Dino75

Hi, I recently bought a 2021 A6 Avant. The MMI has been really glitchy so I had already booked it into the main dealer to get a software update on the 18th of June.
Last week I got a tow hitch fitted and the fitter coded the towbar so it would work on the car. All was fine until yesterday. Now when I get into the car it says Loading User Information. Please wait…
I have tried doing the software reboot by holding down the volume button for 15 seconds but it won’t clear it. The centre dash (non-virtual cockpit version) says Initialising entertainment functions. Please wait.
I tried logging out of app and changing my password but that didn’t help either.
I also ran a scan on my OBDEleven and got faults saying Component protection active.
Anyone have any more ideas? Would it be worth disconnecting the battery?

John Simcox

Sounds like the guy who dod the programming for your tow bar has got something wrong. Suggest you speak to him to see what he did. Component protection would imply that a new component has been added to the car that has not been properly associated with car which requires special software to do

Mokorx

Stuck at welcome screen is a known issue. The newer firmware should help minimize it down. Some just sick of it and code out the welcome screen.

Zombie5150

Can you log in under guest? My RS5 had the same issue after a basic dealership service. I changed the passwords in the car and app after cycling the WiFi and BT and I haven’t seen the issue since (almost a year).

S3-415

What do you mean by "code out the welcome screen"?
Is that something a dealership can do? Or do you mean fully hacking the MMI and voiding the warranty?

Dino75

So I eventually got my A6 into the local main dealer after a three week wait. It turns out that the 5F Module has failed and needs to be replaced. This appears to be the whole MMI unit. There are none in stock in Ireland so it has to be shipped in from Germany so I’ll be waiting another month to get that fitted. The local dealer always has very long delays waiting for any services.
Hopefully this will resolve the issues I have been having. It’s a 2021 car, is there a chance I could get a newer MMI module!

John Simcox

Hope it is under warranty! That was the unit that failed on my wife's 2020 Golf (MIB-3 like the A6) and the warranty cost to VW of the 5F unit alone was cŁ3000 + vat. On top of that was the time for the installation and reprogramming the new unit and a loan car for a week. Total cost was in excess of Ł4000. Like you it was out of stock across Europe when it failed (in my case when the dealer downloaded an updare from the factory), but one became available within a couple of days. You will get the same module (unless there have been any minor revisions) to the one you have now although you should get the latest softwae and hopefully the dealer will programmed the towbar functionality in for you rather than you having to go back to the installer. It is incidnts like this that put me off ownng modern cars without a warranty, indeed shortly after this we swapped the Golf for 2023 model to give us peace of mind (PCP was in the final year anyway)

Dino75

Yes, thankfully it is under warranty until the end of August but I also got a 12 month warranty off the non-Audi dealer who I bought it off.
Looks like I’ll have to stick with my Bluetooth speaker for another month

Mokorx

Dealer will not do. The coding can be done with dealer software or any VAG specific OBD tool. (It is not hacking; it is just adaptation)