update of the first real expenses I've incurred over the last 2 years I've driven the A3.

A couple of days ago I while driving behind a lorry during dusk I noticed the DRL glow on the back of the truck was missing on my left. That's when I realized it had turned completely light yellow. Fortunately the other side was good to go, or so I thought, more on this later. This was only the DRL turning yellow and the light functioning completely normal.


Here is how it looked.

Over the next few days I visited my trusted mechanic who suggested that the only way to solve it was to get the light replaced. An approximate of 1.5L per light. A quick search online came out to the same figures.

We tried various other things like going into the computers and switching off the DRLs all together to look symmetrical to no use. There was also a video of someone who had fixed the same issue, video attached below. We tried an experimental procedure of taking off the light and found the tube to be bunt by the DRL. Basically the way these operate is that there is a bright DRL chip at one end that powers the entire plastic translucent tube to make it glow.

This is the video that we referred to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3efYI4qw-M

His light looked like this.


Here is the burnt DRL tube on my headlight after opening it up.


Here is how our light came out after cleaning the DRL chip.


After a few hours the light went back to yellow and I just bought a new one from a dealer in Delhi who shipped it to Mumbai in 1 Day. We had it installed the next day and here is the result.



Notice the earlier one looks yellow in comparison the new made in Taiwan import. I will probably need to swap this out too now but at least they are both equally bright.

A good thing with the headlight was that these were halogens on my car, the global models have full LED which are almost 3-4 times the cost. This is something I came to know of while reading through forums on how to fix the issue.

I feel very confident with Mr Qasim Shirazi who owns Shirazi Automotive @Borivali, helped me conduct an experimental procedure of opening up the light. It was worth a try. He refused to charge me for the failed attempt too considering it was a lost labor effort to open and put back on while we then waited for the part, that I insisted on.

Big shout out to him and his team, always has a couple Germans lying around being fixed anytime of the day. He laughingly explained to me that if the service centers did their job, people wouldn't need him.
True!

[Sandy2345]

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

After a few hours the light went back to yellow and I just bought a new one from a dealer in Delhi who shipped it to Mumbai in 1 Day. We had it installed the next day and here is the result.

Hi there! Nice experiment on trying to get the issue fixed.

Off late, I have been seeing a lot of cars getting affected with this DRL yellowing issue, which surprisingly includes BMW's as well, one of them being a 6 series GT too. Could it be because of the tropical climate conditions of our country?

Pardon me if I'm being a noob. But did you change the entire headlight assembly or just the DRL tube and the burnt chip?

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by Sandy2345

But did you change the entire headlight assembly or just the DRL tube and the burnt chip?

Hi Sandy, changing the DRL chip would not solve the problem as it has also burnt the tube from one end. Taking out the tube is possible, however one would need to bake the headlight to open it up. It was easier, although more expensive to just get the light replaced. Cost me 30k odd + taxes.