J450NP13

Last person that owned my A8 (2008) put metal valve stem caps on and now they are on pretty good. So I decided to get new stems...of course Audi wants an arm and a leg to do it. But I have a place called Discount Tire near me and they say they will do it and that they can just swap out the stems and not the sensors since they are good. But I asked if they are replacing them with the OEM valve and he said yes they are Continental valves. Anyone know if this is accurate?

MainelyA8

I believe a company called Huf makes the OEM valve stems... I could be wrong though. I just had a set replaced at the dealer after they installed my new TPMS sensors. The wheels still had the original black stems/covers before they were replaced.

J450NP13

I just called the dealer...he said he doesn't know who manufactures them...but I will go buy them from the dealer. The guy at the tire place was like "Yeah sure they are OEM."

MainelyA8

Not a bad idea. ECS and the various parts websites that are often mentioned on here should have them as well, if the dealer is out of the way.

the_duke

TPMS valve stems are not Audi specific. I wouldn't hesitate to use aftermarket.

dvs_dave

Hahahaha....Reality check needed....valve stems are valve stems. There is no magic or special Audi OEM valve stem and any tire place in the world can do the job the same as anybody else.

Put the Audi Company Kool-Aid down once in a while...your wallet will thank you.

J450NP13

I was just wondering. Actually the ones that Discount tire have are $40 and the ones from Audi is $32.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be screwing up the sensor or anything.

Thanks for your replies. This is my first Audi...still getting use to it.

the_duke

They are between $6 and $10 each on Amazon. Are the prices you quoted each or for all 4?

the_duke

Just another thought. How old are your TPMS sensors? The batteries eventually die and they have to be replaced every 5-10 years. A set of 4 replacement (might want 5 as the spare has one too) sensors is only about $150 on ebay and they come with new valve stems as well. As they have to dismount the tires to do the stems It might be a good idea to just replace all the sensors as well.

J450NP13

I ended up getting new tires too...replaced everything.