awdinut

there was some ice covering the deck lid today. I dont know if it was the extra weight or what that caused it to break. Anyone else have this happen?

I thought the motor has a clutch that would slip before it would break a hinge, even with the upgraded higher torque motor.

mishar

It's good to know that it might happen. That all design was poor. Tiny aluminum hinges and week motor on one side. Cold weather just weakened that hinge. Patching it with a stronger motor made it work better, but they should improve the right hinge too. Or may be they did? Is it stronger on models with a stronger motor? We should check part numbers.

MP4.2+6.0

IIRC, it was updated not just for the motor but also the hinges, particularly the early builds like yours. Look at the old TSB's on it; there are several. You would have to go thru your car's history to see which were done; if any were "service actions" (aka recalls), maybe you could still get it done?

TSHong

Yes there are updated hinges. When you order the hinge, you will get the updated hinges so I would recommend getting both sides.

MP4.2+6.0

IIRC, they have to be painted too. You can get pre-matched paint in a rocker can from places like autopaintscratch for a DIY. Or you could buy used on eBay, if you either diligence they are post-rev. and in the right color, or you just want a cheap match and would take the pre rev ones.

awdinut

Called the Audi dealer today and parts guy says he shows the same part number for the right side hinge from 03-10. Do you have more specific info about a revised hinge part number or year?

mishar

My ETKA says the same but it can be already new number for older MY too.

tjf

I had the hinges replaced early on (2006) under warranty and TSB. I don't know if they were of an updated design though. I still have the original motor though. I do lubricate the hinges after every washing.

TSHong

The hinges should be the updated ones. Once a part gets superseded, the old ones are no longer used.

I just ordered a new start stop switch because I wanted the silver button one that came on MY 08 and later. The part number was the same for all D3s because can it confused us. You can only get the silver buttoned start stop switch now.

awdinut

I looked on eBay for a hinge and saw the part number that the dealer had given me , except there was a revision letter; an'F'. So I called the dealer back and ran the part number and letter.

When he looked that up he was able to see that the original hinge fitted to the A8 in 04 was 9E0 827 300 D (right side even numbers) and now the its an 'H' revision.

I could have gotten the pair of 'F' hinges for $50 but I found a pair from a 2008 for $130 and decided to spend the extra in case there was some sort of change to the...I'm assuming 'H'... hinge to make it more compatable with the stronger motor as Mishar speculated.

The salvage yard didnt know the part number but I ran the VIN and the car was built in FEB 2008 so it was not an early car from late 2007. Unfortunately I dont know what revision is in my car since operating the deck lid is impossible. I wont find out what I have until I R&R the new hinges. Most of the Platinum Beige cars like mine were 04 and 05 so there was not a set of 08 hinges that color available and I got black instead.

The real bummer is that when the deck lid got so racked by the chaged geometry of the broken hinge the deck lid caught on the qtr tail light and broke it and that will be more expensive than the hinges.