snagitseven

Yes, there is a point to contacting AOA directly. As I understand it, you said the dealer spoke to them, not you. Are you certain the info passed along to you that you have the new arms is accurate? Whenever I get into a situation where a problem isn't getting resolved by the dealer, I have contacted AOA and spoken to someone other than the first line customer service agent.
No matter what the issue is, new arms or not, it needs attention from someone who can actually get something done.

BTW, I can tell you it was the upper control arms with redesigned bushings. I was one of the first owners back in 2009 to work through this with Audi and helped work through the arms issue resolution and sharing info with the Audiworld members encountering the problem.

I've sent you a private message.

Art234

There is actually a visual difference between the old and new control arms, as they were shown to me after my car was done about a year and a half ago.
I had to fight with both the dealership and AoA but eventually persisted.

The bushings on the new control arms are considerably larger than the old ones, and are designed to absorb much more of the vibration, which usually happens around 65 mph. It is difficult to see a difference if ONLY presented with one or the other, but side by side the difference is easily visible.

If they have done everything else, they should agree to change the control arms. I have not had a problem with vibration since they changed mine. Mine was a June 2009 production, which was known to have been built with the older design, but I would have thought by November, your build date, the new ones would have been used...

Good luck!

BMoreB8

So I got in touch with AoA. They indicate they are going to "look into" the issues with my car, which I assume translates into verifying what parts are actually on my car. I walked them through everything I had done and described the issue, as well as the actions taken by the dealer. They also indicated they would be contacting the dealership to see what all they had done, and I guess, to see if they had recommendations. I am not hopeful that this will work out the way I want, but at least I am getting a second opinion on the control arms. I guess my biggest question would be, and I expressed this to AoA as well, if I have the revised control arms, what now? I'll keep everyone posted as the situation unfolds.

BMoreB8

Figured I would provide an update in case anyone was following all this. I heard from Audi again on Friday and they said they think I have the new control arms, but are still trying to verify that. My first thought was that even though they told my dealership that I had the new arms, they weren't sure then and they aren't sure now. I assume there is way for them to figure this out, but it clearly isn't an easy or quick process. They also want me to take the car back to the dealership for another force balance (with the new tires), as they don't trust the tire installer. I'm not saying that is unreasonable, just a fact. So it looks like my car will e back in next week for force balance number 4, though it could be 5. The thing has never really stopped shaking, so I continue to wonder what they think it will fix. And no one has any idea where to go from here if the force balance doesn't work and I have the new control arms. They did comment that I am a loyal Audi customer and want to make sure I am satisfied (I'd like to believe that spending 90k with their company means they told me that and not that they tell everyone that, so, please, no one disabuse me of my delusions). All in all, I'm starting to wish manual wasn't a priority and I had bought an A3.

hankoman

Cars build after November 2nd 2009 have new and stronger control arm bushings (T,S and Q versions), cars build before that have the old control arms (N). If you car was build before November 3rd 2008 if might have even older control arms (K). If N or older K versions are replaced, they shoudl be replaced with R versions.

In a nutshell ....

BMoreB8

So I guess this is it. I heard from AoA today and they have verified that I do have the new control arms. Going back in next week for my last force balance. They say that they will "work with me" to make sure the issue is resolved to my satisfaction, including that old chestnut, making sure I don't have a bent wheel, but I think at this point there is nothing to be done. They don't know what the issue is, nor do I, so either I live with it or I get rid of the Audi. I am very disappointed and may be bidding you folks adieu in the near future.

gunsmoker

I think what you should do is see if an Audi fan that lives nearby is willing to swap wheels with you just for a quick test so that you can find out if it's wheels related or not. If that turns out to be the case, a new set of wheels or repairing the old ones will be cheaper than the loss you will incur by selling the car and buying a new one.

My experience with bent rims has been that you may be able to balance them perfectly and still have the vibrations. Since your wheels can be balanced well, that says to me that the tires are OK. So it's either a bent wheel or something in the suspension, other than the control arms, that they are overlooking.

BMoreB8

For what is likely my final update of this whole process, I would like to thank anyone who helped me throughout this process. I sincerely appreciate everything you have done. So the car came out of the shop yesterday and it looks like it was tires, if you can believe that. All of the previous force balances I had done by the dealership were on my old tires and the force balance I had done on the new tires was done at the tire shop. Upon returning my car to the dealership, they informed me that all my tires were out of balance, which would suggest their machine was out of calibration. While they had the wheels off, they did visually verify the part numbers on my lower control arms and they are the updated arms (just as Audi contended). I'm still not 100% sold as I haven't had much time to do highway driving since it was completed, but I did take a quick run up the highway when it came out of the shop and it felt great.

Jai-B8-A4

Mine is a 2009 A4 2.0T. I still have this issue right around 70mph. I just have one simple question. Did you have to pay for the road force balancing?

Reason I ask is when I initially had this issue my old dealer did the balancing without any charge (however this was about 20k miles ago), now that the issue has reoccurred the new dealer wants me to pay for the balancing and any other troubleshooting repairs needed before replacing the control arm. I am just a bit hesitant to spend anything on it b'coze this is a lease n I'm not planning to retain the car after the lease ends.

BMoreB8

The short answer is no, I didn't pay for any of them, though there are a variety of reasons I didn't pay for them. In your situation, with your issue, I would recommend contacting AoA and relating you issues to see what they can do for you.