Volkswagen Group’s W12 engine was one of the most complex powertrains to ever be put into a vehicle. There’s a reason why you’d probably want to steer clear of one of these things if you find them used. Maintenance and fuel costs are high, and some owners even had serious problems with things like oil consumption. One Audi W12 owner in China got lucky when he found a shop that did a complete rebuild on their engine for what honestly feels like a bargain.
In a relaxing YouTube video posted by Mechanic Diary, the owner of a D4 generation Audi A8 W12 brought the luxury sedan into the shop. He purchased the car new, but in a nod to how quick things can go sideways in these cars, the W12 engine is having oil consumption issues with only 68,000 miles on it. In any other instance you’d probably want to just get rid of the car to save yourself the headache and hit to your bank account. Mechanic Diary seems to own a shop of a different sort.
The shop charged the owner just $10,000 to completely teardown and rebuild the engine to factory spec. It’s over 20 minutes of automotive ASMR. No words are spoken, it’s just pure tool sounds and a brutal reminder of how complex Audi made these cars. Taking the engine out required removing the entire front end of the car, for instance.
The video is relaxing and amazing as hell. The detailed work that went into making this engine essentially brand new is nothing short of impressive, especially for an independent shop that’s not associated with Audi. It’s too bad we don’t have these kinds of shops here in the states. It might make owning a W12 less scary.