Fepe

I have had my 2012 A4 Prem+ (non-nav), w/ Sports Package,Quattro w/ manual trans for about a month now and haven't figured out this minor quibble. It seems that the MMI will come on playing whatever music selection was last playing every time I press the telephone button on the center console to make a phone call. This behavior doesn't happen when you press the "dial a telephone #" button integrated on the steering wheel, but the steering wheel option locks you into having to use voice commands which isn't always the most convenient. Sometimes I just want to use the turn wheel to dial a recently used number and the telephone button on the MMI, as this would be the much faster option. It is sometimes startling to have the music come back on at full volume when I just want to make a telephone call, not listen to tunes.

Is this as intended or is there an MMI function/setting buried somewhere that makes the telephone button act independently of the rest of the music buttons (radio,sat,media,cd)? Thanks!

Kal Rubinson

Same problem with NAV. My kludgy solution is to leave the MMI set to a silent audio source when turning it off. That way it activates that silent source. If anyone has a better solution, I have not seen it.

Kal

JonDeutsch

So I'd like to start a "bug list" that we can all sign and send to Audi... they could definitely fix a lot of bugs via a firmware update. This would obviously be on the list. Any idea for the best approach for managing the bugs? Use the Wiki? Or just a forum conversation?

gunsmoker

You think they care about such minor rants? They didn't even change the windshield wipers year after year and that's not a rant but a disgrace - the yugo probably had better wipers in the winter. I'm sure I'm not the only one to complain about that at their site. There was no reply or any response. This is economics - the A4 is selling great. All investments should go to the next gen to match or exceed the next 3-series.

JonDeutsch

I hear you on the wipers, but this is software. It can be improved virtually. No new hardware/components required. They update firmware on a 'regular' basis anyway, so why not compile a list to send to Der Mothership?

chach17

You say the software can be improved 'virtually' but I wouldn't count on that happening.

I'm a computer engineer and software developer. I think it is perfectly reasonable to report a bug to Audi and have them release a software update to that fixes issues like this. It doesn't seem unreasonable at all.

But, in my opinion, car companies have not yet gone the way of the software industry in this respect. A person purchases a car and and at that point Audi's money is made. Sure Audi wants to make sure you are pleased as a driver of their car and they would love for you to purchase another in the future, but car companies are car companies - they aren't software development houses. So it seems to me that their time is easily spent developing what is needed for the next car that is coming out rather than retroactively fixing bugs in a car that they aren't even selling anymore. Rarely does it seem to me that a car company has gone through great effort to release new software updates to fix problems (unless safety related) and certainly not to add new features. After all, they want to give you reasons to buy a new car. Just look at the prices most car manufacturers charge for GPS map updates - the prices are completely unreasonable. What incentive does the manufacturer really have to help you out? The 2012 supports bluetooth audio streaming (I think), but I'm not holding my breath for Audi to add it as a new feature to the 2011 via an update and I don't think you are either.

I just bought a 2011 A4 Avant and it kills me to know that one day Apple will release a new iPhone/iPod/iWhatever and AMI won't work with it because of some subtle change in Apple's hardware and suddenly my car is obsolete and I'm at the mercy of the manufacturer to release a software update.

Sigh.

BMWBig6

Make sure to mention this in any owner surveys. Audi listened to everyone's complaining about the brake pad dust. Squeaky wheel gets the oil.

NPuter

This isn't a bug. It may be flawed logic, but there is no 'bug' to fix.

If you turn off your radio by holding down the volume button, that puts the Radio into sleep mode. Any button will reactivate it. Anytime the radio comes out of sleep mode, it unmutes the volume. If you do not want to listen to music, just pressthe volume button and that will mute the audio. The audio will stay muted until you push the volume button again, put the radio to sleep and wake it back up again, or turn the car off and turn it back on.

audi8k

In addition, the B&O+Nav (at least 2gen.) remembers also the Mute status after turning off and on the car. (IIRC it is the Navigation that adds this memory.)

Kal Rubinson

Ah but here's the flaw: The radio comes out of mute mode if you activate anything on the MMI, such as the NAV. In order to avoid that annoyance, I must switch to another audio source, such as SDHC, that has no media.

Kal