snagitseven

Adding to the list:

For the U.S. (North America?) non-hill holder crowd, there is still a way to hold the car w/o having to step on the foot brake. Manually set the ebrake while in gear, take foot off the brake and as soon as you hit the accelerator, the ebrake will auto release (assuming your seat belt is fastened). Not the full meal deal of the hill hold feature found in the ROW but still very handy on an incline.

Note for some 2013 owners..
If your car came with the "feature" of always setting the parking brake automatically when placing the transmission in park and turning off the car (some did, some didn't), there's a TSB my dealer performed that removed this annoying action (along with removing the engine stop when opening the driver door in park).
TSB 2031850/3

s5blitzer

SnagitSeven, I tried this out when I took delivery in January but was apprehensive whether the e-brake will cause any issues to the transmission (or the e-brake) while car is in D drive mode. In hindsight, I am now thinking it would be no difference with one pressing down on the foot brake pedal. Yes?

looking@audi

This is great news!

So if I understand you correctly, you don't need the MMI software upgrade from 0566 to 0609 to remove these 2 "features" - you only need TSB 2031850/3?

snagitseven

That's what was performed by my dealer as the fix. They wouldn't update me from 0566 to 0609. Yet.

qqq1970

Do you think you can get software upgrade at next scheduled service?

snagitseven

As others have found, it could be a challenge as Audi will not reimburse the dealer for MMI updates unless there is a documented problem. 0609 has been particularly tough as Audi inexplicably doesn't currently show it as compatible in their database with 2012/early 2013 C7's. I have a pretty good relationship with my service mgr. so will see if I can get him to do it at my 15K service this summer. I'd like to get the Bluetooth Audio track info display back since IOS 6.x and a couple of other improvements that have been mentioned previously in other threads.

joesky

And here is the reason why we all hate car companies. To get updates for any of my other electronics, all I need to do is download an update and install it. Presto, I have bugs fixed and get new features - assuming the hardware supports it.

But if you buy a technologically advanced car (read: any car), you can't do the same thing. You must take it to a dealer and you must pay them for the privilege. Now, I understand if I'm updating sourced content that must be paid for (ie, Navigation maps), but not for fixing issues or providing update functionality. Heck, the MMI updates simply requires a download of the update onto an SD card and choosing the right menu option in the MMI to perform the update.

Sorry for the rant, but the whole forced use of T-Mobile (or compatible) SIM cards vs. my own phone's data plan along with non-existent free NAV map updates just gets under my skin. This was ok behavior in the '90s but not now....

looking@audi

I share your frustration, however, the auto companies need to deal with the DOT, and potential legal, liability, repair, warranty and other issues that are more complex than other industries.

snagitseven

You make a good points re the difficulty of obtaining updates for our cars as compared to stand-alone electronic devices (although entire threads have already been dedicated to the issue). Audi may feel that updates might contribute to unintended issues or perhaps it's simply financially motivated - I don't know. However, I agree that there should be a path to add new compatible features and bug fixes without all the shenanigans required to obtain them.

As to the T-Mobile aspect, I'm not as in agreement with you here. A car with built-in cellular is really no different from the typical mobile phone marketing model. It usually requires a specific carrier due to design to meet the carrier's system and to the financial model the carrier imposes on the phone manufacturer. When you go to a mobile phone store, you decide which carrier first then a model that supports it. Unlike a phone, Audi really can't be reasonably expected to offer different versions of the same model to support different carriers - they had to pick one that met their goals for cost, accessibility, etc. I'm sure exclusivity in the contract plays a role here as well. T-Mobile may not meet the location needs of some buyers but Audi had to pick one while keeping it relatively affordable to the end user. I suspect if they could have negotiated a better deal from say, AT&T or Verizon, they would have gone that route.

As for tethering, as with most carriers, they have great influence with forcing phone manufacturers to not provide it unless there is a financial model to augment profits with their own additional cost plans. At least in the U.S. While the phone companies have had these mini-monopolies for years, perhaps this will change but I won't hold my breath.

keithl

I suspect th T-Mobile deal has to do with DT being the parent and in Germany with a larger European prescence and I suspect the have an overall contract with DT for US and Europe. Clearly from a coverage persepective AT&T or Vrrizon would have been better choices. Can anyone speak to how well Audi Connect works on the interstates in non metro areas? Even Vetizon for me had crappy data coverage while we were driving up 75/81 corridor from Atlanta to New York, once I was north of Chattanooga data coverage was in and out to the point that doing any serious data usage was a waste. From Atlanta to North of Chattanooga I was able to stream Netflix on my Ipad tethered to my Droid Razr Maxx.