In 1999, Audi decided that it was a good time to refresh its flagship, the A8.
While the aesthetic changes were mild, the powertrain went through a substantial technological upgrade.

Back in the ’90s, Ford spent one billion dollars to make the Mondeo, and Audi spent 700 million to create the Audi A8. Both vehicles were designed from scratch, and the results were completely different. Despite the technological breakthrough with a bodywork made out of aluminum and an all-wheel-drive system, the A8 was dragging behind those times standards, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the BMW 7-Series. Audi launched the first A8 generation in 1994. Five years later, it refreshed it to fit better into the customer’s profile who asked for a more luxurious, more comfortable, and lower fuel consumption. And the Germans gave it all.

On the outside, the designers didn’t have too much work to do. Like most of the facelifts on the market, they just changed the headlights and the bumpers. Suppose you are trying to differentiate the taillights of the non-facelifted version from the facelifted version. In that case, you have to look very closely at the part mounted on the rear quarter panels. It was easier to spot the difference at the front, where the turn-signals sported clear lenses starting with the 1999 version.

Inside, Audi introduced Alcantara on the door panels and slightly different wood-trims. The German carmaker installed a new infotainment system with an incorporated TV tuner, sat-nav, and a CD-stereo on the center stack.

Under the hood, Audi introduced its new, 5-valves technology. That was available on the 3.7-liter and the 4.2-liter engines and gave those engine more torque. Most of the vehicles were fitted as standard with a quattro all-wheel-drive system.