2025-2026 Audi Emergency Assist Activation TSB

Owners of certain 2025-2026 Audi vehicles may experience unexpected activation of the emergency assist system, accompanied by specific warning messages in the instrument cluster. This behavior is addressed by Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 2079190/2, which details the conditions leading to these interventions and provides guidance for diagnosis and repair.

The Audi emergency assist activation is designed to intervene when the system detects driver inactivity or critical situations, aiming to prevent potential accidents. Understanding the triggers and the vehicle's responses is crucial for owners.

Revision History

Technical Service Bulletin 2079190/2 is a revision of a previous publication. The initial version, Revision 1, was published on September 9, 2025. Revision 2, released on February 19, 2026, included several updates. These updates involved revising the header to add model years, updating the condition section with an added model table, and refining the service instructions with updated verbiage.

Technical Background

For a comprehensive understanding of the emergency assist system, owners and technicians should refer to the "Emergency assist" chapter within the vehicle's Owner's Manual. Additionally, self-study program 687 for the Audi Q6 e-tron (type GF) provides further technical details on this advanced driver assistance system.

Symptoms

When the Audi emergency assist activation occurs, customers typically report that the emergency assist system engages unexpectedly. This intervention is often accompanied by visual warnings in the instrument cluster. The primary message displayed is:

• "Inactivity detected."

In addition to this, the instrument cluster may show specific icons indicating the active driver assistance functions. These visual alerts help the driver understand the system's current state:

• An icon depicting a heart with a plus sign, signifying that "Adaptive cruise control and a braking intervention are active." (See Figure 2 in the original document).
• A similar icon, but with an added steering wheel symbol, indicating that "Adaptive cruise control, a braking intervention and lane guidance are active." (See Figure 3 in the original document).

These visual cues are designed to alert the driver to the system's intervention and the specific actions being taken by the vehicle.

Diagnosis / Trigger Conditions

Technicians use diagnostic tools like ODIS-S to access the emergency assist test program and review the activation history, which records the specific reasons for the Audi emergency assist activation. The system logs various conditions that can trigger its intervention, along with escalating phases of response.

Important Notice for Diagnosis

Activation Reasons

The emergency assist system can activate due to several predefined conditions, each indicating a specific scenario where driver intervention might be necessary or a critical situation is developing:

• Rear-end collision prevention: This occurs when lateral guidance functions (like lane departure warning or lane center guidance) are switched off, driver inactivity is detected for a period, and there's insufficient distance to a vehicle in front. The system intervenes to prevent a potential collision.
• Lane departure warning: The system activates if the lane departure warning is active and several consecutive interventions of the lane departure warning are triggered without any steering torque applied by the driver during the intervention. This indicates the driver might not be actively controlling the vehicle's lane position.
• Adaptive cruise assist: This reason is logged when the adaptive cruise assist is active, and driver inactivity is detected for a certain duration. The system takes over to maintain safe operation.
• Lane left: Similar to rear-end collision prevention, this trigger involves lateral guidance functions being off and driver inactivity. It specifically activates when the vehicle is leaving its lane, and the turn signal was not activated, suggesting an unintended lane departure.
• Fatigue and distraction warning: This activation reason is recorded when the driver monitoring system detects "Sleep" by the driver.

Escalation Phases

The emergency assist system employs a series of escalating interventions, from mild warnings to more forceful actions, depending on the severity and duration of the detected situation:

• E1: Involves slight deceleration and a visual warning, accompanied by a medium acoustic warning. Vehicle guidance and distance to the vehicle in front are maintained.
• E2: Features medium deceleration and a visual warning with a loud acoustic warning. Vehicle guidance and distance are maintained. Additionally, multiple weak brake jolts, belt vibration on the driver's side, hazard warning lights, and the horn are activated (if the vehicle speed is below 50 km/h).
• E3: Triggers strong deceleration and a visual warning with a loud acoustic warning. Vehicle guidance and distance are maintained. This phase includes a medium-strength brake jolt, belt vibration on both the driver and passenger sides, hazard warning lights, and the vehicle horn.
• E4: The most severe phase, involving a visual warning, activation of hazard warning lights, parking position engagement, eCall activation, and unlocking of the doors.

Emergency Assist Sensitivity Settings

Owners should also be aware that the sensitivity of the emergency assist system can be adjusted. The following sensitivity settings are available:

• High: Results in earlier activation of the system.
• Medium: Activates approximately 10 seconds after driver inactivity is detected.
• Low: Leads to a slightly delayed activation.

Repair Procedure Summary

To diagnose and understand the specific reasons for an Audi emergency assist activation, technicians will utilize the ODIS-S diagnostic system. The emergency assist test program allows for calling up and displaying the activation history. This program can be found within ODIS-S under:

1. ODIS-S > Self-diagnosis > Diagnostic address 00A5 (Front sensors for driver assist systems -R242-).
2. Access authorization > “Use case” = Manual SFD activation > Select "Implement".
3. When prompted for a valid SFD token, respond with “No”.
4. Copy the displayed activation request structure and send it to the Technical Assistance Center (TAC).

Alternatively, technicians can navigate through the test plan:

1. Test plan > Select own test... > Diagnostic capable system > 00A5 - Front sensors for driver assistant systems - R242 > 00A5 - Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) > Emergency assist.

The activation history will be displayed in a format similar to: "25.10.2024 / 12:41:05 (UTC+0) – Activation reason: Adaptive cruise assist - highest escalation phase: E2". This detailed log helps identify the exact cause and escalation phase of the emergency assist intervention.

Warranty Information

For vehicles outside of their warranty period, this Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 2079190/2 is provided for informational purposes only. All warranty claims must adhere to the Audi Warranty Policies and Procedures Manual and are subject to review and audit by Audi Warranty.

Here are the specific warranty claim details:

• Service Number: 9638
• Damage Code: 0039
• Labor Operations:
  • GFF / Guided Functions: 0150 0010 (Refer to SRT for associated operations)
  • GFF / Guided Functions: 0150 0060 (Time stated on the diagnostic protocol)
• Claim Comment: As per TSB 2079190/2

NHTSA ID: 11029394