CAEB compatibility

Hello all, I was wondering if any of you out there can answer this question. I currently have an 09 A4 with a CAEB engine that jumped time and smoked the motor. Looking for a replacement and it seems that only the 09-12 model years are compatible with each other, even though the 13-16 still use the same engine code all the websites I’ve seen don’t show that they can be swapped with each other. Right now I’m eyeing up a '13 A6 with the CAEB but I have no way of knowing if it’ll fit without having one in hand. Was hoping that someone would be able to point me in the right direction as far as what all is compatible with each other. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.


I dont know a ton about the B8 cars but from what I have read the difference was a mid modal year change that shouldnt be an issue if your swapping over the majority of your old components. I think the difference was something with the injecton or fuel system. I cant say for sure but going from a A4 to an A6 motor might give you some issues. But if your just swapping over the motor the accessory parts your swapping over should be ok. If its the same motor code and head code there should be no issues. Chances are its an electronic issue that is the reason for the non compatible

It would help the value of the car if you rebuilt it versus replacing it especially if using a different engine code, that devalues the car and then can cause complications search for parts by vin. If you really do a swap its best to pull from the same year with as low of miles parts as possible.

After receiving the engine and swapping all the accessories it looks like the oil filter housing/accessory bracket is different. There’s no p/s mount from the A6 engine. I do remember reading about some flex fuel difference but this one all the fueling was the same. The aux waters pump is different as was the hose routing for it and the crank sensor had a different connector. Otherwise everything else was straight forward. Thanks for the help guys.

Wow thanks for the update. How did the power steering mounts get fixed when you did the swap.