A8 GQE gearbox (ZF 6HP26) questions and opinions

Newbie Joined: Jun 06, 2016 Posts: 4

Hi guys. I'm new here and wanted to get more opinions on what is worth doing or not doing for my gearbox issues, preferably from people who have experienced my situation/dilemma (I have searched and googled my inquiry, with no luck).
As mentioned, I have a 2003 Audi A8 3.7 with the GQE gearbox which is a ZF 6HP26 and the car has about 100k miles on it. When I first bought the car, the gear change from 2-3 would jerk slightly and was more pronounced when the gearbox was cold. I also felt a lack of torque, plus first gear engaging with a little jerk after a few seconds of pulling away. So if you can imagine, the car starts to move, but not under full power, then it jerks and starts moving properly.
First port of call was to get the gearbox serviced (records show last service was at 31k miles from main audi dealers), so I had that done from a specialist with genuine Audi fluid and filter, direct from the dealer, for $$.
After the service, the torque has improved, but the jerky gear change has not gone. In fact it has also developed a jerky 1-2 gear change, which is more pronounced than the original 2-3 gear change, which also still happens. And just like before, the jerky gear changes are more pronounced when the gearbox is cold. Just to add, there have never been any lights on the dash, and the codes have been read at every stage, but there have never been any gearbox or engine error codes.

Now after visiting 4 automatic gearbox specialists today, 2 told me it might be worth servicing the solenoids and fixing something to do with "round dampers" of the solenoids, which may have gone flat. But there is no guarantee this will work and (after spending 440 pounds on the service) it will cost 300 pounds plus VAT, and even that is only because the current filter and fluid are new so they can be re used (at my request, to save cost). But the other 2 said that from many experiences, servicing the solenoids in these gearboxes never changes/fixes anything and will be a waste of money.

So my question is, from people's experience, has servicing these solenoids ever made a difference and is it worth trying? Also what else is recommended in terms of checks or possible fixes, since a rebuild or replacement, at the cost of the value of the car, is out of the question.

Many thanks in advance Wink