sparkywall

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this on their SQ7 or Q7. I was driving on a freeway, heard a noise and then saw something in the rear view mirror that I figured was a piece of a big rigs tire tread or something. At the next stop I was surprised to see that the outer portion of my left front wheel arch was gone. This is a 2 piece part which is held onto the car by clips (the portion still on the car) and then an outer paint matched surface that appears to be held on only by double sided scotch tape. Maybe it's Audi approved industrial strength clear tape but the remaining bits I peeled off were not very robust. My SQ7 is still under factory warranty but Audi has denied the warranty claim so I've been informed I'll need to purchase the part and pay to have it painted. There's never been any impact to this or any other portion of my SQ7. Interestingly, there was a factory recall for this exact same thing for the Q5/SQ5. The fix in that service bulletin was to add a screw someplace on the trim to prevent it from flying off. The failure description is identical to my experience. I'm concerned that the same thing is inevitable for my other wheel arch trims once the "scotch tape" becomes more brittle/less tacky over time.




Pardon the dirt - just got back from a road trip. You'll notice that the wheel trim broke away where it meets the lower body cladding behind the front wheel.

Force-1

I would put in a comprehensive claim and tell my insurance company I hit a stray bucket or something - that's probably what happened.

sparkywall

I have a $1K deductible on all my cars so I'll just eat this one. And I didn't hit anything. I was driving mid-day in perfect visibility conditions with sparse traffic on a two lane highway. I would have seen anything in the road ahead well before I had a chance to hit it.

Lorryist

Blame the teenage hooligans.

montgomerie94

This scenario pretty much happened exactly to our '21 Q7 but on our left rear wheel arch, started peeling off at around 7500 miles. Looked like 1 or 2 of the nubs on the trim weren't being 'grabbed' by the holes in the arch and the stickiness surrounding was all but gone.
Incredibly frustrating as Audi here weren't really interested in repairing, I asked a Euro local body shop as well but wasn't worth them even trying.
Ended up getting Audi to replace and fit anyway - I also raised the SQ5 recall issue but yeah nah not too keen.
I was surprised that the trim wasn't actually screwed to the arch, that glue setup looked like it'd happened before and been fixed up but no. Factory.

We are currently at approx 51kms/32miles and the remaining arches are fine FWIW

sparkywall

Thanks for the feedback. My SQ7 is currently at 20K miles. When I take it in to Audi for the left front wheel arch I'll see if they can use the Q5/SQ5 screw technique to better anchor all 4 wheel arches. The tape they use as a primary adhesive seems like it would be sufficient for an interior part, but a weak solution for an exterior part that is subjected to weather and temperature extremes.

PsyQ7

Thanks for sharing this, VERY frustrating on all accounts... Hopefully this isn't an expensive part (ha), may work out better to get the piece from Audi (if not from ebay etc.) and have it sprayed locally. I'd be inclined to fit it myself afterwards, that tape solution is awful for an exterior part...

FrenchToast

Is it definitely tape? The array of dots makes it appear as though it was a plastic weld or epoxy.

It is hard to tell, but looking at pictures online of part 4M0853717 (not sure if the correct one) it appears the trim unit is made up of an inner and outer part; the inner part is what remains on your car. It appears the trim unit is fastened via the inner part to the metal fender with the white clips, but I can't tell how the inner and outer parts are fastened to one another. The tape may be an additional fastening measure, but is may be simply to damp vibration and/or limit dirt intrusion.

Needless to say, I would report it to NHTSA; it can become a piece of airborne debris.

sparkywall

I should have taken some pics before peeling off the clear tape, but it was covering the dots (which I agree "look" like a plastic weld or epoxy but in actuality seems to be neither). The tape was literally as thin as what one would use to wrap birthday presents. Not the thicker cushioned stuff like 3M trim tape. Interesting note on the Audi site for part # 4M0853717KGRU "Cover. Trim. Wheel Arch Molding. Wheel Opening Molding. 2020-23. Part cannot be reused/reinstalled. Wheel Arch Molding." So, once it's installed at the factory it's a $400 piece of disposable plastic if it ever needs to come off, or flies off on its own.