A quick restart (pressing MENU, MEDIA, and the upper-right soft key simultaneously) fixed it temporarily, but Mark knew the root cause: firmware. His car was still running MMI software version HN+R_EU_AU_K0254_1 , released back in 2016. The latest stable version was K0382 . It was time for an update. Mark researched for two weeks on Audi forums (Audizine, AudiWorld, and a German MMI coding group). He learned that updating the MMI on a C7 is not like updating a phone—it’s a delicate, multi-step process that can brick the system if done wrong.

At last: “Update successful. System will restart.”

Third test: Voice control. “Navigate to nearest gas station.” For the first time, it understood him on the first try.

He turned on the ignition (press START/STOP without brake pedal) but did start the engine. The MMI screen lit up.

He inserted the SD card into slot 1 (SD1). The MMI recognized it immediately: a pop-up asked, “New software detected. Start update?”

Second test: Bluetooth. His iPhone connected in 3 seconds. Music played without stuttering.

The screen folded down, then rose again—faster than before. The Audi logo appeared, then the familiar main menu. But something was different. The graphics were slightly sharper. The cursor moved smoother. Mark turned off the ignition, waited 2 minutes (to let all CAN bus systems sleep), then restarted the car.